Educational Methods Commons^™

Developing Pre-Service Teacher Professional Capabilities Through Action Research, Shannon Kennedy-Clark, Katrina Eddles-Hirsch, Tryon Francis, Grace Cummins, Luke Ferantino, Matthew Tichelaar, Lloyd Ruz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is a growing interest in pre-service teacher education programs on how to maximise the learning benefits of professional experience. This study attempts to discover how action research can be used as a vehicle to bridge the divide between theory and practice and to support pre-service teachers in the development of authentic professional knowledge. In this paper, we share the experiences of four pre-service teachers who undertook an action research study whilst on a ten-week professional experience placement in an Australian High School. The findings of the study indicate that pre-service teachers see the benefit of being able to conduct …

Early Career Teachers’ Knowledge And Practice In Spelling Instruction: Insights For Teacher Educators, Grace Oakley

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Children who cannot spell fluently are likely to encounter difficulty in writing texts across the curriculum. Furthermore, spelling is often a component in high stakes tests, the results of which have significant implications for students and schools. In the context of debates on teacher quality, it is pertinent to examine the views of early career teachers on their preparedness to teach spelling. This article reports on a small scale study on the views, knowledge and practices of early career teachers in relation to the teaching of spelling, and their views on their pre-service teacher preparation. Participants were early career teachers …

Assessing The Impact Of A Faculty Book Club On Self-Reflection And Teaching Practice, Scott Moncrieff, Anneris Coria-Navia

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Interpretative Analysis Of Adult Learners’ Lived Experiences In A Uniquely Designed Higher Education Program, Latonya M. Branham

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The lived and collegiate experiences of adult learners, who are among the fastest growing student population in 21st century higher education, is the essence of this study. The study was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Fifteen baccalaureate level degree-seeking study participants consented to share their respective journeys. Twenty-one interviews were conducted for the study. Code-listed categories, themes and sub-themes emerged from two interview sessions, and member-checking sessions. Several themes were aligned to two research questions: In what ways, if any, are the distinctive needs and expectations of adult learners fulfilled through a baccalaureate level adult learner program; and, what does …

Co-Developing An Electronic Campus Equity Walkthrough Evaluation (Cewe) To Assess Students’ Sense Belonging And Equity Mindfulness, Oscar Fernandez

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this presentation, attendance members learn how ePortfolios--and eWorkbooks--help students recognize their sense of belonging on a college campus. By asking a series of equity-minded, student-centered questions, the CEWE eWorkbook is a toolkit for assessing whether or not resources on campus are diverse and equitable for a variety of learners.

The Sharing Campus Equity Walkthrough Evaluation (CEWE) eWorkbook is available online: https://pebblepad.com/spa/#/public/GctzZ7RbZczmzs3q4q4jp3zRWy?historyId=Rsz4bQlCTk

Tessmer And Wedman: Ahead Of Their Time, John Baaki

STEMPS Faculty Publications

In 1990, Martin Tessmer and John Wedman introduced a new perspective to instructional design. Rather than a sequential waterfall approach, which dominated instructional design in the 1980's and 90's, the layers-of-necessity approach is a way of thinking about instructional design. Tessmer and Wedman viewed instructional designers as they truly are: designers who design instruction. They embraced the nature of design. Rolling back time almost 30 years, Tessmer and Webman certainly were ahead of their time.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Exploring Online-Language-Learning Challenges And Benefits For Advanced English Language Learners, Renee Kenney

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Research has shown that traditional pen-and-paper methods of learning and teaching do not sufficiently reach all students with varying learning backgrounds, styles, and preferences. Thus, a shift toward multimodal instruction has occurred in which traditional methods are augmented by the viewing, listening and watching of a variety of technologies and media. This thesis explores how to implement multimodality within online spaces, utilizing social media platforms as instructional spaces for English Language Learners. The research presented shows that employing these platforms may supplement in-class work to give students opportunities and space to utilize English rhetorical tools, cultivate and express their second …

