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Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's Message.

Book Reviews, Judy Halden-Sullivan, Ken Delucca, Brad Lucas, Timothy Shea, William Archibald

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Book Reviews

Judy Halden-Sullivan - Practices in Mindfulness

Ken DeLucca - Schoeberlein, Deborah and Suki Sheth. Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness: A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009.

Brad Lucas - MacDonald, Elizabeth, and Dennis Shirley. The Mindful Teacher. New York: Teachers College Press, 2009.

Timothy Shea - VanDeWeghe, Richard. Engaged Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2009.

William Archibald - Cummings, Robert E. Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in the Age of Wikipedia. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt UP, 2009

Connecting, Helen Walker, Grace Feuerverger, Gesa E. Kirsch, Betsy Newmeyer, Anita Voelker, Allison Brimmer, Debbie Axelrod, Margo Wilson, Catherine M. Nelson, Liang Zhao

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Growing Up

Grace Feuerverger - Mandy

Gesa E. Kirsch - A Teaching Success or Failure?

Betsy Newmeyer - My RIF’d Life

Anita Voelker - Will’s Story

Allison Brimmer - Elitist White Lady Who Tries Too Hard

Debbie Axelrod - Dear Professor

Walker Margo Wilson - Burnishing the Bruises

Catherine M. Nelson - Jimmy

Liang Zhao - Lead by Example

Undergraduate And Graduate Programs In Environmental Science At Unlv, Scott R. Abella

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

The School of Environmental and Public Affairs at UNLV houses B.A. and B.S. degrees in Environmental Studies and M.S. and PhD degrees in Environmental Science. These degrees are flexible, multi-purpose, interdisciplinary programs that can be tailored for both breadth and depth.

Place As Text: Approaches To Active Learning (Second Edition), Bernice Braid, Ada Long

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

CONTENTS

Dedication and Acknowledgments

Preface to the Second Edition — Ada Long and Bernice Braid

Introduction — Bernice Braid

Honors Semesters: Anatomy of Active Learning — William Daniel

Honors Semesters: An Architecture of Active Learning — Bernice Braid

Internal Assessment of Honors Semesters — Ann Raia

External Evaluation of Honors Semesters — Ada Long

Student Perspectives on Honors Semesters — Elizabeth Beck

Other Structural Models of Active Learning

City as Text™ — Bernice Braid

Faculty Institutes — William Daniel

Summer High School Field Experiences — Bernice Braid

Sleeping Bag Seminars — Joan Digby

College Recruitment Exercises — Bernadette Low

Orientation …

Disrupted But Not Destroyed: Fictive-Kinship Networks Among Black Educators In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Daniella Ann Cook

Faculty Publications

Drawing on Adkins’ (1997) notion of reform as colonization and using ethnographic data from African American teachers in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, this article discusses how black educators’ fictive-kinship (Fordham 1996, Chatters, Taylor, and Jayadoky 1994, Stack 1976) networks have been altered in the changing landscape of reform. I argue that the importance of fictive-kinship relationships among educators and students was ignored in school-reform efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans. Post-Katrina school reforms disrupted, but did not destroy, these fictive-kinship networks. I discuss three themes: (1) fictive-kinship networks created before Katrina cultivated an environment centered on cooperation, collaboration, and solidarity, …

The Effect Of Text-To-Self Reading Strategies On Reading Comprehension, Cathy Arlene (Legg) Cutright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Middle-school male students currently face a disadvantage in reading comprehension compared to female students. Research suggests the problem is that more male students score below grade level in reading comprehension because they require more cognitive scaffolding. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of text-to-self reading instruction and to compare the comprehension achievement of male and female students in 6th-grade reading and language-arts classes using guided reading of text-to-self instruction and guided reading using novels. The foundation of this study was based on constructivist theories including Dewey's pragmatist philosophy, Piaget's developmental theory, and Vygotsky's theory of zone …

The Use Of Handheld Devices For Improved Phonemic Awareness In A Traditional Kindergarten Classroom, Cristy Ann Magagna-Mcbee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Effective teaching strategies that improve the development of phonemic awareness are important to ensure students are fluent readers by third grade. The use of handheld devices to improve phonemic awareness with kindergarten students may be such a strategy, but no research exists that evaluates the use of these devices. This study explored the effectiveness of Bee-Bot handheld devices in kindergarten classrooms to teach phonemic awareness. A 4-month sequential mixed-methods study was conducted in four classrooms: two that used Bee-Bot handheld devices in phonemic awareness lessons and two that never used the devices. The score gain (Fall 2009 to Winter 2010) …

Using Globally Significant Children's Literature To Increase Fourth-Grade Students' Global Attitudes And Intercultural Sensitivity, Tonya Salisbury

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

It is vital for future generations to clearly grasp what it means to be global citizens in order for them to be successful and for America to maintain its status as a world leader. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to measure and describe the growth of global attitudes and intercultural sensitivity that fourth-grade students acquire through reading and discussing globally significant children's literature which honors and celebrates diversity worldwide, in terms of culture, race, language, religion, and social status. According to Rosenblatt's transactional theory, readers experience aesthetic transactions with the text leading to an understanding of the world …

The Use Of Human Patient Simulators To Enhance The Clinical Decision Making Of Nursing Students, Sharon Kay Powell-Laney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the newest teaching modalities in nursing education is the use of human patient simulators (HPS). An HPS simulation scenario creates a software program vignette in which students interact with a manikin to practice caring for critical patients in a risk-free environment. Although used extensively in schools of nursing, there is little research that examines if these expensive simulators improve the clinical decision-making ability of nursing students. The purpose of this experimental differentiated treatment study was to assess if HPS technology leads to increased clinical decision-making ability and clinical performance more than the teaching modality of a paper and …

