Other Education Commons^™

A Framework For Teaching Computational Thinking In Primary Schools: A Namibian Case Study, Maria M. Ausiku, Machdel C. Matthee

The African Journal of Information Systems

Several professional development programs have been designed to train in-service teachers on a computational thinking (CT) curriculum, but few researchers have examined how these affect primary school teachers' self-efficacy and knowledge of CT in emerging economies. This study's objective was to create a framework for the professional development of primary school in-service teachers for the teaching of CT (referred to as professional development for primary computational thinking - PD4PCT) to be integrated into teachers' professional development programs. An initial framework was refined after implementing it at a Namibian school with a group of 14 teachers from five different disciplines (social …

Transforming Departmental Culture: Empowering A Department Through Appreciative Inquiry, Symphony D. Oxendine, Kerry K. Robinson, Michele A. Parker

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article outlines an appreciative inquiry (AI) into a departmental professional development process and describes the resulting implementation of an appreciative peer evaluation meeting as one part of the new professional development process. Using AI, a departmental faculty development committee sought to re-envision the professional development process. Also, the authors discuss how using AI can result in positive impacts for culture change and how the model for peer evaluation can promote both individual and collective development of faculty.

The Critical Effect: Exploring The Influence Of Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy On College Students’ Social Media Behaviors And Attitudes, Nolan Higdon

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This self-exploratory pilot qualitative study examines the impact of critical social media pedagogy on students’ behavior and attitudes toward social media. This study employs a critical lens of course content and self-reported student data from 18 participants who completed a Northern California university course titled “Social Media, Social Change” in the fall of 2019. The changes in participants’ social media behaviors and attitudes were measured via a pre-and post-survey designed by the researcher. Exposure to critical pedagogy was associated with changing views of social media, especially heightened privacy concerns. The study reveals areas of further research and recommendations for educators …

Caring For Our Communities Of Practice In Educational Development, Christopher V. H.-H. Chen, Katherine Kearns, Lynn Eaton, Darren S. Hoffmann, Denise Leonard, Martin Samuels

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Given the backdrop of multiple concurring crises—a global pandemic, political instability and violence, and multiple structural inequalities—we see the problem of now as this: How do educational developers continue to address the wicked problems in teaching and learning when we are simply so exhausted? Our article presents the importance of communities of practice for educational developers, inviting us to witness and name the communities in which we belong; the important functions they engage; who they nurture and how; and what care is undertaken to sustain these groups and ourselves. To help educational developers understand and appreciate the ways that communities …

The Secret Sauce Of Online Community Of Practice During Covid-19 Pandemic: Nonviolent Communication, Yonty Friesem, Elizaveta Friesem

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The challenges of work-family balance while being asked to move to remote instruction and engage students creatively have affected us all globally on multiple levels - from our professional identity, to our own health, mortality and purpose in life. The idea behind Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is that as Rosenberg (2015/1999) put it, it is a language that celebrates life. Applying these practices in a community building initiative of the Media Education Lab during the COVID-19 pandemic supported our community not only for their professional needs, but also and most importantly in their social and emotional resiliency to keep positive their …

In Search Of Silver Linings: Strategies For Preparing Future Faculty During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tazin Daniels, Elizabeth Bailey, Anoff Nicholas Cobblah

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In this article, we describe our experience as a racially and disciplinarily diverse, relatively junior program team who embraced the opportunity to transform a 20-year-old professional development seminar for graduate students into a remote offering in response to COVID-19. Our efforts to support our participants and champion an institutional move toward equitable and effective virtual programming are situated alongside the psychological tolls of remote work, a global health crisis, and ongoing racial violence across the United States. We recount our experience using, as a helpful metaphor, Lewin’s change model, which describes the process of “unfreezing,” “changing,” and “refreezing” long-standing assumptions …

Cultivating A Professional Culture Of Peace And Inclusion: Conceptualizing Practical Applications Of Peace Leadership In Schools, Whitney Mcintyre Miller, Annmary S. Abdou

