Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

The Impact Of Blogging On K-12 Student Learning: Engagement, Self-Expression, And Higher-Order Thinking, Brian Mcgurk

Graduate Research Papers

Blogging has become an increasingly important instructional tool in education. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the impact of blogging on K-12 student learning with special emphasis on engagement, self-expression, and higher-order thinking. The review analyzed thirty scholarly articles that incorporated perspectives on best practices associated with blogging. Special attention was given to empirical research with sound research design, and the scope was limited to sources published between 2004 and 2014. The results of the review find that blogging can increase student engagement by cultivating a student-centered online environment that motivates students to write for an audience. …

Determining The Benefits And Designing An Externship Program For Medical Office Students At Marshalltown Community College, Kristin Murphy

Graduate Research Papers

The focus of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of and best design for an externship experience for the Medical Office program at Marshalltown Community College (MCC) in Marshalltown, Iowa. To that end, this paper provides background on Marshalltown Community College's Medical Office program; defines extemship education; highlights the value of extemships to the community college, students, instructors, and employers, as well as potential benefits specific to MCC's Medical Office program; discusses the design/setup factors that influence an effective externship program; and provides recommendations based on the findings for pursuing and implementing an externship program at MCC in …

The Effect Of Game-Based Learning On Middle School Students' Academic Achievement, Marija-Lisa Musselman

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this literature review is to explore the connections of paratexts and multiple literacies in game-based learning to traditional literacies and examine the effectiveness of game-based learning on middle school students' academic performance in STEM subjects. Thirty peer-reviewed journal articles with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods as well as literature reviews were surveyed. Research shows game-based learning is a viable instructional method that offers close connections to traditional literacies in the classroom and an opportunity for improving student academic achievement when implemented purposefully in STEM content areas. Recommendations for teachers' effective implementation and the future directions …

Effective Implementation Of 1:1 Computing : Benefits And Teacher Readiness, Kirstin Thompson

Graduate Research Papers

One-to-one (1:1) computing initiatives have become widespread in K-12 schools today. The benefits of 1:1 computing are tremendous, but schools must take careful consideration when planning for such initiatives. The purpose of this literature review is to examine effective methods for 1:1 implementation. Thirty peer-reviewed studies on 1:1 computing programs in K-12 schools were purposefully selected, the majority being from 2010 to present. Special attention was given to benefits of 1:1 computing and several key elements leading to teachers' readiness for successful 1:1 program implementation: overcoming teacher fears, changing teacher beliefs and attitudes, and strengthening professional development in order to …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Secondary Mathematics In An Urban Classroom, Julia Glissmann North

Honors Program Theses

Research and test scores have shown that African-American, Latino, Native American, and other minority students are underachieving in secondary mathematics. This is concerning not only to school personnel – who are under pressure to have students perform well on standardized tests – but also to the future of the country. When teachers adopt a culturally relevant pedagogy, diverse students will have a better opportunity to learn and retain mathematical content. When academic content is taught in a culturally relevant way, students are able to retain the information, improve their performance in school, and become more informed participants in society. Through …

We The People: Elementary Pre-Service Teachers And Constitutional Readability, Lori T. Meier, Karin Keith, Edward J. Dwyer

ETSU Faculty Works

In light of increasing mandates to incorporate close reading of primary source historical documents at the elementary level, this study explored the reading difficulty level of the US Constitution with preservice elementary teachers using a traditional cloze assessment procedure. While best practice pedagogy of social studies has long included thoughtful reading of primary sources, new language arts guidelines situate the analysis of primary documents within formulaic quantifiable frameworks, often problematic to the pre-service teacher. With implications for reading and social studies, this paper explores several relevant issues to both pre-service teachers and the elementary classrooms they will teach in.

The Effectiveness Of Flipped Classroom Learning In Higher Education : A Literature Review From 2009 To 2014, Samir Taha Amin

Graduate Research Papers

Some higher education institutes and some individual teachers have flipped their classrooms using the methodology of "lecture out, homework in" thus, enabling students to review lectures before classroom time. Teachers in tum- use classroom time for discussion and homework help instead of lectures. This review discusses the relationship between flipping classrooms and students' engagement and achievement. Studies used in this review were published between 2009 and 2014. The scope of this review is to investigate the effects of flipped classroom models on students' engagement and achievement in higher education. Many studies reported successful implementation of the flipped classroom. Results indicate …

Integrating Ipads Into The Elementary Physical Education Curriculum, Tyler M. Hellmann

