Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

The Effect Of Visual Arts On At-Risk Students, Nicole E. Seidler

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Creation through visual art is demonstrated by a variety of all ages. Visual art-based learning is known to build focus, reduce stress, provide a sense of accomplishment, and spark an increase in well-being. Many people have been known to benefit from the creation of art. With the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, educators across the country have noticed an increase of students who are considered at-risk. Many school districts have made it a priority to look at ways of improving these students’ behavior, participation, view on school, or overall well-being. This research study takes place at a rural Wisconsin high …

An Analysis Of How Teaching Through Invention And Consolidation Phases Affects High School Students’ Understanding Of Algebraic Concepts And Beliefs About Mathematics, Cally Simanski

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This quantitative study used a pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design to investigate how students’ understanding of algebraic concepts compared when they were taught using invention and consolidation phases or traditional direct instruction. It also explored how students’ beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics were affected by learning through invention and consolidation phases through a survey with a Likert scale. The study took place during the 2022-2023 academic year in the Intermediate Algebra II course at a mid-size public high school in Minnesota. The researcher had two sections of the course and taught one through direct instruction and the other through invention …

Ethnographic Research Of The Impact Of Catalyst Strategies On The Engagement And Relationships Within The Classroom For 6th Graders Versus 2nd Graders In General Education, Casey Poland, Rene Beaird, Amber Keller, Sara Kubicek

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This 2023 study focused on the effectiveness of the Catalyst Approach to classroom management in a second-grade versus sixth-grade classrooms in the same district. The Catalyst Approach is a comprehensive classroom implementation model that includes strategies for getting attention, engaging students, setting up for success, and supporting success. Whole group strategies are emphasized in this approach to aid in building a productive classroom environment (Burns & Brinkman, 2018). Our focus with this study was threefold: to see how the Catalyst Approach affected classroom management, how the Catalyst Approach affected relationships within the classroom environment, and how the Catalyst Approach compared …

Global Educational Ramifications Of Covid-19 On Minorities And Students Living In Poverty Or Extreme Poverty: A Literature Review, Jessie S. Thacker-King

Journal of Global Education and Research

Public education requires all stakeholders to collaborate as a community and focus on the essential factors that create a path for student progress, growth, and maturity. The result nurtures students from kindergarten to graduation and beyond and affords them opportunities to become efficacious members of their communities. Schools are a business operating on the premise of the service industry, working collectively with and for the communities they serve. Their operational parameters are to work with all stakeholders to successfully facilitate excellence in education for all students regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Recent COVID-19 school closures have opened dialogues …

Learning To Learn In Mathematics: Two Fulbright Distinguished Awards In Teaching Fellows’ Narratives, Sabrina Goldberg, Jana Dean, Paivi Portaankorva-Koivisto

Journal of Global Education and Research

Two middle school educators earned a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching fellowship. A Fulbright Finland Foundation inter-country travel grant provided the grantees with a unique opportunity to connect and collaborate at the University of Helsinki. Within this research, they described their inquiry experiences. The research included examining authentic student-centered learning continuums and phenomenon-based learning in Finland and teachers’ adaptability in relation to meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse math classrooms in the Netherlands. This paper summarizes how cross-cultural dialogues, classroom observations, and informal interviews with educators, students, and thought leaders informed each grantee’s discovery of how student-centered learning …

Meet Me In The Middle: A Scoping Review On Understanding Adolescent Needs In Climate Communication, Gwendolyn Monica Hoff Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The greatest effects of climate change are likely to be felt by youth. Young people are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their critical developmental stage and lack of power, and they experience both higher severity and prevalence of mental health issues related to climate change. Strong emotions have long been recognized as potential catalysts for action, or they may lead to paralyzing feelings of being overwhelmed. Climate communication is a critical tool to spark climate concern and encourage action. Activism, in turn, may help youth manage their anxiety about climate change. This scoping review examines emerging evidence on …

Teacher Candidate Self-Efficacy And Ability To Teach Literacy: A Comparison Of Residency And Traditional Teacher Preparation Models, Doreen L. Mazzye, Michelle A. Duffy, Richard L. Lamb