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Beyond the role of educating students across all academic domains, school leaders are tasked with the monumental responsibility of creating positive, engaged systems and cultures that embrace the growing cultural, economic, linguistic, and cognitive diversity in the United States landscape. With collective goals to create peaceful learning environments with capacity to serve diverse learners, many school leaders have embraced school-wide prevention and intervention efforts, such as Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for social-emotional and behavioral development of students. Unfortunately, due to the inherent complexities and fragmentation of such efforts, many school leaders have continued to experience significant barriers to sustainable …

Good To Great In Educational Development, Bruce Kelley

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

We have been asked to describe One Thing that guides us as educational developers. For me, this is the strategic planning process described in Jim Collins’ Good to Great (2001). Collins provides a model that helps leaders navigate through change to build effective and influential centers. This framework has allowed me to develop a successful center despite periods of transition and uncertainty. Much of what I experience in my professional life is good. The challenge is to take it to the next level—to turn good into great. Collins’ strategic model provides a roadmap for how this might be accomplished.

A Minimalist Model Of New Faculty Mentoring: Why Asking For Less Gives More, Heather Lobban Viravong, Mark Schneider

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

We describe a research-based mentoring program for new full-time faculty at a small residential college, which emphasizes the empowerment of the new faculty themselves to identify and obtain the resources they need for success. In our model, the mentor takes on a role of primarily providing accountability, easing the burden on mentors, thereby making for a more sustainable program. Our mixed methods assessment of the program suggests that, paradoxically, these lessened expectations foster closer personal relationships between mentor and protégé than might have occurred if that were a programmatic expectation.

Mentoring Graduate Student Staff In A Center For Teaching And Learning: Goals And Aligned Practices, Kristin Rudenga, Joseph Lambert

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Graduate student staff (GSS) positions, commonly used in centers for teaching and learning (CTL) to expand capacity and extend disciplinary connections on campus, also offer the potential for a meaningful developmental experience for the students who fill them. Drawing on the literature on graduate student mentorship, we lay out goals and aligned practices to inform the mentoring of GSS in CTL aimed at advancing their pedagogical, professional, and personal development. Such deliberate attention to mentoring in a CTL context can enhance the experience and development of the GSS themselves, as well as improve the work of the CTL.

Providing Access For Students With Moderate Disabilities: An Evaluation Of A Professional Development Program At A Catholic Elementary School, Matthew P. Cunningham, Karen K. Huchting, Diane Fogarty, Victoria Graf

Journal of Catholic Education

After a significant policy change led to the admittance of students with moderate disabilities, St. Agnes School (SAS; pseudonym)—a Catholic PK-8 school in Southern California—implemented an 18-month professional development (PD) program to improve teachers’ inclusive classroom practices. Grounded in the theoretical framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL; Center for Applied Special Technology, 2015b), the PD program included cyclical, one-on-one instructional coaching sessions that were led by trained UDL coaches and consisted of lesson demonstrations and personalized feedback. While SAS teachers held state credentials, most had very little training to work with students with special needs prior to this PD; …

Clearing The Pathway To Chemotherapy Certification For Inpatient Nurses, Shari Lee Kellen Rn, Ocn, Onn

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

A clinical nurse leader (CNL) project was conducted, in a medical-surgical oncology unit in a community-based hospital, to evaluate and improve upon the decreasing number of chemotherapy certified nurses. A Likert survey of the nurses provided a self-assessment of competency in handling chemotherapy patients, and perceived barriers to achieving chemotherapy certification. The surveys revealed that nurses felt fearful of exposure to hazardous medications, that chemotherapy assignments were too stressful, and that there was minimal chemotherapy competency amongst leadership. An education program was implemented, covering proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and safe handling, practicing resilience to mitigate stress, …

Integrating Idea Mapping Into Professional Development And Practice: A Guidebook For Educators, Sarah Rose Parsons

Master's Projects and Capstones

The daily metrics of the teaching profession can prove emotionally and physically taxing, especially when compared to the current rapidly growing veil of technological advancement and a lack of support from one’s community and administration in their field. The means of support for professional development, which are often presented in schools for educators, focus mostly on students and content delivery. These programs rarely pay attention to the personal growth of the individual educator. Educators can in turn help themselves if they are provided with the tools and time to do so. Thus, this project seeks to serve that purpose, founded …

