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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Student Veteran Innovation Workshop: Exploring Purpose-Driven Camaraderie, David Brian Kartchner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There 1 million veterans enrolled in higher education in the U.S., and we know relatively little about them. In this work, the term student veteran refers to both former and current military service members. Most of the small body of literature on student veterans is focused on perceived issues found within this population, rather than the strengths they bring to their academic experience. In recent years, academic work has emerged that advocates a shift to looking at the positive traits of the student veteran community. Building on the emerging strength-based perspectives, the concept of purpose-driven camaraderie among student veterans introduces …

The Impact Of Formative Assessment Cycles On Students' Attitudes And Achievement In A Large-Enrollment Undergraduate Introductory Statistics Course, Kimberleigh Felix Hadfield

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to investigate the impact of student attitudes toward statistics and student achievement after engaging in large-enrollment introductory statistics course curriculum using continuous formative assessments with feedback and reassessment opportunities. This framework, called Formative Assessment Cycles (FACs) was implanted, providing students formative assessments both in and out of the classroom, with feedback and reassessment. A quasi-experimental, quantitative research design allowed for the investigation of course achievement from pre-FACs to FACs semesters using regression discontinuity methodology. Changes in attitudes from pre- to post-survey in semesters using a curriculum with FACs were analyzed by multilevel regression techniques. Course achievement improved …

Preservice Teacher Engineering Design Teaching Efficacy, Laura Wheeler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Science educators are tasked with enacting The Next Generation Science Standards that include engineering core ideas and practices. Many teacher preparation programs and content courses do not include or require engineering design leading many science teachers to believe they are unprepared to teach engineering design. The lack of experience and belief of being unprepared to teach engineering design results in preservice educators’ lack of engineering design teaching self-efficacy. Preparation programs inclusion of efficacy in is essential to understanding later enactment. This mixed-method case study researched the engineering design teaching self-efficacy of eleven preservice educators during an engineering design unit taught …

Redefining “Lgbtq+ Interculture” In Academia, Samantha Winterberg, Michelle Mccraney

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Members of the LGBTQ+ community often face discrimination, harassment, and exclusion in academic settings, which can negatively impact their academic and personal success. Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ students are more likely to experience negative mental health conditions, drop out of school, and struggle to find employment after graduation. Cultural humility fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is critical to ensuring an equitable educational experience for all students, particularly those from marginalized communities. Intercultural understanding is essential to develop cultural humility so that attitudes reflect empathy and tolerance of differences, including sexual or gender orientation variances or ambiguity. Understanding how …

Using Video Games To Jumpstart Student-Centered Research And Inquiry In The General Education Humanities Classroom, Melissa Ridley Elmes

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

This article discusses preliminary results of a study of the author’s use of gaming to facilitate research-based writing assignments in her classes, focusing specifically on a 200-level general education introductory literature course, The Medieval World, taught in Spring 2023 at a U.S. midwestern private university. The purpose of the study was to determine whether approaching topic selection for the research-based writing assignment in a general education literature course through gaming could result in more student buy-in and thus, greater student retention, better student work, and a more successful learning experience and outcome for such an assignment than does a traditional …

Reading-Racetracks And Self-Graphing On Literacy Performance Of Struggling Students With Behavioral Problems, Anne Barwasser, Kerstin Nobel, Matthias Grünke

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Literacy influences all aspects of life. Unfortunately, a rising number of students struggle with reading and spelling, which can result in enormous educational barriers. Difficulties in literacy accompanied by learning-related problem behavior can create additional risk factors. Effective interventions for these students should consider individual needs and focus on multiple components of learning simultaneously. The present single-case study focused on the effects of motivational reading racetracks, with and without self-graphing, on the word-reading and spelling performance of three third graders with severe literacy and behavior problems. Our intervention was carried out three times a week over a 5-week period. The …

An Introduction To The Algebra Revolution, Art Bardige

Numeracy

Bardige, Art. 2022. The Algebra Revolution: How Spreadsheets Eliminate Algebra 1 to Transform Education; (Bookbaby) 135 pp. UNSPSC 55111505.

The Algebra Revolution: How Spreadsheets Eliminate Algebra 1 to Transform Education argues that Algebra 1 can be eliminated by teaching mathematics through spreadsheets. Such a change would eliminate the greatest roadblock to student achievement.