Journal of Global Education and Research

This comparative study explored self-efficacy and ability for scientifically-based literacy instruction between a traditional and residency model of teacher preparation. Pre-/post-survey data was collected using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy for Literacy Scale. Mentor teachers completed a modified version of the survey on candidates’ abilities. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-tests, independent sample t-tests, and a trend analysis. Results revealed that candidates in the Residency Model held higher levels of self-efficacy for literacy instruction than in the Traditional Model. Mentor teachers rated candidates in the Residency Model as more able to teach literacy than those in the …

Special Education: Inclusion And Exclusion In The K-12 U.S. Educational System, Erik Brault

Dissertations

The U.S. Department of Education defines students with disabilities as those having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities. Previous research has found that students with disabilities placed in inclusive environments perform better academically and socially compared to students with disabilities who are placed in segregated environments. Yet, we know that inclusion in K-12 general education classrooms across the country is not consistently implemented.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the effects, if any, of general education high school teachers’ personal and professional experiences and knowledge on their attitudes toward educating …

Audacious Corazón: A Nuanced Art Of Care, Dianne Bermudez Torres

Dissertations

Historically, the concept of care in higher education has focused on academic achievements, neglecting the significance of building meaningful relationships between faculty and students that engage both affective and cognitive dimensions (Noddings, 1994). Teaching with the heart, or corazón, embodies care in teaching. Employed in this study was a mixed-methods, exploratory case study approach that explored the intricate art of care and how faculty foster bilingual authorization credential teacher candidates to evolve into culturally responsive educators. Pearson et al.’s (2021) cariño pedagogy serves as a model that empowers faculty’s humanizing agency. Additionally, the study also reflected on the concept of …

Teacher Perceptions On The Influence Of The Amistad Integrated Units On Instructional Practices And Black Female Students' Academic Experiences, Tiffany Wicks

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to understand the thoughts of teachers on the Amistad Integrated Units and the influence of the culturally relevant units on Black female students. The researcher identified if culturally relevant pedagogy influenced teacher instructional practices and the classroom academic experiences of Black female students. The findings helped to explain the needs of Black girls in an urban classroom and possible solutions that can benefit them within classroom environments.

For this study, the researcher used a narrative inquiry research design to examine and understand the perspectives of teachers and the influence of culturally relevant curriculum …

Development Of A Nurse Anesthesia Program Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Airway Examination Curriculum, Sarah Elyse Sandheinrich Butler, Colton Phillip Butler

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Airway management is a critical and fundamental skill for anesthesia providers. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is an up-and-coming assessment technique that can provide critical information about a patient’s airway anatomy and may increase patient safety during anesthesia care. As a result, understanding the appropriate POCUS equipment, techniques, findings, and clinical implications for airway examination can become essential for safe and effective anesthesia practice. This project aimed to develop a clinical airway POCUS examination curriculum with detailed instructions on all aspects of appropriate examination equipment, set-up, technique, and implications for findings. The team designed the curriculum to incorporate it into the host …

De Médée À La Sorcière : Reconstruction D’Un Mythe Par Michelet, Caroline Strobbe

The Coastal Review: An Online Peer-reviewed Journal

In La Sorcière, Jules Michelet uses the strength and the myth of the Medea character, which had already fascinated Corneille. In the second part of his work, Michelet creates nominative witches after authentic texts. In the first part, he creates an allegoric witch on the Medea model: the Woman, a victim of arbitrariness, injustice and repression, rises up against her oppressors, figuring the march of Humanity towards Enlightenment and Liberty. The analogies between the Witch and Medea are therefore numerous and necessary, since they help to render the defense of the oppressed against the oppressor. Would the somber Medea, …

Book Review Of Beyond Provincialism: Promoting Global Competencies In Teacher And Educator Preparation, David Sandles

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

With an increased emphasis on intercultural and global competence, teacher preparation programs around the world are stridently searching for growth opportunities for students in these areas. An important resource to this discussion is Beyond Provincialism: Promoting Global Competencies in Teacher and Educator Preparation, which supplies readers with scholarly, pragmatic approaches to developing students’ knowledge quotients with salient ideas that revolve around food insecurity, school improvement, communities of practice, mathematics education, internationalization of the curriculum, place-based education, and distance learning. Expertly linking these global issues to the United Nation’s Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs), the authors seek to educate educator preparation …

