Other Education Commons^™

Keeping Classrooms Christ-Centered In One-To-One Technology Classrooms, Carol Wyatt

Journal of Catholic Education

This article describes a one-to-one technology initiative in a Catholic high school, highlighting the advantages and challenges encountered in the first year of the program. The article offers recommendations and reflections for other schools intending to implement one-to-one programs, including an emphasis on the intentional use technology for instruction.

Polygons, Pillars And Pavilions: Discovering Connections Between Geometry And Architecture, Sean Patrick Madden

Journal of Catholic Education

Crowning the second semester of geometry, taught within a Catholic middle school, the author's students explored connections between the geometry of regular polygons and architecture of local buildings. They went on to explore how these principles apply famous buildings around the world such as the monuments of Washington, D.C. and the elliptical piazza of Saint Peter's Basilica at Vatican City within Rome, Italy.

The Case For A Socio-Cultural Approach To Literacy And Student Support Services, Marina Palomino-Bach, Julia Fisher

Journal of Catholic Education

Many urban Catholic high schools pride themselves as developing our students in a holistic way. In these schools, educators are able to develop and support their students in both a moral and an academic sense. This belief in educating the whole child is appealing to many families, especially those in our most underserved urban contexts. Families in these urban contexts look toward Catholic high schools as offering the necessary holistic support and guidance needed to achieve academic, collegiate, and moral success and stability. As co-developers of a newly launched Academic Resource Center within one urban Catholic high school setting, however, …

Using The News To Enhance Critical Thinking And Engagement In Middle And High School Students, Jessica Walters

Journal of Catholic Education

This article describes the author’s adaptation of Gallagher’s (2009) Article of the Week approach to teaching students literacy skills using current events. The use of this unique instructional routine within the context of a Catholic middle school language arts classroom has proven successful for supporting students in developing critical literacy and an understanding of moral leadership by examining world events from a Catholic worldview.

Vision, Mission, And Technology Implementation: Going One-To-One In A Catholic School, Vincent Cho

Journal of Catholic Education

As one-to-one computing initiatives become commonplace, some Catholic school educators might find themselves wondering what, if anything, such technologies might have to do with Catholic identity. This case study drew upon survey and interview data to explore the intersection of Catholic vision and mission with the implementation of a one-to-one (BYOD) initiative. The study finds that Catholic values informed the school’s support of teachers, as well as its efforts to help students navigate the personal and social issues associated with devices. In the end, teachers were positive about one-to-one. Many teachers had experimented with devices in their classrooms, and some …

The Influence Of Technology On Teaching Practices At A Catholic School, Meredith Jc Swallow

Journal of Catholic Education

Supporting twenty-first century skill development calls for necessary changes in teaching practices to encourage contemporary learning outcomes. Research points toward technology integration as a catalyst for supporting shifting pedagogies necessary to enhance learning. As many Catholic educators and leaders are attempting to re-shape Catholic school learning for the twenty-first century, the Catholic school context provides a unique opportunity to understand technology integration and teaching practices. To address the need of understanding the development of teaching practices of Catholic educators in a digital age, this qualitative multiple-case study examines teaching practices of four middle-level Catholic school educators during a one-to-one technology …

Preparing Priests To Work With Catholic Schools: A Content Analysis Of Seminary Curricula, Michael J. Boyle, Anthony Dosen, Cm

Journal of Catholic Education

This documentary study of academic programs at Catholic Seminaries and Theology Schools through the United States sought to answer the question: “What types of preparation does the seminary curriculum provide to new pastors about their role in the parish’s Catholic School?” Results of program syllabi review show a dearth of preparation given to this aspect of this parochial ministry. Recommendations for further investigation are offered.