The Effects Of Oral Reading Fluency On Reading Comprehension For Students With Reading Disabilities And Specific Learning Disabilities, Renee C. Nouvelle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The gap in reading achievement continues to be consistent, despite No Child Left Behind goals to narrow these gaps among minority and other subgroup populations. This gap is especially profound for students with disabilities, and any evidence to support progress monitoring of oral reading fluency (ORF) and comprehension will inform educational policy and practice. The theory of automaticity explains that a reader can focus more attention on the meaning of a reading passage when less attention is needed for word and sound recognition. The literature has suggested that reading comprehension can be improved through efforts to improve ORF. The central …

Emerging Adults' Perceptions Of Learning In An Undergraduate Student Organization For Global Social Justice, Patricia Marie Kean

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current literature suggests the institution of higher education is exploring its identity and role in society, much like the emerging adults who enroll in their programs as traditional aged undergraduates. Literature also reveals that society is asking undergraduate institutions to meet the diverse needs of its students and prepare them for adulthood and life long learning. However, research also highlights the need for students to be educated for participation within an interconnected and complex global society able to facilitate positive social change. Using a developmental lens, this interpretive case study addressed these current needs through interpreting perceptions of undergraduates and …

The Forgiveness Classroom: Bringing Together Students From Both Sides Of The Walls Through Deep Listening, Ruth Henderson

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay describes a forgiveness course taught in prisons and on college campuses. The course served as a bridge for Endicott College students and inmates from the Maine Correctional Center at Windham, highlighting how deep listening may reduce violence and promote understanding.

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Back matter.

Participation In Positive Youth Development Programs And 4-H: Assessing The Impact On Self-Image In Young People, Karen Bloomquist

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to identify relationships between youth involvement in 4-H and self-image. The study also explored whether there were relations between self-image and development of the 5 C’s (confidence, competence, caring, connection and character) of Positive Youth Development. The study focused specifically on the differences in self-image between youth who participate in 4-H and youth who do not.

Participants included 180 youth from grades eight through twelve in the state of Nebraska. Demographic responses indicated that 47% of respondents were male and 53% were female. Approximately 72% of the respondents were not participants in a 4-H …

Connection To Nature In Park Visitors: A Look At Structured And Unstructured Recreational Activities, Chelsea D. West

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is evidence that park visitation is on the decline (Pergams & Zaradic, 2008) and if this is the case, and budgets decrease proportionately, there is a chance park land will be lost. Definitive explanations of the decline in park visits and time spent in nature are not available. In addition, there has been some discussion and research pertaining to the possible effects on people of not going into the natural environment and experiencing a connection with nature.

This study represents the first research known to focus on connectedness to nature and its relationship to structured and unstructured recreational activities. …

What's Race Got To Do With It?: A Historical Inquiry Into The Impact Of Color-Blind Reform On Racial Inequality In America's Public Schools, Lillian Dowdell Drakeford

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines the history and impact of color-blind educational reform in the post-Brown era on racial inequality of educational opportunities and outcomes in America's public schools. Through the lens of critical race theory and race critical theory, the dissertation employs a dual analysis. A macro analysis of the evolution and impact of colorblind educational reform on the national level is juxtaposed with a micro, case-study analysis of the history of color-blind educational reform at a historically Black high school. The historical analysis of the relationship between race and education encompasses intellectual and social aspects of education in the U.S. …

The Learning Commons As A Locus For Information Literacy, Sharon A. Weiner, Tomalee Doan, Hal Kirkwood

Libraries Research Publications

Many institutions of higher education are designing spaces to facilitate learning. Libraries have created information or learning commons to support this activity. This article draws from the literature and best practices to explore this new direction. Academic libraries have focused on student learning and the teaching of skills and strategies that develop information literacy competency. Although there is an assumption that learning commons facilitate student learning, there is a need to more closely connect this new environment with information literacy and pedagogy and to demonstrate its merits in enhancing learning. A basic premise is that each learning commons that is …

Teaching With Spirit: Freire, Dialogue, And Spirituality In The Composition Classroom, Justin Vidovic

Wayne State University Dissertations

This ethnographic study examines the role of spirituality in the composition teaching process and in Paolo Freire's dialogic education specifically. Work to acquire some aspects of spiritual "Discourse," as the term is defined by James Gee, is needed in order to make this spiritual foundation visible and practicable. Through a series of ethnographic narratives of a classroom, this study demonstrates the necessity of spiritual work on the part of the teacher to develop the mind frame and skill set necessary for dialogic pedagogy. A series of workshop activities based on Freire's spiritual prerequisites for dialogic education are proposed.

The Determinants Of Student Achievement And High School Completion In Michigan, Cleo Michele Moody

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

By

Cleo M. Moody

December 2010

Advisor: Dr. Michael Addonizio

Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Degree: Doctor of Education

Policy and practice regarding in-grade level retention and their effects on high school graduation rates and successful student academic outcomes have currently assumed great importance in the education reform debate. Further, the effectiveness of our public schools and the achievement of our students have implications that can affect individuals and the communities in which they live. Now, more than ever, individual economic success and economic growth depend crucially on academic achievement and human capital. The purpose of this research …