Evaluating Centers For Teaching And Learning: A Field-Tested Model, Susan R. Hines

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This paper provides a program evaluation model, along with field-testing results, that was developed in response to the need for an evaluation model able to support systematic evaluation of teaching and learning centers (CTLs). The model builds upon the author’s previous studies investigating the evaluation practices and struggles experienced at 53 CTLs. Findings from these studies attribute evaluation struggles to contextual issues involving evaluation capacity, ill- structured curricula, and ill-conceived evaluation frameworks. This field-tested Four-Phase Program Evaluation Model addresses these issues by approaching evaluation in a comprehensive manner that includes an evaluation capacity analysis, curricular conceptualization, evaluation planning, and plan …

Intermediate Teachers' Perceptions Of Reading Instruction Strategies And Professional Development Needs, Barbara Jean Joyner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 1 urban Tennessee school, students in Grades 3 through 5 had not met adequate yearly progress in reading for the past 5 years. The purpose of this case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of current district-recommended teaching practice in reading. The research questions related to current instructional strategies, teaching practices, challenges, and perceptions of current instructional strategies and changes needed to improve students' reading achievement. This study was grounded in the constructivist theoretical framework of Vygotsky. Twelve educators from Grades 3 through 5 and a reading specialist participated in this study. The data were collected from interviews, minutes …

Afterschool Program Effects On English Learners' Reading And Teachers' Reading Curriculum Perceptions, Helen Marie Mayfield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project study addressed the problem of 3rd grade English language learners (ELLs) not passing the state mandated reading test at the same rate as other students between 2009 and 2013 in Georgia. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of an elementary school's afterschool program (ASP) on ELLs' reading achievements and to investigate 3rd grade afterschool teachers' perceptions of the reading curriculum using a mixed methods explanatory sequential design. Schema theory, the framework used to guide this study, indicated prior knowledge and experiences are necessary to comprehend new ideas or concepts. Prior knowledge and experiences can …

Internet Technology As A Means Of Delivering Reading Instruction In The Content Areas, Kimberly Rose Pintok

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Due to students not meeting minimum proficiency levels in reading, a central Florida middle school that was rated an A school for 4 years consecutively dropped to a B rating during the 2012-2013 school year and was 10 points away from dropping to a C rating in the 2013-2014 school year. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe classroom implementation of Internet technology in a middle school classroom in an attempt to address the steady decline in reading scores. Guided by Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky's social constructivist view of education, this study explored if and how teachers used …

Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Reading And Language Arts Preparation And Preparedness For The State Subject Area Test, Ingrid Ahrens Massey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since changes to the reading/language arts State Subject Area Test (SSAT) in late 2010, elementary education teacher candidates at a teacher training college in the Southern United States have experienced declining scores resulting in test failure and delaying student teaching and graduation. The purpose of this case study was to identify factors that students and faculty perceived as most beneficial in preparing students to pass the SSAT. Constructivism served as the conceptual framework for this study addressing the effects of collaboration, hands-on learning, and application of knowledge. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 6 elementary education students who had taken …

The Effects Of Professional Development On Online Adjunct Faculty Job Satisfaction In A Community College Setting, Marie Ferguson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative causal comparative research study, guided by Herzberg’s (1964) Two Factor Theory of Motivation, and conducted with 106 online adjunct faculty members teaching at a community college in a Southeastern state, examined the effects of four types of professional development (PD) training for online instruction (i.e., fully online, fully face-to-face, blended [online and face-to-face], and none) on online adjunct faculty members’ levels of motivation and hygiene job satisfaction. Data were analyzed using two one-way MANCOVAs. The first one-way MANCOVA addressed the first research question, which inquired if there were significant differences across online instruction PD training groups on the …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Reading Achievement Gap Between High-Achieving Students And Below-Basic Students, Helen Anne Iaconelli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Atlantic Avenue Elementary School (AAES) experienced reading achievement gaps between high-performing students and below-basic students within the school reading curriculum and balanced literacy framework. Vygotsky's theories of scaffolding and zone of proximal development served as the framework guiding this project, which used a qualitative case study design to explore reading teachers' perceptions of the ways in which they were addressing this reading achievement gap. Individual interviews, classroom observations, and lesson plans were the sources of the qualitative data collected from 6 reading teachers. The data were coded manually using emerging and constant-comparative strategies to identify common themes. The themes that …

