Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

The Impact Of Manipulatives On Learning In The Elementary And Middle School Mathematics Classroom, Laura Dahl

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This paper is a review of research pertaining to the use of manipulatives in the elementary and middle school mathematics classrooms. It embodies the logic behind using manipulative materials in the classroom setting and the impact their use will have on student understanding and enjoyment for learning mathematical concepts. This research paper will identify the struggles and concerns of manipulative use along with the need of increased professional development and training for teachers to be better prepared for the daunting, yet rewarding challenges of successfully teaching mathematics.

Boys And Writing: Strategies To Support Struggling Boy Writers, Dionne Corinne Ellingsen

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a guide for elementary teachers to improve writing strategies and motivation of boys. Nationally, boys are more likely than girls to struggle with writing in the elementary classroom. Teachers need to understand the differences that boys and girls bring to their classroom and develop strategies and lessons that make writing more inviting to boys. The project discusses current research about why boys are more likely to struggle than girls, because of innate differences in the brain, the classroom arrangement, and issues of motivation. It also provides a guide of activities and strategies …

A Case Study On Perspectives, Whitney Tallarico

Senior Honors Projects

The Rhode Island Training School becomes a home to juvenile offenders of the law.  Home, in so far as it is a place that they sleep, eat, and spend a lot of time in, as well as the atmosphere in which learning and growth occur during the adolescent phase of their lives.  There is a very high rate of released inmates who return to the facility for things like running away from group homes, not checking in with their parole officers, or other misdemeanors.  It is my belief that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that …

Students Teaching Students: Changing The Uri Honors Program Pedagogy, Bridget C. Griffith

Senior Honors Projects

The myriad lecture courses I have completed as a microbiology major have convinced me that lecturing does not create an optimal learning environment. Therefore, my Senior Honors Project is the initiation of a Students Teaching Students (STS) program in the URI Honors Program. The excitement of a student-run course option at URI became apparent to me early in my academic career. The STS model has been used at other universities for over 55 years, including at Tufts University, Oberlin College, and The Rubenstein College of the Environment at the University of Vermont. The program being put into place at URI …

Evaluation Of Ri Middle School Science Kits In Regards To The Ri Grade Span Expectations, Melissa L. Wetzel

Senior Honors Projects

Evaluation of Rhode Island Middle School Science Kits in Regards to Rhode Island Grade Span Expectations

Melissa Wetzel

Faculty Sponsor:  Jay Fogleman, Education

The Rhode Island Department of Education provides a set of Grade Span Expectations (GSEs) that outline major ideas in science, including physical, life, and earth and space science. Students in Rhode Island schools are expected to be able to demonstrate understanding of each GSE in order to graduate high school with proficiency in science. Educators do not always have the time to “unpack” the GSEs that line up with the grade level they teach. Unpacking a GSE …

The Importance Of Course Offerings On The Topic Of Environmental Sustainability At The University Of Rhode Island, Sarah Kane

Senior Honors Projects

For my project, I created a survey for University of Rhode Island students’ exploring their experiences and interest in course offerings on sustainability.  I am distributing it to students through different mediums such as email, Facebook and in person. Through my analysis of the results, I am seeking some evidence about whether or not students at this institute feel that our school offers enough courses on this topic and whether or not students are interested in taking courses on this topic.

As a business major, I have taken several courses where we learned about surveying and analysis of the results. …

The Development Of Phonological Awareness In Young Children: Examining The Effectiveness Of A Phonological Awareness Program, Stephanie Schmitz

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effectiveness of the Road to the Code phonological awareness program on the development of at-risk, kindergarten students’ phonological awareness and early reading skills.  Six kindergarten students were identified as experiencing difficulty in the area of phonological awareness and were divided into three groups.  This study included three phases:  a baseline phase, during which no instruction in the Road to the Code program was provided; an intervention phase, during which the Road to the Code program was implemented; and a maintenance phase. Student reading progress was monitored using standardized measures from …

Factors Influencing Music Teacher Retention: A Mixed Method Study, Charles W. Cushinery

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine what internal and external factors influence the retention attributions of secondary level music teachers who participated in this study and identify what interactions exist between those factors. Phase one of this study was a survey of a group of secondary music teachers (N=260). The survey was used to quantify those factors that influenced music teacher retention and how those factors were ranked by the survey group. Phase two of this study employed case study methodology, specifically, interviews of six secondary music teachers selected from the initial survey pool, to provide a …

Learning Middle School Mathematics Through Student Designed And Constructed Video Games, Camille M. Mccue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mathematics achievement is an area in which American precollege students are faltering. Emerging research suggests that making mathematics instruction relevant and applicable in the lives of youth may impact math achievement, especially when it capitalizes on high-interest technologies such as video games.

Employing a quasi-experimental and descriptive approach, this study examined the mathematics (i.e., numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and probability) that middle school students employed during their design and construction of video games. First, it examined the mathematics content learned by 19 sixth and seventh graders during their analysis, synthesis, and programming of three video game projects over …

Using Graphs To Represent Physical Phenomena In A Fourth Grade Classroom, Mehmet Fatih Dulger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined to what extent inquiry-based instruction supported with real-time graphing technology improves fourth grader's ability to interpret graphs as representations of physical science concepts such as motion and temperature. This study also examined whether there is any difference between inquiry-based instruction supported with real-time graphing software and inquiry-based instruction supported with traditional laboratory equipment in terms of improving fourth graders' ability to interpret motion and temperature graphs. Results of this study showed that there is a significant advantage in using real-time graphing technology to support fourth graders' ability to read and interpret graphs.

School Choice Decisions: A Naturalistic-Constructivist Inquiry Into Parents’ Perceptions On School Choice And School Improvement At A Pedagogically Progressive Charter School, Emily Louise Gibson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Politicians and educational leaders often cite school choice as a sound mechanism for improving public education. However, education theorists and researchers call for more research to verify whether and how choice has an impact on what happens in public schools for all learners, and suggest that there is a need for more naturalistic-constructivist studies to examine the realities inherent in school choice contexts. Missing from the research literature are in-depth perspectives of those on the front lines of school choice decision: parents.

This naturalistic-constructivist inquiry used grounded theory and mixed methods to examine parents’ recollections of their own elementary education …

The Use Of Picture Books In The High School Classroom: A Qualitative Case Study, Melissa Reiker

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Picture books (stories in which the both the text and illustrations contribute to meaning) have long been thought of as appropriate only at primary grade levels because of their short length, simple plots, and minimal number of characters. When used at the secondary level, their principal function has been as remediation for struggling readers or English language learners (ELLs). However, anecdotal evidence and an exhaustive literature review strongly suggest that the supplemental use of picture books increases engagement and learning among high school students at all instructional levels. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of picture …

Bank Street And Teach For America: Process And Preparation, Paul Shirk

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this paper I analyze the goals and practices of education that are implied in the mission statements and literature of Bank Street College of Education (Bank Street) and Teach for America (TFA). I noticed and struggled to understand the tension between the mission statements of the two organizations that I was a part of during my master's program. While analyzing the readings and my experiences, I began to see differences between these two organizations' theories and beliefs about child development. I considered how my experiences with children supported or refuted these beliefs. From Bank Street, I recognized many beliefs …

How Do Teacher Qualifications Impact Student Achievement In Relation To The Achievement Model Established By The Mississippi Department Of Education?, Timothy Darren Holland

Dissertations

The following study was conducted in a six-county geographical region and involved teachers from various high schools that taught classes which were involved in the subject area testing program. Each participant taught one of the four state-mandated subject area classes that are tested to determine achievement levels and accreditation ratings for each high school.

The focus of the study was to collect information from each teacher regarding the qualifications they held during the 2009-2010 school year and to compare those qualifications with the mean scale score for each teacher’s subject area classes. The researcher focused on five separate teacher qualifications …

Teacher Professional Development And Its Effects On Reading Instruction, Kristen Lea Suarez

Dissertations

The world of education is an ever-evolving profession. We, as a society, have learned so much about education and how we can better benefit our students. Students depend on education to equip them with the tools needed to become successful. This dissertation addresses the need for and adequacy of today’s teacher professional development in Reading instruction and how that training can translate into more meaningful classroom education.

The writer surveyed elementary Reading teachers in grades 3-6 from two school districts in southern Mississippi to determine their perceptions concerning various elements of the professional development training they received during the 2009-2010 …

Student Achievement In Block And Non-Block Schedule Schools, William Shelton Smith Jr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the number of minutes allocated for high school instructional periods influences student achievement. The study also examined the perceptions of principals regarding one method of instructional time allocation, block scheduling.

The study examined the differences in student achievement on a high school exit examination in the content areas of Reading and Mathematics between schools in a southern state using a four-period block schedule and schools using a non-block schedule in order to ascertain if the type of schedule has any impact on student achievement. Additionally, information pertaining to scheduling was collected …

A Descriptive Study Of Dependent And Independent Personality Characteristics Among Psu Singleton And Non-Singleton Students, Jiani Wu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This descriptive study was designed to explore, describe, and compare singleton and non-singleton Pittsburg State University Chinese students, who self-reported their independent and dependent personality characteristics. Data for this study were obtained from a survey instrument developed by this investigator and administrated to volunteer Chinese students (Mainland or Taiwan) enrolled in 2010 fall semester at Pittsburg State University. Participation was voluntary and anonymity was assured. No statistically significant differences were found in independent and dependent personality characteristics among singleton and non-singleton Chinese college students at Pittsburg State University. Conclusions were that the findings from the present study were consistent with …

Fluency Instruction In Contemporary Core Reading Programs, Brady E. Donaldson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Core reading programs (CRPs) provide the curriculum and guide reading instruction for many classroom teachers. The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of reading fluency instruction in current (2008-2011 copyright) grade 2 and 3 top-selling core reading program lessons to answer the following two research questions: (1) How do core reading programs recommend that fluency skills be taught? (2) How do reading fluency instructional practices in core programs compare to evidence-based reading fluency instructional practices defined in current research? The results of the analysis revealed that fluency instruction is more prevalent in current core reading programs …

The Effects Of A Guided Program On Improving Fourth Grade English Reading Comprehension Skills In The Uae., Mohammed Kamil Salhyyah

Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of implementing a guided reading program for promoting reading comprehension skills of grade four pupils in the UAE. This program was based on intensive practice of the targeted skills followed by a gradual release of teacher’s role to have more pupils’ independence while reading. The participants of this study were sixty pupils in grade four who were divided into a control group and a treatment group. Data were collected and analyzed using the results of both the pretest and posttest. The treatment was implementing a guided reading program which lasted …

The Effectiveness Of Using Ict To Enhance The Efl Speaking Skill, Amin Mefreh Amin Elkhayyat

Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of ICT on the EFL speaking skill and its specific components: (I) verbal linguistic, (2) auditory paralinguistic, (3) visual nonverbal paralinguistic. In addition, the study investigated the effects of employing ICT tools on students' motivation. The design of this study was a quasi-experimental design, i.e. pre-post control group design. Thirty-nine male students, from grade eight, of two intact classes at one of the schools in Al-Ain, UAE, participated in this study. The experimental group received learning and teaching of the speaking skill through employing ICT tools, the independent variable, whereas …