Covid Learning Loss: A Call To Action, Nathan D. Grawe

Numeracy

The COVID-19 pandemic and policy responses designed to mitigate transmission have caused deep and persistent mathematics learning loss among K–12 students. While initial data might have been read optimistically as a blip that would reverse once schools returned to normal, 2023 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that losses persist. While the NAEP does not directly measure quantitative reasoning (QR), the data present a disturbing picture for QR instruction and call for new lines of research that inform QR pedagogical response.

Bite-Sized Quantitative Reasoning Essays: A Review Of Numbers Don’T Lie: 71 Stories To Help Us Understand The Modern World (2020), By Vaclav Smil, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

In Numbers Don’t Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World (2020), Vaclav Smil draws on his interdisciplinary background in science, public policy, and history to provide readers with 71 short essays that help us better understand aspects of the world–including its people, environment, energy consumption, and present crises (among other things). In most of his essays, Smil utilizes both data and reasoning with data to shed light on diverse topics, with issues ranging from happiness rankings and vaccine payoffs to chicken production and diesel engines. Though the book arguably has some flaws, its easy-to-digest essays–many of which …

Universal Design For Learning (Udl) In Inclusive Preschool Science Classrooms, Marla J. Lohmann, Katrina A. Hovey, Ariane N. Gauvreau

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Science instruction is a critical aspect of early learning. Teachers can support young children’s learning about scientific concepts through the use of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which is a proactive approach to instructional planning that helps ensure success for all learners. This teaching techniques article offers preschool teachers practical solutions for implementing in the UDL framework for science instruction in their classrooms.

Delivery Matters—Or Does It? A Snapshot Of Online Versus In-Person Instruction, Carol A. Mullen

Essays in Education

Online instruction and computer-based innovations in brick-and-mortar institutions are here to stay, but the study of distance delivery is lacking. Areas needing more attention include instructional effectiveness and student satisfaction. Educational quality, especially in online classes, should be monitored and evaluated to ensure learning, collaboration, and success, as well as to gain knowledge and improve practice. The purpose of this paper is to encourage scholar–practitioner dialogue on and comparison of issues pertaining to online and in-person instruction for adult learners. The research question guiding this exploratory qualitative study was, Are there any differences in the learning performance of two graduate …

Adults' Recollections And Reflections On The Impacts Of Grade Retention, April Dockery

Curriculum and Instruction ED.D. (Theses/Dissertations)

This qualitative study chronicles the experiences of retention as told by adults who experienced retention. Through criterion sampling and snowball sampling, ten participants were identified and interviewed to learn more about their experiences with retention. Through one-on-one interviews, the researcher sought to examine what characterizes the experiences and responses of adults who were retained during their K-12 academic career. Their in-depth responses revealed participants’ perceptions of retention and the effects that it produced in their lives. This study humanized the data by allowing participants to tell an account of retention that coincides with past research. The findings of this study …

Review: Teaching Stem To First Generation College Students: A Guidebook For Faculty And Future Faculty By Gail Horowitz, Jessica S. Robbins

Early College Folio

Book Review: Gail Horowitz’s Teaching STEM to First Generation College Students: A Guidebook for Faculty and Future Faculty (Information Age Publishing, 2019). Horowitz taught chemistry at Bard High School Early College Newark.

Artist Into An Educator—Educator Inside An Artist, Raheela Qabool Abro Ms

Early College Folio

This study is a self-investigation of the author's identity by exploring her two professions: an artist as well as an art educator. Her insights as an educator provided a background for her as an artist through the production of this series of miniature artworks created with cell phone SIM cards. A SIM card, which stands for “Subscriber Identification Module,” contains information tied to the identity of the individual using it. For this reason, the author chose it as a medium for creating an art series to represent identity. In the dialogue of artist and educator, Abro confronts changes to the …

Teaching Food Studies In Early College: Experiments In Collaboration, Cynthia Brown, Maryann Tebben

Early College Folio

This article outlines the process of designing and teaching a collaborative course on sustainable food and agriculture on multiple campuses at once, including two early college institutions. The authors offer insights on the specific elements of the course they designed as well as methods for designing the course, what worked in practice, and what they would change. This article will be useful for faculty who would like to work with other early college colleagues to plan a collaborative course in general or a specific course on sustainable food and farms.