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of integrating 1: 1 iPads into a Physical Education unit. The participants of this project were twenty-five six-graders, randomly assigned into an experimental and a control group, a physical education teacher and a technology teacher (teacher researcher). The preliminary finding from this one-month pilot study revealed a significant difference of the qualities of work between the two groups as a result of the implementation of iPads as a motivation factor for the experimental group. It also showed the classroom dynamics were better off with the experimental group when students and …

The Perceptions Of Teacher Librarians And Principals Regarding The Role Of The Teacher Librarian In The Implementation Of The Iowa Multi-Tiered System Of Supports, Katy A. Kauffman

Graduate Research Papers

The problem identified in this study is the lack of information regarding the role of the teacher librarian in the implementation of Iowa's Multi-Tiered System of Supports. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of teacher librarians and principals regarding the role of the teacher librarian in the implementation of the Iowa Multi-Tiered System of Supports.

In this descriptive study, a survey comprised of both closed- ended and open-ended questions was sent to each teacher librarian and head building principal in an Iowan suburban school district. Follow-up interviews were conducted with those respondents who indicated a willingness to …

Effectiveness Of Blended Learning On Student Engagement, Tyler Youngers

Graduate Research Papers

Despite the increase in 1:1 computing initiatives in K-12 schools and increased technology use in higher education for blended learning, there is little empirical evidence of significant gains in learning outcomes. The use of the 1:1 initiatives to support student blended learning is the intent and purpose, but improved learning outcomes will not occur solely from investment in devices. This review investigates the promises and emerging research evidence of effectiveness of blended learning as a way to augment learning initiatives both in K-12 and in the higher education settings. This review draws from 30 peer-reviewed studies published in academic journals, …

Using Topology To Explore Mathematics Education Reform, Carling Sugarman

HMC Senior Theses

Mathematics education is a constant topic of conversation in the United States. Many attempts have been made historically to reform teaching methods and improve student results. Particularly, past ideas have emphasized problem-solving to make math feel more applicable and enjoyable. Many have additionally tackled the widespread problem of “math anxiety” by creating lessons that are more discussion-based than drill-based to shift focus from speed and accuracy. In my project, I explored past reform goals and some added goals concerning students' perceptions of mathematics. To do so, I created and tested a pilot workshop in topology, a creative and intuitive field, …

A Critical Assessment Of Spu’S Urban Plunge: A Proposal For The John Perkins Center, Scott D. Jackson

Honors Projects

This paper is written as an organizational report on the Urban Plunge Program for consideration by the John Perkins Center at Seattle Pacific University. I review Urban Plunge offering a critique and recommendations for re-imagining the program in its future development. I argue that the program needs to be clearly defined as an educational program, grounded in a conceptual framework, given a clarified and expanded mission, and guided by informed curriculum. Beyond critique, I create a proposal for programmatic content and organization to meet these identified needs.

The Business Of Transition: A Curriculum, Hayley Hill

Honors Projects

This project consists of a basic money management and business skills curriculum that is intended for students aged 16-20 at the Uganda Orphans Fund (UOF) and has been developed with Uganda’s unique culture specifically in mind. The curriculum aims to equip the young adults at UOF for a successful life, both financially and vocationally, once they leave the orphanage. Currently, the students are equipped with neither personal money management nor basic business skills. With the addition of financial and business comprehension to UOFs current curriculum, students will be provided the students with the ability to make responsible financial and business …

Prelude - An Augmented Reality Ios Application For Music Education, Kristen Brown

Honors Projects

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology which serves to enhance the real world environment through the addition of relevant digital content, and has many potential applications within a variety of different fields, including, but not limited to, fields such as marketing, entertainment, medicine, and education. The purpose of this project is to develop an iOS augmented reality application for music educators that will serve as a tool in teaching students to recognize specific music notes and symbols.

