Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Autoethnography And Teacher Education: Snapshot Stories Of Cultural Encounter, Maureen F. Legge

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper I discuss how I framed and wrote an autoethnographic personal narrative of my lived experience as a New Zealand physical education teacher educator in the presence of two cultures, Māori and Pākehā. Central to my qualitative study was writing as a method of inquiry. Using this method I wrote a series of descriptive ‘snapshot stories’ derived from field experiences, over an 11 year period, that involved close and prolonged encounters with physical education teacher education (PETE) students in tertiary classrooms and 4 day marae stays. The storied accounts served as data for self-reflexivity about my role as …

Competency-Based Education In Public High Schools, Angus M. Cantwell

Senior Honors Projects

Recent government-backed programs such as Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind have increased competition in schools in an effort to improve student and teacher performance. However, these programs have not had as drastic an impact as many had hoped, and the United States continues to toil in the middle of the pack educationally when compared with the rest of the world.

As many students have continued to struggle in school, many different ideas have been introduced into different levels of the education system in an attempt to raise scores and boost performance. One such idea is competency-based …

Teaching Note - Toward Twenty-First-Century Teaching: Interdisciplinarity At Bridgewater And Beyond, John J. Kucich, Pamela J. Russell

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Distributed Leadership In Schools: Conditions For Success, Daniel Noble

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Teacher leadership has always been a necessary part of school dynamics. Through committees, union/administrative negotiations, formal and informal leadership roles, teachers play an important role in the growth and change of an educational institution. The purpose of this study is to examine teacher leadership through the perspective of distributed leadership theory; identify the conditions and components of both schools and administrators that support distributed leadership and identify essential steps to transform leadership practice to a distributed model.

This is a qualitative text analysis of current theoretical papers and relevant research on the subject of distributed leadership. The information was used …

Comparison Of The Conceptual Understanding Of Newton's Laws In An Online And Traditional Introductory Physical Science Course, Rex Robert Moak

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to (a) determine if taking the Physical Science Survey I course in face-to-face (F2F) and online format statistically significantly improves Newtonian conceptual comprehension as measured by the FCI; (b) determine which course format, if any, has statistically significantly higher FCI post-means; and (c) determine if students’ satisfaction with learning is statistically significantly different in the two course formats.

Data for this study was collected from students and faculty in various course formats during the Fall semester of 2012 and the Spring semester of 2013. The researcher used two research tools: the Force Concepts Inventory …

An Autoethnography Of Heart-Based Hope Leadership: A Matter Of Life Or Death, Cynthia Jeanne Kimball

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative, reflexive autoethnography explores my health journey over a span of 20 years and beginning with the 1994 diagnosis of breast cancer, through the 2012 diagnosis of an endothelial ischemic microvascular pattern heart dysfunction, and up to the 2014 writing of this dissertation study. The purpose of this study was to define the construct of hope-based action from the perspectives of nine participants and myself. As researcher-participant, I used reflexivity and personal narrative to describe the language and rituals of a culture of hope. The construct of hope was investigated from the perspectives of Snyder's hope theory (1994) from …

Volunteering And Social Development Across Cultures: A Credit Bearing Course For The Alliance For Global Education's Global And Public Health Program At Manipal University (India), Katie Jo Walter

Capstone Collection

This course-linked capstone presents full details for the creation, facilitation and evaluation of a new field-based course for the Alliance for Global Education’s (Alliance) Global and Public Health program at Manipal University in India. Operating in partnership with Manipal University’s Volunteer Services Organization (VSO), the course will increase opportunities for participant interaction with people both on and off campus, actively respond to participants’ stated interest in volunteer work, and strengthen institutional ties between the Alliance and Manipal University.

The plan for the course, titled, “Volunteering across cultures: India and the United States”, incorporates best practices and theories from international service …

Validation: Latino Voices In Higher Education, Krista Navarrette

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative study explored Latino men’s experiences in higher education and their capacity to succeed at a Predominately White Institution (PWI) in the Midwest region of the United States. The study focused on six participants as they navigate through college and how they viewed their validation as Latino males in college. The literature review discusses the current state of Latino/a’s in higher education and how they are lacking in the education race in regards to white students. The researcher used Validation Theory to investigate Latino males - deemed the “invisible population”—in order to find new implications for persistence, pursuit, and …

Student Engagement And Action In Classroom And Community: Place-Based Education And Social Action For The High-Achieving Student, Rachel M. Jank

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This paper briefly discusses the work done in a college-preparatory, Senior English class to combat the disengagement present in many educational institutions. This disconnect does not allow for learning retention and, therefore, does not allow for students to apply the moment of learning to life outside of the secondary classroom. The work I do is based off of Jessica Singer Early, Bruce Bigelow, Linda Christensen, and many other master teachers who work with the educational designs of Place Consciousness and Social Action within their respective classrooms. The theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire suggest that a non-traditional style of …

Moving Toward Equitable, Accessible, And Relevant Mathematics For All. A Book Review Of Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice By The Numbers, Lauren Provost

Democracy & Education

A book review of Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers, edited by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson.