El presente estudio documental de programas académicos en seminarios católicos y facultades de teología en Estados Unidos busca contestar la pregunta: “¿Qué tipo de preparación ofrece a los nuevos sacerdotes el currículo del seminario en …

Seminarian Perspectives On Catholic Schools And The New Evangelization, Thomas A. Simonds S.J., Barbara L. Brock, Timothy Jay Cook, Max Engel

Journal of Catholic Education

Recognizing that pastors of parishes with a Catholic school play a vital role in Catholic education, and that the seminarians of today will be the parish pastors of tomorrow, this study sought to provide a better understanding of the perceptions held by Catholic seminarians about parish schools. Fourteen seminary students from 12 seminaries and 14 different dioceses from across the United States participated in focus group interviews to discuss their thoughts and perceptions about parish schools. Themes that emerged from focus group discussions included the reinterpretation of the New Evangelization, the understanding of the value of Catholic schools, mixed feelings …

What Are Catholic Schools Teaching To Make A Difference? A Literature Review Of Curriculum Studies In Catholic Schools In The U.S. And The U.K. Since 1993, Juan Cristobal Garcia-Huidobro

Journal of Catholic Education

This literature review sketches a landscape of scholarly debates about the curriculum in Catholic primary and secondary schools in the United States and the United Kingdom since 1993. This landscape has three main characteristics. First, scholarly debates about the curriculum in Catholic schools have been few, particularly empirically based discussions. Second, these debates have been led by U.S. scholars with theoretical approaches to the curriculum that tend to ignore the effect of current cultural and economic forces on Catholic schooling through competitiveness and effectiveness criteria. Third, there has been a disconnect between conversations about excellence and innovation, proposed mainly by …

Making The Case For Exploratory World Language Instruction In Catholic Elementary Schools Through University Partnerships, Brigid M. Burke, Eric D. Howard

Journal of Catholic Education

As a result of a university partnership, elementary students at two midwest Catholic elementary schools have been provided with exploratory world language instruction (FLEX) from pre-service teachers. To investigate students’ attitudes and learning of Spanish, researchers interviewed second and fourth graders. The students’ parents and pre-service teachers answered open-ended questionnaires. The research questions for this qualitative study were: 1) How does exploratory world language instruction (FLEX) affect children’s attitudes about learning world languages and cultures? 2) How does exploratory world language instruction (FLEX) affect children’s learning of a world language? The results showed that students possessed positive attitudes about world …

Latino Parents Of English Learners In Catholic Schools: Home Vs. School Based Educational Involvement, Elizabeth M. Vera, Amy Heineke, Andrea L. Carr, Daniel Camacho, Marla Susman Israel, Nancy Goldberger, Angela Clawson, Martin Hill

Journal of Catholic Education

The current study sought to expand the field's understanding of the educational involvement of Latino parents whose children were English Learners and attended Catholic schools. Specifically we attempted to identify factors that facilitate as well as prohibit involvement in two home-based types of educational involvement and two specific school-based types of educational involvement. In our sample of 329 Latino immigrant parents, their responses yielded a pattern of predictors that appear to be related to both home- and school-based participation. Namely, feeling that teachers are invested in one's child and feeling overwhelmed by other obligations appear as statistically significant predictors of …

Collaborative Library Outreach: A Key Retention Strategy At Open Access Institutions, Katy Mathuews, Zachary Lewis

Collaborative Librarianship

Serving large populations of at-risk, first-generation, and low-income students, open access institutions face unique challenges regarding student retention. Academic libraries with intentional outreach programs are a valuable element of a comprehensive institutional retention plan targeted to the unique student population of open access institutions. Using the Clark Memorial Library at Shawnee State University in Appalachian Ohio as a case study, this article explores the elements of an intentional library outreach program targeted to support the retention of first-year students, many of whom are classified as first-generation, academically underprepared, or otherwise at-risk. The outreach librarian facilitates collaborative and intentional engagement opportunities …

Sustainable Development Through Urban Agriculture, Eric R. R. Weaver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This document includes three completed publications to represent Urban Agriculture as a ideal solution to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The first publication (Weaver, 2017a) provided in Chapter Two examines the stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) modelling parameters for the current EPA Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) as the first step to developing Urban Agriculture BMPs. The second publication (Weaver, 2015) provided in Chapter Three highlights how many high-rated scholars have identified agriculture as a critical driver for the planetary systems impacts we find with community development. The third publication (Weaver, 2017b) provided in Chapter Four breaks down a completely …

Teaching Teachers: Targeted Professional Development For Adjunct Faculty, Laura A. Tamberelli, Kim Buch, Caryl Gordon