Informal Science In The Classroom: How Informal And Formal Educational Institutions Support Science Instruction, Kellie Michelle Crawford

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Science education has seen a major overhaul with the implementation of ideas from the NRC’s (2012) report, A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. At the same time, we have seen a rise in the number of formal educational facilities partnering with informal facilities to bring these practices to students. This study explored the effect these blended approaches had on both student attitudes and their achievement in science content areas. To do this, surveys were designed to assess these areas in upper elementary students participating in a one-year blended science program. First, the literature was …

What Poverty Means For Student Achievement And The Best Practices For Teaching Students In Poverty, Megan White

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In America today, there are approximately 103 million people living below the line of poverty (Edelman, p. 4). This means that 103 million people are supporting a family of three or more with less than $36,000 (p. 4). Therefore, one-third of America today lives in poverty (p. 4). Within those 103 million, there are approximately 20.5 million people in America who fall into the category of “deep poverty,” making less than $9,000 for a family of three or more (p. 5). These people make up about 6.7% of the population (p. 5). Finally, within these 20.5 million people, there are …

Improving Mathematical Skill: The Perceptions Of Rural Minnesota Mathematics Educators, Michael Haskins

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study is focused on the perceptions of mathematics educators on how to improve mathematical skill in high school students. The main purpose was to describe, recognize, and interpret the lived experience that have allowed educators to achieve the best results for their students. The population for the current study was mathematics educators that were located in a rural Southwest Minnesota city with medium population. These educators were either college educators or middle and high school teachers. The measures that were used to select the participants for the study were that they must hold at least a bachelor's …

Development And Validation Of A Scale To Measure Misconceptions About Educational Psychology Among Pre-Service Teachers, Morgan Mcafee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Misconceptions are widespread or commonly held beliefs explicitly contradicted by empirical evidence. When teachers harbor misconceptions or unjustified beliefs about teaching, learning, and human motivation, the potential pedagogical consequences are profound, and these inaccurate beliefs may be instilled into future students through ineffective teaching strategies and gross misinterpretations of learning science. While existing research has examined misconceptions about general psychology and neuroscience among various populations, no prior work has evaluated pre-service teachers' misconceptions about topics of educational psychology, comprising inaccurate beliefs about teaching, learning, and human motivation. The purpose of this research is to describe the development and validation of …

Delving Into The Specificity Of Instructional Guidance In Social Media-Supported Learning Environments, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates the variations in student participation patterns across different types of instructional activities, learning modes, and with different instructional guidance approaches. In the current study, different variables, modes of learning (guided versus unguided), and types of guidance (social versus cognitive) were manipulated in a series of microblogging-supported collaborative learning tasks to examine to what extent and in which aspects instructional guidance affects the effectiveness and student perception of microblogging-supported learning.

Background: Despite the overwhelming agreement on the importance of instructional guidance in microblogging-supported learning environments, very few studies have been done to examine the specificity of guidance, …

Making The Connection: Using Mobile Devices And Polleverywhere For Experiential Learning For Adult Students, Robert L. Moore, Stephanie J. Blackmon, James Markham

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Technology integration has significantly influenced the way students access and retain knowledge gained in the classroom (Ahmed, 2016). This is particularly relevant in classrooms for adult learners who engage in continuing education. This paper used a descriptive case study (Yin, 2014) to share how an instructor utilized mobile learning with a web-based polling tool, PollEverywhere, to gamify experiential learning for adult students in various roles within a southeastern state’s court administration—prosecutors, defense lawyers, magistrates, and jail administrators—and improve students’ engagement in the course and connection to course material.

Evaluation Of A Flipped Classroom On Student Achievement In A Low Income School District, Michael Yeoman

Graduate Research Papers

This purpose of this research is to determine whether using a flipped classroom is as effective for students in low-income schools as it is for students in wealthy school districts. A review of the literature is performed to determine what is the underlying philosophy of using a flipped classroom as well as determining barriers that may inhibit its effectiveness.

