Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Examining Graduate Student Perspectives And Use Of Web Resources And Tools For Academic Support, Kelly Grieneisen Tillotson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This mixed methods study was conducted to examine University of Central Florida (UCF) graduate student use and perceptions of usefulness of Web resources and tools that may support academic work, research, and academic goals. The frameworks of Connectivism and Personal Learning Networks (PLN) were used as a foundation to support the importance of Web resources and tools in relation to student learning, academic support, and progression. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected from active UCF graduate students using an electronic survey, with 998 participants completing the survey. Data analysis was conducted using an ANOVA one-way test to compare program mode …

Imaginative Empathies: Exploring The Role Of Creative Writing In Developing Social Skills Of College Students With Autism, Rebekkah N. Richner

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Only one-third of students with autism who are enrolled in American universities go on to graduate (Cox & Williams, 2018; Newman et al., 2011; Wei et al., 2014). These students may be currently underserved by the writing curriculum of postsecondary institutions when it comes to facilitating social and personal development in college and beyond. This thesis begins with the hypothesis that creative writing classes already utilize pedagogical tools that could aid students with autism in strengthening their social skills, particularly through the more structured social environment of the creative writing workshop. This study examined a 200-level short story creative writing …

Saudi Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs And Attitude Towards Teaching Mathematics, Theyab Alhallafi Ghaythah Hamdan

Student Works (2020-2029)

Mathematics is one of the major educational subjects in schools because of its overwhelming relevance and application to human life and progress. Mathematics is central to human development and mastery of the planet earth and beyond particularly in this age of computer and information technology. Teaching Mathematics is an endeavor that dated back three (3) millennia. For centuries, teaching and Mathematics teachers have been subjected to various forms of scholarly investigations. This study examines teachers’ beliefs and attitudes and their impacts on the way they teach the subject of mathematics in their respective schools across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. …

Conceptions And Practices Of Divergent Thinking Among Form Two Science Teachers, Krishnan Kutty Lakshmi Nair

Student Works (2020-2029)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the conceptions and practices of Divergent Thinking among Form Two Science Teachers. Divergent thinking is integral to creativity which comprises four components, namely Fluency, Flexibility, Originality and Elaboration. Divergent thinking is important because it is the thought process that allows students to think outside the norm and to create many, original solutions for new problems. In our education system, it is the teachers’ responsibility to foster divergent thinking in classroom as teachers are the main mediators between the curriculum and classroom practices. If the teachers lack conceptions on divergent thinking, they might …

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence, Traits Of Personality, And Performance On Occupational Therapy Fieldwork, Kimberlea Dudzinski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This mixed methods study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI), traits of personality, and performance on occupational therapy (OT) fieldwork. The purpose of this study was to determine whether EI or personality was predictive of student performance during the clinical portion of the academic program. In the first phase of this two-part study, 42 students enrolled in an OT program participated in two measures: The Genos EI (short form), and the Big Five Inventory. Student scores on these two measures were correlated with scoring on the AOTA Level II Fieldwork Performance Evaluation (FWPE) form. In the second phase of …

Taking A Walk On The Wild Side: Case Studies Of Programs That Integrate K-12 Curricula With Adventure Sports And Outdoor Learning, Jonathan Trzepkowski

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the United States there are a number of schools that utilize outdoor learning and adventure sports as part of their educational approach. The purpose of this case study was to analyze several programs that utilize adventure sports and outdoor learning in their curriculum and then present their distinguishing features in case study form. This case study selected 16 schools/programs that used adventure education or outdoor learning and created a profile for each one using a set of common guiding questions. This paper offers an interpretation of the findings that goes beyond the 16 profiles by synthesizing common components of …

Gazing At Scattered Stars: Immigration Through The Lens Of Elementary Graphic Literature, Jennifer K. Stanerson

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to analyze graphic literature for respectful and authentic portrayals of immigrants to help librarians and classroom teachers build culturally inclusive library collections. The study sought to answer the question of how immigrants are portrayed in elementary level graphic texts. Nine books were chosen utilizing reviews from authoritative sources along with the Wilson’s Children’s Collection and Wilson’s Middle and Junior High Core Collection databases to ensure the study was comprised of high-quality literature. The selected texts were analyzed to determine the themes present in both the text and illustrations. Results of the study found the …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of A Stem Program On Students’ Knowledge On Interest In Stem, Danielle Dean

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The objective of the study was to investigate middle school students’ attitudes towards Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), as well as their knowledge about engineering practices. A quantitative design was employed with a total of 51 participants randomly assigned to two conditions. 24 students took a STEM elective course and the other 27 an equivalent course with a career focus on forensics as a career.

