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Innovations And Critical Issues In Teaching And Learning, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2021

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Complete text of Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning, volume 2, issue1, 2021.

How Does Different Level Of Questioning Impact Student Performance, Engagement, And Motivation In A 6th Grade Science Classroom?, Mia Bruesewitz

Education Masters Papers

This study was designed to determine how different level of questioning in a 6th grade science classroom can impact student performance, engagement, and motivation. During the study, students were taught three different lessons, balance and unbalanced forces, friction, and mass versus weight. Data was collected in a 6th grade science class of 25 participants and focused on surveys, pretests, exit slips, at-task checklist, and a final summative assessment. The results of the data showed that there was no significant difference in performance, engagement, or motivation in relation to different level of questioning. The data also showed that activities that students …

The Effects Of Mindful Yoga Instruction On Participants' Academic Stamina And Self-Regulation In A Kindergarten Classroom, Taylor Jeppson

Education Masters Papers

This study consisted of 15 participants in a kindergarten classroom. Participants were involved in an intervention where they participated in mindful yoga instruction. Mindful yoga instruction refers to the concentration on the present moment in time (Germer, 2004) and consisting of yoga poses that involve stretching in combination with the inhalation and exhalation of the breath (Field, 2011). The yoga instruction was given to participants for ten minutes a day, every day, for a four-week long duration. This intervention was given by the classroom teacher (researcher) and was conducted before participants’ whole-group math lesson. The data collected reflects the impact …

Calming Station: Mindfulness Breathing Techniques And Yogic Stretches To Promote Self- Regulation, Anna Olson

Education Masters Papers

Self-regulation is a life skill that is universal. Everyone has a different level of regulation. Amongst the many different strategies for self-regulation, mindfulness breathing and yogic stretches have substantial amount of positive data based on adults. Mindfulness is an idea that has been explore more and more in a school setting with children. There have been different mindfulness curriculum made to incorporate into a classroom setting. Yoga is also a term that has been used more in schools to help regulate both adults and children. This study is designed to investigate if mindfulness breathing and yogic stretches help promote self-regulation …

Literature That Breaks Gender Stereotypes In A Primary Classroom, Alexis Wash

Education Masters Papers

How can literature that breaks gender stereotypes impact attitudes, interests, and interaction in a primary classroom? This action research was conducted in the researcher’s classroom with 16 first grade participants. The researcher observed participants’ disengagement towards literature that is traditionally stereotyped towards the opposite gender. This research was done to further understand how literature that breaks gender stereotypes can impact participants’ attitudes and interests towards traditional gender stereotypes with occupations, toys, colors, interaction, sports, and literature. A focus group of participants were exposed to several storybooks that broke gender stereotypes over the course of four weeks. Data collected suggests that …

How Social Interaction Opportunities And Emotional Skills Instruction Affect Kindergarteners’ Self-Efficacy And Mental Health Within The Distance Learning Model Of School, Sarah Taraba

Education Masters Papers

This study was designed to investigate how implementing social interaction opportunities and emotional skill instruction could improve the overall mental health and self-efficacy levels of students in a kindergarten distance learning classroom. Due to the worldwide pandemic, COVID- 19, students were forced to participate in a distance learning format. This meant that students utilized a technological device to participate in schooling through online meetings with teachers and classmates. The research that was conducted focused on kindergarten students as the participants to see what could be done to improve their overall mental health; increasing levels of positive emotions such as happiness, …

Impact Of Brain Breaks On Student Engagement, Motivation, And Achievement In A Third-Grade Classroom, Adrianna Gernes

Education Masters Papers

In a third-grade classroom in a highly populated city, a researcher was concerned about her students’ focus level in the afternoon. Students have a long day at school, their brains get exposed to so much information on a typical day, and it is hard to retain the knowledge as well as being able to stay focused and motivated throughout each and every day. This study investigated how brain breaks affect student engagement, achievement, and motivation. For the entirety of a math unit, math instruction was taught incorporating planned brain breaks throughout each lesson. Data was collected from pre-and post- assessment …