Impacting Student Self-Efficacy In English/Language Arts: Using Student-Generated Questions In Small Group Discussions, Heather Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Student engagement in the classroom can be a struggle for many teachers. Research shows that student engagement can be impacted by student self-efficacy in the classroom, and student engagement increases when participating in small group discussions and inquiry-based activities. This qualitative study aimed to understand the impact using student-generated questions in small group discussions had on student self-efficacy in the high school English/language arts classroom. A survey was created and given to 21 twelfth-grade student participants prior to and after using student-generated questions in three separate small group discussions in an elective English/language arts class. Qualitative data were also collected …

Navigating The Context: Implementing Inquiry In The Middle School Social Studies Classroom, Juliann Noble Healy

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

Abstract

Despite over a century of advocacy by social studies scholars and professionals and the development of curricular resources to promote inquiry-based learning (IBL) in K-12 social studies, inquiry is not a defining element of the K-12 social studies classroom (Saye, 2017). Teachers face significant barriers to the use of inquiry-based learning. In particular, contextual barriers such as curriculum breadth, high-stakes testing, and lack of context-specific resources are indicated (e.g., Konopack et al., 1994; Martell, 2020; Voet & Wever, 2016). However, recent research presents applications of IBL in K-12 social studies classrooms, which suggests the potential to overcome barriers. This …

The Effects Of Social-Emotional Learning, Classroom Relationships, And Collaborative Learning On Students’ Emotional Intelligence And Academic Achievement, Slade Simpson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Within educational settings, people are quick to blame intellectual development, or a lack thereof, for students’ shortcomings. However, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in issues related to students’ mental health and emotional well-being that have been detrimental to their academic progress. This quasi-experimental study investigated whether or not development of emotional intelligence through the use of social-emotional learning, relationship development, and collaborative learning has a positive impact on a students’ academic achievement. The results of this study were used to help determine if an educational focus on emotional intelligence can provide a viable option to combat …

A Comparison Of Two Approaches To Promote Multiplication Fact Fluency In Fifth Grade, Jordyn Berger

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Fifth grade students are expected to be fluent in basic multiplication facts by the start of fifth grade, however many are not (Minnesota Department of Education, 2007). When fifth grade students are not fluent in basic multiplication facts, they struggle to understand and master grade level skills and standards (Allen-Lyall, 2018; Burns et al., 2012; Ok & Bryant, 2016; The Math Learning Center, 2017; Wong & Evans, 2007). This quantitative research study compared two classwide approaches to promote multiplication fact fluency in fifth grade. Throughout the research phase, one fifth grade math class practiced multiplication facts for ten minutes each …

The Effectiveness Of Using Phonics Instruction And Interventions In Elementary Classrooms, Brittany Kasprick

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Nationwide students have struggled to achieve reading proficiency as measured by standardized tests. Reading is a critical tool for academic success. Lack of reading skills and strategies may contribute to difficulty in several aspects of academic life for students. Research has shown that phonics skills play a crucial part in determining if a student will achieve independent readership. Phonics skills may be foundational building blocks upon which students can develop further reading skills, culminating in independent readership, particularly in early elementary school. Daily phonics interventions may help improve a student’s performance in reading. The focus of this particular, quantitative study …

The Effectiveness Of Explicit Literacy Instruction On Kindergarten And First-Grade Student’S Decoding Abilities, Megan Parenteau, Monica Parenteau, Stacy Olson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

There is a growing concern among educators regarding how children best develop early literacy skills. Due to this educational concern, the purpose of this study was to investigate and build a better understanding of how explicit and systematic phonics, phonemic, and phonological awareness instruction impact kindergarten and first-grade student’s ability to decode text. Participants of the study included students currently enrolled in the researcher’s kindergarten and first-grade classrooms within two elementary schools consisting of 54 students. The researchers modeled and taught literacy skills and concepts on a daily basis with all students using explicit and systematic literacy instruction. The research …

The Effectiveness Of Explicit Literacy Instruction On Kindergarten And First-Grade Student’S Decoding Abilities, Monica Parenteau, Megan Parenteau, Stacy Olson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

There is a growing concern among educators regarding how children best develop early literacy skills. Due to this educational concern, the purpose of this study was to investigate and build a better understanding of how explicit and systematic phonics, phonemic, and phonological awareness instruction impact kindergarten and first-grade student’s ability to decode text. Participants of the study included students currently enrolled in the researcher’s kindergarten and first-grade classrooms within two elementary schools consisting of 54 students. The researchers modeled and taught literacy skills and concepts on a daily basis with all students using explicit and systematic literacy instruction. The research …