Over nine weeks participants took a pre and post survey on attitudes and completed a project that was assessed using a common rubric. The results on gains in student attitude were mixed. On the …

Black Lives Matter And So Do Black Men With A Phd, Jamel A. Gibson

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

It is crucial for the Black Lives Matter movement that more Black men pursue and earn doctoral degrees. American society must be made aware of intellectual contributions that underpin the fact that Black men are intelligent, eloquent in speech, and able to research and present any given topic. Black men are often underrepresented in terminal degree programs, and those who do advance to advanced study fall short due to doctoral attrition. These troubling phenomena highlight the need for research concerning motivational factors that may improve the odds of Black men entering and completing postgraduate programs across disciplines. This opinion paper …

Learning To Teach Reading Responsively Through Tutoring, Jodi Nickel, Scott Frederick Hughes

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article describes a community service learning collaboration between a teacher education program and a nonprofit literacy society. Seventeen teacher candidates (TCs) tutored young readers weekly for seven months as part of their course-related field experience and completed reflective assignments analyzing their own learning and the learning of their tutees. The study demonstrates how the tutoring experience enhanced the pedagogical competence of TCs (kid-watching, assessment, instruction, responsiveness, professional conversations, and affirmation of impact). These findings align with contemporary research in literacy teacher preparation, which identifies that the combination of coursework and tutoring is effective in promoting the integration of TC …

Influence Of Book Clubs On Reading Motivation For Third Through Fifth Grade Students, Allyson Reister

Graduate Research Papers

This qualitative case study reports the influence book clubs have on the reading motivation of third through fifth grade students, including reluctant readers, and examines how book clubs can be used as a reading promotion tool to enhance the reading culture of the school library program. Forty-one third through fifth grade students and their teacher librarian from a small Pre-K through eighth grade private school in Midwestern suburb met via Zoom in separate grade level book club meetings once during the spring 2020 semester. The researcher discovered three main themes in response to the research questions: 1) Sociability with Others …

Exploring The Leadership Preparation Needs Of Middle Leaders In International Schools: Case Studies From Vietnam, Mark Atkinson

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This research aims to explore the perceived leadership preparation needs of middle leaders in international schools in Vietnam. Research and scholarship into the many dispositions and articulations of educational leadership in an international context has developed rapidly due to the expansion of international organizations worldwide. Nevertheless, research surrounding the leadership preparation needs of middle leaders continues to be relatively scarce.

Data was obtained using a two part data collection process. Firstly, an open-ended survey questionnaire was used as a preliminary method; followed by semi-structured focus groups, allowing for deeper exploration into the experiences of participants. Findings explored teacher perceptions that …

A Descriptive Multicultural Phenomenology For Culturally Responsive Leadership, Christopher J. Kazanjian, David Rutledge, Sandra M. Gandarilla

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

As public schools in the United States continue to diversify in culture, educational leaders committed to multicultural education seek qualitative research methodologies for understanding phenomena in order to build culturally responsive leadership initiatives and interventions. This paper argues that a phenomenological research methodology is appropriate and relevant to understand cultural phenomena in the 21st century school. To serve this, the authors elaborate on a descriptive multicultural phenomenological research methodology for educational leaders. A phenomenological framework positions educational leaders to understand the nature and essence of personal experience. This approach will help educational leaders better understand the experiences of the diverse …

The Perceived Advantages Of Centralized And Decentralized Approaches To University Fundraising Programs, Michael T. Miller, G. David Gearhart

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Fundraising in higher education has continued to grow in importance, providing critical resources to the operation of colleges and universities. With such importance, college leaders must work to identify the most effective and efficient ways to organize their fundraising efforts. Sustained dialogue among these college leaders has been whether it is more effective and efficient to centralize fundraising efforts on a campus with a singular reporting line, or whether a decentralized approach provides better connection with potential benefactors. The purpose for conducting the current study was to identify the agreement of senior development officers regarding the benefits of centralized and …

How They See It: Employer Perceptions Of Online Versus Traditional Learning At The Graduate Level, Cessna Winslow, Logan Allen

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This study is part of a larger dissertation study that explored perceptions of Public Relations (PR) among graduate higher education publics regarding distance learning as contrasted with face-to-face learning contexts. Today, online degrees are seen as inferior to traditional, face-to-face classroom degrees, and because one primary goal of obtaining a higher education degree is to receive gainful employment, this portion of the dissertation study assessed employer perceptions of online versus traditional education at the graduate level. Human resource administrators from educational establishments who had experience hiring people with graduate education degrees were interviewed. The findings of this study indicate that …

07. Introduction To Slx, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

No abstract provided.

12. Clash Of Enact, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

No abstract provided.

13. Slx Next Steps, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

No abstract provided.

03. Enactivism, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

EnACT

No abstract provided.

Enhancing English Learners' Academic Resilience: A Professional Development/Learning Design Study, Mabel E Lamprea Altuve

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This professional development/learning design study sought to create, evaluate, and refine a learning experience for English language learning (ELL) teachers that provided them with additional instructional tools to support improvement of Multilingual Learners and English Learners’ (MLs/ELs) academic resilience. MLs/ELs are one of the fastest growing groups of students in U.S. schools with one of the lowest academic performance and graduation rates. These students are also a vulnerable and resilient population that could have been exposed to distressing and adverse experiences. ELL teacher preparation has concentrated on fostering language and literacy development; still, MLs/ELs’ achievement gap fails to close significantly, …