The Impacts Of Ability Grouping And Project Based Learning In Stem, Andrea Johnson

Education Masters Papers

Because of a decrease in state standardized test scores in science and an increase in the use of ability grouping in reading, this research investigated the impacts of ability grouping and project based learning in STEM unit. The participants in this study are made up of 24 fourth grades. They were split into groups based on their Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) results and completed a unit on matter. In the end, the students created a product explaining everything they learned about matter throughout the unit through choices of a presentation, video, or model. This research aimed to answer the following …

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program, Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program (SEA-PLM) is a regional assessment of Grade 5 students in six Southeast Asian countries. SEA-PLM was initiated in 2012 by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Association (SEAMEO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The first main cycle of SEA-PLM was implemented in 2019, with future cycles intended. All member countries of SEAMEO can choose to participate in SEA-PLM. The first six participating countries were: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Viet Nam. SEA-PLM measures curricula and cross-curricula knowledge, skills and understanding in the domains of mathematics, reading, writing and global …

An Evaluation Of One School's Reading Program To Support Struggling Readers Through The Use Of Data, Gabrielle Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of one school’s reading intervention program, and its impact on struggling readers reading performance. Participants in this study included administrators, Grades 3 through 5instructional staff that directly impact student learning in reading through reading instruction. I collected survey data and analyzed it to determine teachers’ ability to instruct struggling readers with high expectations for student learning. As a result, this evaluation exhibit teachers require more quality planning time to prepare effective reading intervention lessons that includes strategies attained from strategically designed professional development structured to increase students’ reading ability. …

Language Development In Toddlers: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Nursery Rhyme Use By Mothers With Their Toddlers, Wenonah Faye Gildon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand current mothers’ perceptions of their lived experiences using nursery rhymes to facilitate language development in their toddler enrolled in early childhood facilities in Northwest Louisiana. The theories guiding this study are sociocultural theory, theory of transmission, and theory of cognitive developmental stages. Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory was related to this study through the social nature of language, the cultural aspects inherent in language, and the mother’s scaffolding of the learning experiences to facilitate language transmission. A mother’s understanding of the nature of her child and the development of a bond …

Scitechatorium, Esther Hurst, Emma Salam, Nejad Harara, Felipe Dejesus

Mechanical Engineering

The Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School SciTechatorium needs a new educational exhibit for its K-6th grade students. The exhibit must be safe, engaging, and exciting for the students to use, and will ideally introduce students to the topics of Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Art, and Technology (STEAM) concepts. The team has investigated some of the most popular science museums from around the nation, as well as several popular children’s educational toys. This research revealed a need for hands on, focused exhibits to provide an effective educational experience. Many of our favorite existing exhibits give students an opportunity to fail in a safe …

House Bill 3: An Iou Texas Public Schools And Communities Of Color Cannot Afford, Candace L. Castillo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

A history of school finance litigation and legislation shows there are inherent and structural problems in Texas’s education finance system. Like many government and social structures, the Texas school finance system is built to benefit school districts that have greater access to wealth to begin with and creates inequalities between rich and poor populations as well as between people of color and Caucasians. House Bill 3 went into effect in 2019 and promises improvements to “recapture” calculations, increases in certain allotments, as well as salary increases for some Texas teachers. Some changes to education finance were sorely needed such as …

Progress And Problems Of Primary Education In Bangladesh: A Snapshot Of 50 Years, Muhammad Salahuddin

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Student Publications

Bangladesh is celebrating its golden jubilee of independence in 2021. This South Asian country has been struggling for ensuring equitable, compulsory, and free primary education since the British period. The main objective of this paper is to explore the progress and constraints of primary education in Bangladesh for the period of 1971 to 2020. This study was conducted following the documentary research method. The secondary data was collected from different personal and official documents. Following the data-driven thematic analysis, it is found that the number of schools, students, and teachers was expressively increased in the last 50 years in Bangladesh. …

