Educational Methods Commons^™

Teachers’ Accounts Of Their Perceptions And Practices Of Providing Written Feedback To Nursing Students On Their Assignments, Sajid Iqbal, Raisa Gul, Arusa Lakhani, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Written feedback can facilitates students’ learning in several ways. However, the teachers’ practice of written feedback may be affected by various factors. This study aimed to explore the nurse teachers’ accounts of their perceptions and practices of providing written feedback.

A descriptive exploratory design was employed in the study. A purposive sample of 12 teachers from nursing institutions in Karachi, Pakistan, participated in the study. Using a semi-structured guide, in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants, between January-September, 2013. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim and were manually content analyzed.

The analysis of findings led to three sections: …

Laptops And Language Learning: A Mixed Methods Study Of Technology Integration And Student Engagement, Ginger R. Starks-Yoble

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Student engagement and motivation have been a common focus among educational researchers over the last forty years. Self-determination theory and the inclusive definition of self-regulated learning have identified that both cognitive and motivational engagement are paramount for successful language learning. Within this canon of research, few have looked at student engagement as a result of effective technology integration during the language learning process. This mixed methods study explored students’ perceptions of engagement while learning with technology integration in a first-year language class. Qualitative data was collected from a sub-sample of ten students, in the form of semi-structured interviews, journal reflections, …

A Grounded Theory Study On The Role Of Differentiated Instruction In Effective Middle School Science Teaching, Brian Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a model explaining the role of differentiated instruction (DI) in effective middle school science teaching. The study examined the best teaching practices and differentiated elements from eight general education middle school science teachers, all scoring at the highest level of a teaching effectiveness measure on their evaluations, through a collection of observational, interview, survey, and teaching artifact data. The data were analyzed through the methodology of a systematic grounded theory qualitative approach using open, axial, and selective coding to develop a model describing how and to what degree effective middle …

The Adoption Of Mixed Methods In China: An Exploratory Instrument Design, Yuchun Zhou

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

Mixed methods is “the third research paradigm” and a methodology along with traditional quantitative and qualitative methodologies (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, p.14). It is at the expansion/diffusion stage of development where researchers are most interested in how this method is adopted across disciplines and countries. However, very little literature is found regarding the use of mixed methods in non-Western cultural contexts, such as East Asia. Hence, the current study aimed to explore the expansion of mixed methods in an underrepresented population, China, a non-Western context and developing country.

The study employed an exploratory instrument design to investigate Chinese scholars’ decisions of …

The Relationship Between Teaching Approaches And Student Science Achievement For Four Racial Groups In Us Eighth Grade Classes, Su Gao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lower science achievement and substantial racial performance gaps persist among students in the US. In the current reform of science teaching, inquiry-based science teaching is assumed effective in improving all student science learning in both scientific content and process and reducing learning gaps across racial groups. Conversely, traditional didactic science teaching is believed to be the most popular and has contributed to lower science achievement and the racial gap. These two assumptions, although central to science teaching reforms, cannot be empirically sustained in the existing literature on science teaching. Framed through the theoretical perspectives of inquiry-based instruction and culturally relevant …

Transitioning To Writing About Writing: A Consideration Of The Metawriting Teaching Approach At The University Of Arkansas, Katie Michelle Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses case studies of six Teaching Assistants and Instructors to analyze the curricular and pedagogical shift from a writing-through-literature model to the Composition II course to a metawriting approach during the 2014 spring semester at the University of Arkansas. The administrative decision from the Program in Rhetoric and Composition to make this transition came in response to the 2007 article by Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs in College Composition and Communication outlining a "Writing about Writing" approach to teaching composition.

The Implementation Of Common Core Standards And Teacher Intent To Persist, Eddie Miles Louis Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of the Common Core Standards (CCS) into schools had an impact on teacher intent to persist in the classroom. Specifically, this study sought to determine if the implementation of the CCS was a factor of novice and veteran teachers’ intent to persist in schools located in south Mississippi. A review of the literature indicated that teacher shortages were not primarily due to recruitment and training, but rather, to a significant extent, were the result of teachers leaving the profession long before retirement (Ingersoll & Smith, 2004).

Data were collected …

Developing Attitudes Toward Learning Arabic As A Foreign Language Among American University And College Students, Martin Isleem

Faculty Contributions to Books

This study investigates the developing attitudes of American university and college students toward learning Arabic as a Foreign Language. The primary goal of this examination is to shed light on the ways in which students' attitudes toward learning Arabic affect their motivation to learn the language, as well as their commitment to learning it. A secondary goal of this study is to reveal students' perceptions of the use of both Spoken and Standard Arabic in the classroom, and what effect their perceptions may have on their developing attitudes toward Arabic, and their motivation to learn the language and study its …

Language Diversity In Trainings: Analyzing The Use Of English In A Writeshop Process, Elis Cardoso Motta

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper discusses a learning process called “writeshop,” and the role played by language use in a writeshop I co-facilitated in November 2013 in South Africa. A writeshop is a workshop to collectively create a written product for publication. This paper starts with a description of my experience in co-designing and co-facilitating a writeshop as part of my practicum, followed by a reflection on the process and the different roles I played, from a trainer lens. The third part of this capstone paper presents an analysis, based on a survey and individual interviews conducted with the writeshop participants, of …

Graduate Program Practices At Western University, Gloria J. Leckie

Purple Guides

Based on interviews with graduate chairs and faculty, the guide catalogues practices in graduate education, from recruitment through coursework, comprehensive exams, thesis proposals, to placement and tracking.

