Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

A Reading Comprehension Guide Book For Upper Elementary School Students, Kaley Repp

All Graduate Projects

This is an examination into the reading skills students need to help him/her comprehend reading. This project identifies 18 strategies students use when comprehending texts and then places those 18 strategies into a guide book. The 18 strategies are presented with lessons, teacher prompts, and literature for teachers to use with students who need additional reading support. This guide book has not been tested for effectiveness among elementary school students, however, the strategies are research based and have been identified as effective for student success in comprehension.

A Study Of The Relationships Between Epistemological Beliefs And Self-Regulated Learning Among Advanced Placement Calculus Students In The Context Of Mathematical Problem Solving, James Clinton Stockton

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects

