Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Brain Breaks And Engagement, Joe'l Vander Waal

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research project explored the effects of brain breaks on student engagement. The participants in this study were 22 eighth-grade students in a language arts classroom at a public middle school in Northwest Iowa. Students were observed to determine engagement for the last 18 minutes of class. A no-treatment period was observed in order to create a baseline, followed by a treatment period to demonstrate any increase or decrease in overall student engagement. The treatment consisted of a three-minute brain break implemented half-way through the class period. These breaks included two minutes of physical activity followed by one minute …

Academic Stress And Honors Students: A Phenomenological Study Of Christian High School Students’ Perceptions And Experiences, James Uitermarkt

Master of Education Program Theses

This research study sought to explore high school students’ perceptions and experiences with academic stress related to advanced/honors courses. The participants were 115 advanced/honors students in a private Christian high school in New Jersey, who responded to an anonymous survey about their perceived stressors and the impact of academic-related stress on their lives. In the second phase of the study, eight students participated in interviews in which they responded to questions related to the causes and impact of academic stress on their overall physical and social-emotional well-being. The results of the survey and interviews clearly showed the pervasive academic pressures …

Investigations Into D'Alembert's Definition Of Limit (Real Analysis Version), Dave Ruch

Analysis

No abstract provided.

Unidad Didáctica, Historia, Séptimo, Sylvia V. Garza

Spring Workshop May 2020

Competencias y Aptitudes Esenciales del Estado de Texas (TEKS, por sus siglas en inglés): Comprender cómo las personas, los acontecimientos y las problemáticas contribuyeron a dar forma a la historia de Texas, desde la Era de la Reconstrucción hasta los inicios del siglo XX. Se espera que el alumno: (B) Identifique las personalidades de relieve, acontecimientos, y problemáticas, incluyendo el desarrollo de la industria ganadera, desde sus principios en la época de la colonia española y hasta el estilo de vida de los vaqueros. (C) Identifique a las personalidades de relieve, acontecimientos y problemáticas, incluyendo los efectos del auge del …

The National Socialists And How They Ostracized An Entire Population, Kathryn Weber

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

In this paper, I analyze how the National Socialists ostracized the Jews before the start of World War II. I also discuss the importance of teaching students about this topic in US schools in a way that promotes historical inquiry, historical empathy, and critical thinking skills. There is an attached lesson plan that I did with 6th-grade students to provide an example of one way to teach students about the Holocaust. Here is my thesis for the paper:

"By examining laws passed by the Reichstag, the organization of the ghettos and the camps, the German education system, correspondence between …

Lesson Plan, U.S. History, 10th And 11th Grade, David Quiroz

Spring Workshop May 2020

TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills): (25) Culture. The student understands how people from various groups contribute to our national identity. The student is expected to: (A) explain actions taken by people to expand economic opportunities and political rights for racial, ethnic, gender, and religious groups in American society. (B) describe the Americanization movement to assimilate immigrants and American Indians into American culture. (C) explain how the contributions of people of various racial, ethnic, gender, and religious groups shape American culture; and (9) (C) describe the roles of political organizations that promoted African American, Chicano, American Indian, and women's civil …

Written Reflections And Discussion Forums-- Math For Elementary School Teachers (Q2s-Ep: Math 301aqbr And Math 301bqbr ), Stephanie Creswell

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

Preparing for the transition from quarters to semesters, instructors of the mathematics sequence for future elementary teachers (Math 301ABC, Math 308 and their semester equivalents 3011, 3012 and 3013) applied research about best practices for online learning in mathematics to the quarter bridge courses Math 301AQBR and 301BQBR that each include 0.5 units of online activities. Successful activities piloted in the quarter bridge courses may be implemented in the 3011-3012-3013 semester sequence and their associated lab courses 3011L-3012L-3013L. This paper focuses on written reflections and group discussion forums associated with the class textbook Powerful Problem Solving by Max Ray.

A Learning Culture For The Digital World – Something To Learn From Moscow?, Andreas Schleicher

Teacher India

While people have different views on the role that digital technology can and should play in schools, we cannot ignore how digital tools have so fundamentally transformed the world outside of school. Andreas Schleicher looks at how schools in Moscow use digital technology in their classrooms.

Student Self-Assessment: Boon Or Bane?, Ashtamurthy Killimangalam

Teacher India

Student self-assessment can help to improve learning outcomes, but only if used as a formative exercise, as Ashtamurthy Killimangalam explains.

Periodic Table Club, Makayla Gill, Kailynn Jensen

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

This club is dedicated to teaching the generation of future scientists the periodic table. This is designed to be a unique take on a STEM club that uses the periodic table as a backbone for a solid foundation in chemistry.

Embracing Digital Learning In The Covid-19 Era, Ashok Kumar Pandey

Teacher India

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to school closures across the globe. Dr Ashok Kumar Pandey writes about ways in which school leaders can respond to this emergency.

Tackling Maths Anxiety, Divya Kapoor

Teacher India

Maths anxiety is one of the leading causes of poor performance in maths. Divya Kapoor discusses simple instructional strategies to help teachers support students suffering from maths anxiety.

Interview: Schools Coping With Covid-19, Vishal Varia

Teacher India

Some schools have taken rapid measures to prevent learning loss due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Vishal Varia shares the experience of the Rosary Group of Schools in a conversation that includes some useful tips for schools and teachers.

(Cultural) Taxation Without Representation? How Educational Developer Can Broker Discourse On Black Faculty Lives In The #Blacklivesmatter Era, Richard J. Reddick, Beth E. Bukoski, Stella L. Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in creative class cities offer contradictory experiences for Black faculty, who engage in invisible additional labor in response to racial aggressions, termed cultural taxation (CT). With an understanding that equity-minded faculty development is an essential space in which to respond to this reality, our study employed a phenomenological focus group design to investigate how Black faculty at a research-intensive PWI located in a creative class city buffeted by racial tensions navigated their service and community experiences. While finding their work meaningful, the participants shared experiences of the multifaceted nature of CT, their stress from teaching about …

The Diffusion Of Faculty Development: A Faculty Fellows Program, Tracy W. Smith, Sara J. Greenwald, Lillian Y. Nave, Victor N. Mansure, Michael L. Howell

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This critical retrospective review describes the ideation, creation, and implementation of a faculty development fellows program at a regional comprehensive university. The authors share their perspectives as fellows regarding primary considerations for designing the program, including attention to the fellows selection process, required multilevel support, cultivation of communication and relationships, professional development of the fellows, development of unit programming, and lessons learned. Each section of the article concludes with critical questions institutions might consider when conceiving a faculty development fellows program.

Building A Social Network Around Sotl Through Digital Space, Shannon M. Sipes, Samy L. Minix, Matt Barton

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In an effort to increase visibility of and access to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) work on one campus, a collaboration formed between a faculty developer, a librarian, and a media specialist within a center for teaching and learning (CTL). Building on the frameworks of community of practice, professional learning network, and social networking, the authors strategically leveraged digital space to begin building a social network of faculty members interested in SoTL. This article will address the theoretical foundation and practical implementation of five digital strategies: (a) website redesign; (b) social media presence; (c) blog series; (d) filmed …

Assessment Literacy In College Teaching: Empirical Evidence On The Role And Effectiveness Of A Faculty Training Course, Kyle D. Massey, Christopher Deluca, Danielle Lapointe-Mcewan

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This research explores how faculty members’ conceptions of assessment and confidence in assessment change as a result of an instructor training course. Based on a sample of 27 faculty members enrolled in a semester-long instructional development course, this survey-based study provides initial evidence that faculty members can develop confidence in assessment while adopting increasingly complex conceptions of assessment. Based on this study’s findings, we argue that instructional development programs for college faculty have a critical role to play in stimulating faculty learning about assessment of student learning and are an important component in promoting a positive assessment culture.

The Necessity Of Second Language Learning, Elizabeth M. Youmans

Classical Conversations

In the past half-century, Americans have had ongoing issues with foreign language instruction. Around 1970, the number of foreign language classes began to decline, and funding slowly began to disappear. Although some proficiency tests and requirements have been put in place, no nationwide requirements for foreign language instruction exist for public high schools. The foreign language requirements for entrance into college used to be more prevalent and followed, but studies have shown that 84% of four-year schools do not require foreign language credits (The History of Foreign Language Education in the United States Timeline 1). Because of this lack of …

Editor's Note, Lindsay Bernhagen

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Editor's note for To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, volume 39, issue 1 from spring 2020.

Motivations And Obstacles Influencing Faculty Engagement In Adopting Teaching Innovations, Wayne Jacobson, Renee Cole

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Significant progress has been made in understanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and ways it can be improved, but propagation of change remains a challenge. This study presents an analysis of STEM faculty responses to open-text survey questions that asked them to identify motivations and obstacles to making changes in their teaching. Responses reveal wide variability among faculty perceptions, conceptualizations of change, and understandings of evidence. These findings suggest reasons faculty are not uniformly receptive to calls for change and challenge educational developers and advocates of STEM education reform to be explicit about their own understandings of meaningful …