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Adjunct faculty are a growing and significant portion of teaching faculty at Universities across the United States. They are, however, vastly different from the traditional faculty member in terms of their needs, challenges, goals, and professional development options within their respective role and department. The proposed session would discuss the results of an adjunct faculty needs assessment conducted at UNC Charlotte. Additionally, it would present the steps that have since been taken to better serve adjuncts at this institution in terms of clarity, communication, networking, and professional development. Initial responses from department heads and adjunct faculty will also be discussed …

Middle School Student And Teacher Perceptions About The Effectiveness Of The Technology Integration In The Classroom, David R. Irby

Dissertations

Technology in schools is not a new phenomenon, however, whether technology integration is successful or not is up for debate. Critics of technology in the classroom write about failed attempts to integrate technology into the classroom in a meaningful way. Research indicates that we still have teachers using technology in ways that may not be much different than traditional teaching practices.

The literature describes varying levels of technology usage in the classroom. Some researchers describe technology as overrated and not fulfilling the promise to improve the teaching and learning experience. Other research describes unique uses of technology that promote engaging …

Taxonomy, Ecology, And Behavior Of The Kleptoplastic Sea Slug Elysia Papillosa, William Alan Gowacki

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sacoglossan sea slugs are one of the best known examples of specialist herbivores in the marine environment and can be found strongly associated with their algal hosts and food sources. Perhaps the most intriguing characteristic of many sacoglossans is their ability to sequester functional chloroplasts from their algal food sources in a process called kleptoplasty. Despite this, there continues to be issues regarding taxonomic identification of species. In turn, the ecological characteristics of many of these slugs, such as algal host and food source preference, as well as their behavioral aspects, have received little attention. A prime example of these …

The Relationship Of Self-Awareness To Leadership Effectiveness For Experienced Leaders, Patricia Sullivan Sullivan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between leaders’ self-awareness and their effectiveness. The population included leaders with at least five years of experience in a leadership role. Participants were recruited by snowball sampling methods; the researcher used a diverse network of professionals to recruit other leaders from diverse industries. Each leader completed a 35-survey questionnaire along with demographic questions (gender, education, years in leadership role, industry), and was required to ask at least four direct reports to complete the 35 questions about observed behaviors of their leader. After removing incomplete responses, the final sample included N …

The Perceptions Of Alternative Education Students Ages 18-21 About The Factors In The Traditional School Setting That Inhibited Their On-Time High School Graduation, Ericka Roberson Hursey

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how students ages 18-21 who are currently enrolled in a non-traditional educational setting articulate their educational pathway. The narrative inquiry method of research allowed the research participants to tell “their stories” in “their own” words. The research participants could articulate their views and perceptions on the factors that affected their educational pathway. Thirteen participants participated in the focus groups sessions and in-depth, semi-structured interviews.

Bronfenbrenner’s social systems theory (1979), environmental factors, educational experiences, excessive discipline infractions, and legal problems were dominant themes in the study. The study examined the at-risk social, …

The Effects Of Single-Sex Versus Coeducational Physical Education On Junior High Physical Activity Levels And Self-Competence, Crystal Vargos

Theses and Dissertations

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of adults in the United States are obese (DeAngelo, Kalumuck, & Adlin, 2015). Obesity affects people socially, culturally, genetically, metabolically, behaviorally, and even psychologically (DeAngelo et al., 2015). In 1972, Title XI was enacted (Title IX athletics, 2010). This law requires that all classes must be coeducational and equal opportunities must be provided for everybody, regardless of gender (Hannon & Williams, 2008). Physical Education (PE) classes then became coed. In many cases, coed classes have had a negative effect on a portion of the participation levels in PE (Murphy, Dionigi, …

Twenty Years Of Technology Integration And Foreign Language Teaching: A Phenomenological Reflective Interview Study, Nilsa Becho Sullivan, Kakali Bhattacharya

The Qualitative Report

The evolution of the use of technology in the foreign language classroom has proven to be a challenge. In this paper, we highlight a study whose purpose is to understand how one retired foreign language educator reflected on the ways in which she integrated different modes of technology in her classroom. In this interview study, the participant discussed how technology has evolved in the span of her twenty-year career as a foreign language educator and how she integrated various technologies as they evolved in her classroom. The researchers employed a modified van Kaam method as defined by Moustakas (1994) to …