Examining Trajectories Of Elementary Students’ Computational Thinking Development Through Collaborative Problem-Solving Process In A Stem-Integrated Robotics Program, Yi-Chun Hong, Yingxiao Qian, Yu-Fen Yang

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Developing K-12 students’ computational thinking (CT) skills is essential. Building on the existing literature that has emphasized programming skill development, this study expands the focus to examine students’ use of underlying CT cognitive skills during collaborative problem-solving processes. A case study approach was employed to examine video data of 5^th graders engaging in an integrated-STEM robotics curriculum. The findings reveal that students applied algorithmic thinking most frequently and prediction the least. They recorded most debugging behaviors initially in the problem-solving process, but after accumulating more experiences their uses of other CT skills, including algorithmic thinking, pattern recognition, and prediction, …

Teacher-Student Relationships And Their Effects On School Culture, Craig Curtis

Dissertations

Teacher-student relationships are an important part of every school’s culture. This study used surveys and interviews to find to what extent teacher-student relationships impact school culture. In the end, the research found that teacher-student relationships have a significant impact on school culture and an action plan and recommendations were suggested for the school’s continued growth and improvement in the area of school culture with a focus on teacher-student relationships.

Using Avatars To Address Teacher Self-Efficacy, Chancey Bosch, Trevor Ellis

Journal of Global Education and Research

Technology-enhanced learning continues to provide opportunities for increased interventions in educational programing. For teacher education programs, novelty pales in comparison to providing meaningful instruction and enduring outcomes. The use of avatars has provided integration of research evidence that increases intended behaviors; however, research is lacking on teacher self-efficacy change via an avatar experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and avatar use in a teacher education program. A relational study using both parametric and non-parametric designs for four different samples indicated a significant relationship between avatar intervention and teacher self-efficacy in classroom management, …

A Multicase Study On African American Male Students: The Least Identified And Represented In The Gifted And Talented Education Program At The Upper Elementary Level, Nicole Angella Clarke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multicase study was to develop an understanding of educators’ perspectives of African American male students being the least identified and represented in the gifted and talented program at two elementary schools. The theories that guided this study were the expectancy-value theory and the social cognitive theory. Given the purpose of this study, the following central research question framed this study: What are educators’ perspectives on African American male students being the least identified and represented in the gifted and talented program at the elementary level? The participants who took part in this study were 10 teachers …

Traditional And Alternative Certification Programs And Their Effect On Elementary School Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs In Title I And Non-Title I Schools, Rita Gale Sullivan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School districts across the United States face the challenges of teacher shortages and rely heavily on alternative certification programs to fill teaching positions. Over the last decade, researchers question the quality of fast-track teacher preparation programs compared to traditional educational paths. This quantitative, causal-comparative study examined two methods of obtaining teacher certification (traditional and alternative) and their impact on novice teacher self-efficacy levels in Title I and non-Title I schools. Elementary teachers with five years or less of experience, traditionally and alternatively certified, were asked 24 questions using the Likert-type Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale on student engagement, instructional practices, …

Promoting Equity By Scaling Up Summer Engineering Experiences: A Retrospective Reflection On Tensions And Tradeoffs, Walter C. Lee, David B. Knight, Monica E. Cardella

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

A central challenge in engineering education is providing experiences that are appropriate for and accessible to underserved communities. However, to provide such experiences, we must better understand the process of offering a geographically distributed asset-based out-of-school program. This paper focuses on a collaborative research project that examined the broad implementation of the Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids (SEEK) program organized by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). SEEK is a three-week summer program that engages participants in hands-on, team-based engineering design projects. NSBE’s goal is to make SEEK culturally sustaining, community-connected, and scalable. The purpose of this paper is …