Control and treatment groups were determined so that data could be compared between a “traditional” classroom and a “flipped” classroom. The students in the treatment group were given a Pre-Unit Survey to determine a baseline of their perceptions of flipped learning. …

Middle School Student Perception And Understanding Of Differentiated Instruction: A Phenomenological Study, Zoie Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Lack of published research on student perception and understanding of differentiated learning hinders educators attempting to diversify learning for individual students. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the perception and understanding of differentiated instruction of middle school students in a charter middle school in central Florida, as a review of literature reveals limited research conducted from a student perspective. The study will broaden existing educational practices in relation to individualized student differentiated instruction and suggest a relationship between differentiated instruction and student understanding of educational material. The brain-based theories guiding this study are Piaget’s theory of cognitive …

The Mind As A Weapon: A Phenomenological Exploration Of How Elementary Teachers Use Mental Imagery To Prepare For Active Shooter Events, Aaron Wheeler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental, phenomenological study was to understand how teachers use aspects of mental imagery as a preparatory stress inoculation tool for potentially confronting active shooters at Truman Elementary School (pseudonym). The theory guiding this study was self-efficacy theory as theorized by Albert Bandura; self-efficacy theory rationalizes the way one views oneself will be the source of motivation in subsequent performance. In the context of this study, if teachers saw themselves as successful, then they were successful. Mental imagery was generally defined as visualization techniques that prepared teachers to mentally condition themselves to deal with active shooter events. …

Symptomatic Leadership In Business Instruction: How To Finally Teach Diversity And Inclusion For Lasting Change, Linda L. Ridley

Publications and Research

Are business faculty complicit in mythologizing business concepts by ignoring historical precedence?

The refusal to examine in totality the history of discrimination and racism allows us to perpetuate a mythology of white supremacy that is enhanced through impotent diversity programs repeated throughout corporate America. This paper examines the importance of demythologizing the business curriculum through symptomatic thinking, which allows faculty and students to untangle the quagmire of diversity and inclusion in corporate America. Students are thereby equipped with tools for behavior transformation in the workplace that uses a symptomatic, rather than symbolic approach, to decision making and problem solving.

Blended Learning And Second Language Acquisition In The Classroom, Victoria R. Hamilton

Graduate Research Papers

This review investigates using a blended learning environment within a second language setting. The literature review presented three main themes to be considered as these two contexts were united: learner engagement in differing environments and with different activities, learner perceptions, and the outcomes found from such combinations. Twenty-eight peer-reviewed journal articles were analyzed. It is found that blended environments seem to add novelty and increase motivation and engagement of students in these settings. However, the pedagogical implementation of active learning such as collaboration, providing feedback, and using activities that have a communicative purpose seems to yield the best results. Learner …

Self Regulation In College-Level Mathematics Classes, Jenny Lee

HMC Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the need for improvement in mathematics education at the college level in the US regarding equitable practices in instruction. In particular, it focuses on understanding the role self-regulation can play in the classroom dynamics, and how self-regulation can be a way to empower students. Also included is a case study in an introductory linear algebra class at a liberal arts college and is meant to provide a investigation into a way of incorporating self-regulation by using self-paced assessments. Results of this study suggest a possible question to consider in reforming mathematics education for a more equitable environment …

New Trends In Second Language Learning And Teaching Through The Lens Of Ict, Networked Learning, And Artificial Intelligence, Jaya Kannan, Pilar Munday

Languages Faculty Publications

In the last few decades, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) applications have been shaping the field of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) paved the way for ubiquitous learning. The advent of new technologies in the early 21st century also added a social dimension to ICT that allowed for Networked Learning (NL). Given that language learning is fundamentally a socio-cultural experience, networked learning capabilities have provided the potential for language learning in community settings. This has revitalized the earlier frameworks provided by CALL. NL has empowered language learners today to connect globally, to access Open Educational …