Developmental Stages Of New Graduate Student Instructional Consultants: Implications For Professional Growth, Mary C. Wright, Laura N. Schram, Kristen S. Gorman

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Effective consulting is a key skill for educational developers. Although most educational developers are new to the field, there is limited research about how new practitioners develop consulting skills. The key research question this study explores is: How do new graduate teaching consultants develop as practitioners? This study empirically applies several “classic” models of consulting to better understand new consultants’ perceived development of expertise, preferred consulting approaches, and reflection about them. The findings are generally confirmatory of the ways that classic frameworks map onto the development of consultants. They also suggest greater attention to supporting new consultants beyond “getting started,” …

The Impact Of The Sra Corrective Reading Program On Standardized Testing, Tony Oyola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The implementation of effective reading programs for special education students is paramount for school success due to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the reauthorization of Individual with Disabilities Education Act. One local school implemented the Science Research Associates Corrective Reading Program (SRACRP) because their special education students did not meet the required proficient or advanced reading scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). The purpose of this quantitative within-group study was to determine if special and regular education students demonstrated growth in reading comprehension after the implementation of the SRACRP. The theoretical foundation …

Are You Ready To Be A Mentor? Preparing Teachers For Mentoring Pre-Service Teachers, Angelina Ambrosetti

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The use of mentoring has nowadays become a predominant practice for the professional placement component of pre-service teacher education programs. Research however has identified that being an effective teacher doe not make you an effective mentor. The present research investigated the role of professional development in the preparation of mentor teachers for their mentoring roles. Specifically, this paper presents the findings of a pilot mentoring preparation course that engaged mentor teachers in developing their knowledge about the nature and process of mentoring, and the roles of mentors and mentees. Data about changed understandings of mentoring and changed mentoring practices of …

School Library Media Specialists' Perceptions Of Collaboration, Leadership And Technology, Jozan Maria Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School impact media studies indicate that a well-staffed and funded school library media program with a certified school library media specialist (SLMS) positively correlates with increased student achievement. SLMS must have a shared understanding of their roles and responsibilities to positively impact student success. In an effort to determine prior knowledge and differentiated learning objectives, the method of certification is critical for planning professional development. This dissertation presents a multi-method investigation of differences between Alternatively Certified (AC) and Traditionally Certified (TC) SLMS as it relates to their perceptions of collaboration, leadership and technology described in Information Power: Building Partnerships for …

Education Preparation To Respond To The Needs Of Homeless Children & Youth: Perceptions Of School Personnel, Sarah Elizabeth Harris

Honors Scholar Theses

Each year, 1.5 million children spend at least one night in a homeless situation (Public Broadcast Station, 2009). These students struggle to achieve academically with schooling that is inconsistent in both location and curriculum and living conditions that are not conducive to homework and study. This study examined educators’ perceptions of homelessness and the academic and social needs of homeless students, as well as the preparation that teachers and other school personnel report that they have received in pre-service preparation programs and through professional development opportunities to address the unique needs of homeless children and youth. The project explored educator …

Narrative Education: Bridging Technology And Storytelling As Tools For Teachers And Students To Meet The Common Core Standards Of Education, Leslie C. Soodak

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of School Reform On Teacher Professionalism Lessons From Case Studies To Inform Future Professional Development Initiatives, Meher Rizvi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper will outline a number of issues faced by Government Primary Schools in Pakistan. Specifically, it will identify a research agenda that needs to be addressed if these schools are to progress. Pakistan's educational system is faced with many problems and dilemmas and each dilemma justifies a reason, but perhaps no problem is as grave as the low quality, the poor morale and the dejected professional status of the teachers. I say that because I believe that schools are only as good as their teachers, regardless of how high their standards, how up-to-date their technology, or how innovative their …