Extending An Alternative: Writing Centers And Curricular Change, Joe Essid

English Faculty Publications

When our Writing Center staked its reputation and perhaps its survival on a proposal to change our first-year curriculum, we entered territory that would have been unthinkable to those in our field a few decades ago. Writing center directors and peer tutors may not like it, but the climate now is very different from the salad days of the 1980s, when scholars such as Tilly and John Warnock argued “it is probably a mistake for centers to seek integration into the established institution” (22). In both the United States and EU nations, we face curricular change driven by emerging technologies, …

A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change With Increased Investment In Instructional Time, Christopher D. Shaffer, Consuelo J. Alvarez, April E. Bednarski, David Dunbar, Anya L. Goodman, Catherine Reinke, Anne G. Rosenwald, Michael J. Wolyniak, Cheryl Bailey, Daron Barnard, Christopher Bazinet, Dale L. Beach, James E.J. Bedard, Satish Bhalla, John Braverman, Martin Burg, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Hui-Min Chung, Kari Clase, Randall J. Dejong, Justin R. Diangelo, Chunguang Du, Todd T. Eckdahl, Heather Eisler, Julia A. Emerson, Amy Frary, Donald Frohlich, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Adam Haberman, Amy T. Hark, Charles Hauser, Arlene Hoogewerf, Laura L.M. Hoopes, Carina E. Howell, Diana Johnson, Christopher J. Jones, Lisa Kadlec, Marian Kaehler, S. Catherine Silver Key, Adam Kleinschmit, Nighat P. Kokan, Olga Kopp, Gary Kuleck, Judith Leatherman, Jane Lopilato, Christy Mackinnon, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado, Gerard Mcneil, Stephanie Mel, Hemlata Mistry, Alexis Nagengast, Paul Overvoorde, Don W. Paetkau, Susan Parrish, Celeste N. Peterson, Mary Preuss, Laura K. Reed, Dennis Revie, Srebrenka Robic, Jennifer Roecklein-Canfield, Michael R. Rubin, Kenneth Saville, Stephanie Schroeder, Karim Sharif, Mary Shaw, Gary Skuse, Christopher D. Smith, Mary A. Smith, Sheryl T. Smith, Eric Spana, Mary Spratt, Aparna Sreenivasan, Joyce Stamm, Paul Szauter, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Matthew Wawersik, James Youngblom, Leming Zhou, Elaine R. Mardis, Jeremy Buhler, Wilson Leung, David Lopatto, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Faculty Publications

There is widespread agreement that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs should provide undergraduates with research experience. Practical issues and limited resources, however, make this a challenge. We have developed a bioinformatics project that provides a course-based research experience for students at a diverse group of schools and offers the opportunity to tailor this experience to local curriculum and institution-specific student needs. We assessed both attitude and knowledge gains, looking for insights into how students respond given this wide range of curricular and institutional variables. While different approaches all appear to result in learning gains, we find that a significant …

Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann

ETSU Faculty Works

Analysis is typically listed in taxonomies of higher order thinking. Academics consider these taxonomies worthwhile, but they are hard to teach and we are apt to ignore them. Today higher education is criticized for “dumbing down” curriculum or lowering standards. To rectify this, many policies at the state or national level are requiring higher education institutions to change. In K-12 education, Race to the Top and Common Core requirements are placing new demands on K-12 teacher preparation, which include evaluation of the analysis skills of pre-service teachers. But professors do not always view their disciplines as the proper place for …

Sex And Gender Identity: A New Perspective For College Student Development, Steven Ray Wise

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

One of the goals of college student development professionals is to help undergraduate students develop a meaningful sense of personal identity. Early in the history of the profession, practitioners borrowed freely from related fields such as sociology and psychology to guide their practice, but beginning around the 1960s, scholars began in earnest to develop their own unique body of literature. In this work I examine the development of that scholarly work as it relates to identity development—specifically the evolution of understanding around the issues of sex and gender identity development.

Beginning with William Perry, whose work has impacted so many …

Language Proficiency: Perceptions And Mediated Actions Of A Kentucky World Language Educator, Laura Roché Youngworth

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Since the inception of the Kentucky Educational Reform Act in 1990, Kentucky has undergone numerous educational changes. Regarding world languages, recent changes include a new state World Language Standard, a K-12 world language program review, and university language proficiency entrance requirements. These changes create an interesting context in which world language educators negotiate their perceptions and pedagogical choices. This study explored the perceptions, influences, and pedagogical choices of one Kentucky world language educator regarding language proficiency and cultural tools of context, standards and assessments. A constructivist framework guided the case study design. Data collection included interviews, observations, and artifact collection …

Measuring Student Satisfaction In Online Math Courses, Antoinette M. Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Colleges and universities worldwide have struggled to find a way to measure student satisfaction in online courses. This study examined the growth of math courses that are delivered in the online format. This study aims to address many gaps in the research literature concerning distance education using technology. In particular, it is the intention of this study to investigate satisfaction and performance of students as a result of taking online courses.

There has been an expanding concern over whether students are satisfied and can perform well in courses taken in an online environment. Satisfaction and performance in distance education have …