Nonviolent Action As A Necessary Component In Educating For Democracy, Barbara A. Peterson

Democracy & Education

Educating for democracy, seen within a liberal democratic framework, requires that students develop the requisite knowledge and skills to recognize injustice and work effectively to oppose it. Stitzlein’s notion of dissent is examined in conjunction with Kahne and Westheimer’s argument for teaching democratic capacities by actively engaging students in addressing real world problem. This paper further suggests that for active dissent to lead to real change, we must extend our notion of dissent to include the knowledge and skills to influence the balance of power. Teaching students for democracy requires teaching them theory, history, and techniques of nonviolent action so …

Word On The Street: Instilling A Relationship Between Art And Community, Joyce Peseroff

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The project “Word on the Street” will be integrated into ENGL 210: Introduction to Creative Writing. Beginning as a pilot in one course section in Spring 2014, the course will partner with the Black Seed Writers’ Workshop, a group of homeless writers supported by the Cathedral Church of St. Paul’s Wednesday Lunch Program. Professor Joyce Peseroff and Master of Fine Arts graduate student Teaching Assistants (TA) will participate in the Civic Engagement Scholars Initiative (CESI) to build capacity for course redesign, implementation, assessment, and scholarship.

Upward Bound At Umass Boston, Upward Bound, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Dorchester Academy, Madison Park High School, Excel High School

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Every participant in Upward Bound, whether low-income, first-generation, or at high risk for academic failure, will develop the skills, knowledge, and motivation to enroll in and complete postsecondary education. We prepare participants for enrollment in and completion of postsecondary education. Through a year-round program, we address a wide range of learning needs and provide courses, tutoring, advising, workshops, and other services to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Reforming General Education: A Departmental Experience With Mission And Assessment, Joesph M. Valenzano, Samuel P. Wallace

Communication Faculty Publications

Changes to general education curricula are taking place across the globe. From the Bologna Process in Europe to the Liberal Education and America’s Promise initiative in the United States, colleges and universities are reforming what constitutes general education for their students. At the University of Dayton, such reforms took the shape of a massive overhaul of general education to the new, student learning–driven Common Academic Program. The Department of Communication at University of Dayton was forced to fundamentally change its basic course in communication, formerly delivered in three separate one-credit modules, to a three-credit course with a different focus. This …

Ua64/2 The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 34, Spring 2014), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

Ua64 Cebs Magazine, The College Of Education And Behavioral Sciences At Wku, Charles S. Evans, Dean, Pam Pierce, Editor-In-Chief, Wku College Of Education & Behavioral Sciences

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Currere And The Beauty Of Soulful Classroom Moments, Jessica Sierk

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Drawing on Pinar’s (1975, 2011) work on currere and the author’s own experience as an educator both in the K-12 and higher education arenas, the author argues that curriculum is a living entity and should therefore be allowed to deviate from the “plan” that most people think of when the topic of curriculum arises. Gaudelli & Hewitt’s (2010) idea of “the beauty of soulful moments” is also used to illustrate the utility of such deviations. Dewey’s (1934, 1938) themes of improvisation, participation, communication, and experience, as well as the idea of “the unexpected turn” also serve as backdrops to discussing …

Applying Community-Based Learning In Teaching And Researching Contemporary Slavery, Monti Narayan Datta

Political Science Faculty Publications

Over the past several years, student demand for courses, research opportunities, and internships in the realm of human rights and modern-day slavery has reached a tipping point, for several reasons. First, social media have made contemporary slavery a familiar issue. MTV’s Exit Campaign (http://mtvexit.org), for instance, has informed at least 20 million people about the subject since the campaign’s launch in 2004. Second, Hollywood has taken notice. With films like 2009’s Taken, starring Liam Neeson as a father who single-handedly (even if unrealistically) rescues his daughter from the clutches of sex traffickers in Europe, students know trafficking is a moral …

Renforcement Des Femmes: Wopa And Sustainable Empowerment Through Vocational Training, Anna Youngmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Women’s Promotion and Assistance Association (WOPA) is a Non-Governmental Organization located in the tourist town of Kribi, Cameroon. This study examined whether WOPA’s vocational training program, The Center for Education and Training for Women, responded to the needs in participants’ lives and the needs of the local economy to effectively economically empower young women. Using 21 one interviews with current and graduated students of the program, as well as local government officials, I concluded that WOPA’s training does fit the needs of participants’ lives; and that the trainings offered in sewing, culinary arts, and community health adequately fit …

Student Perspectives On How Trauma Experiences Manifest In The Classroom: Engaging Court-Involved Youth In The Development Of A Trauma-Informed Teaching Curriculum, Shantel D. West, Angelique G. Day, Cheryl L. Somers, Beverly A. Baroni

Social Work Faculty Publications

This study explores how the lived experience of court-involved youth impacts learning and school culture, and solicits youth voice in creating a trauma-informed intervention to improve student educational well-being. Thirty-nine female students, ages 14 to 18, participated in focus groups to describe externalizing behaviors that they have both witnessed and personally struggled with in the classroom, discuss the perceived causes of these behaviors, and their suggestions for improving school culture to reduce these behavior manifestations in the classroom. Two major categories of behavior were identified, including: “anger emotions” and “aggressive actions.” Students described the causes of behavior as, “environmental influences” …