Perspective: A Game Changer In The Classroom And In Our Lives, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

What is perspective? What does it have to do with teaching, leadership, and learning? The Oxford English Dictionary defines perspective as: "A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view." Blending this definition into our instruction, classroom cultures, and relationships, perspective drives all we are and do in our classrooms. Perspectives are bundles of beliefs, a mindset that we each embrace determining how we see one another, our experiences, and possibilities or lack thereof. As teachers, our perspectives directly impact student emotions and their learning, because emotions are contagious.

Charting Success: James Verrilli '83 Fashions A School For Inner-City Newark, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

James Verrilli '83 has heard it many times before. The suggestion is that students at North Star Academy in Newark N.J., do so well on assessment tests because they've been "creamed," skimmed from the top of the pool of thousands of kids in the city's conventional- and troubled- public schools. When the suggestion was made yet again during a recent interview, Verrilli tried not to bristle.

How Should We Teach

Colby Magazine

Education reform is a top priority in America. Public opinion polls rank it as the country's most pressing issue, and debates rage over Bush administration initiatives on school vouchers and standardized testing. Public education and how to improve it are at center stage.

But the cacophonous debate about public education can drown voices that have been speaking on education reform for decades. The political hue and cry about problems can cause us to overlook the crucial work now being done in schools across the country. Many of those voices belong to Colbians and much of that work is being done …

Hybridity And Dynamics Of An Individual’S Learning Styles, Quintana Marie Clark

Open Access Theses

Based on Kolb Learning Style Inventory 4.0, the objectives of this research were to demonstrate the existence of hybrid learning styles and demonstrate the existence of dynamic learning styles between subject matters (mathematics and English). Understanding an individual's dynamic distribution of learning styles might be used to further improve the quality of instruction, learning, and educational materials. Optimizing the quality of instruction, learning, and educational materials is important because careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are increasingly needed. Personalized learning has been identified as an area that could improve the quality of STEM education. Exploiting individuals learning …

An Examination Of Embedded Librarian Ideas And Practices: A Critical Bibliography., Carl R. Andrews

Publications and Research

Although this annotated bibliography is primarily targeted to library science professionals in an academic setting, the literature examined can very easily support secondary and college level general education teaching initiatives. The majority of the literature examined in the list comes from journal articles. The author focused primarily on actual case studies that take place in an undergraduate academic setting. Attention was paid to community colleges and schools where there are students in need of remediation. The author was also interested in seeking out literature that addressed the needs of student academic success after an embedded program was implemented. Non-traditional embedded …

Believe And Achieve: An Examination Of Predictors Of Mathematical Achievement In Secondary Mathematics Students, Malia L. Hite

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This research addressed the following research question: which specific variable has the greatest predictive power of mathematical literacy and problem solving competency while controlling for socioeconomic status (SES)? The variables that were studied were categorized as follows: demographic and personal history variables, attitudinal variables, behavioral variables, and school organization and structure variables. Much of the existing literature cites SES as the most powerful predictor of math achievement. Using multiple linear regression modeling, this study found that many variables studied were determined to be significant predictors of mathematical literacy and/or problem solving competency while controlling for SES. Every category of variables …

Implementation Of Statway For Non-Stem Majors At Two-Year Community Colleges With Focus On The Teacher’S Experience, Joan Carter

Mathematics Graduate Theses

"A Research Paper Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MATHEMATICS"

A New Approach To Middle School Reading Intervention Balancing Self-Determination And Achievement, Amanda Mancini-Marshall

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

While research on Response to Intervention (RTI) has focused almost exclusively on elementary education, an increasing number of middle and high schools are adopting this framework as a way to match student needs with instruction that accelerates academic growth. Without age-appropriate models, curriculum, or interventions, secondary schools often attempt to simply replicate elementary practices with limited success. These attempts typically take a prescriptive approach to reading instruction for struggling below-grade-level readers. However, this self-study examines how one research-practitioner designed, implemented, and modified a middle school Tier II RTI reading course with the goal of improving student self-determination as well as …

Using Beginning-Of-Year Diagnostic Reading Measures To Predict Third Grade Comprehension Scores In Virginia, Todd Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this correlational investigation is to examine the magnitude of the relationships between three diagnostic reading measures and scores obtained on the third grade Virginia SOL reading test. Specifically, this study investigated the relative utility of predictor variables against one another while also evaluating the strength of the model utilizing all three variables simultaneously. Grounded in the Simple View of Reading as outlined by Gough and Tunmer (1986), this study incorporated the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (or PALS), the STAR Reading Test, and the QRI-5 as independent variables. While each instrument has been the subject of previous investigations, …

The Influence Of Homework On The Educational Experiences Of Sixth Grade Students From Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds: A Phenomenological Study, Richard Mccormick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the influence homework has on the educational experiences of sixth grade students from low socio-economic backgrounds at a middle school in a rural county located in the western region of North Carolina. Eight sixth grade students provided a visual narrative pertaining to homework, and participated in individual and focus group interviews. The major themes to emerge were (a) motivation: teacher policies and practices, (b) family interaction: time and attention, (c) self-efficacy: emotional aspect, and (d) educational effects: short- and long-term. Recommendations for future research include replication of the study in …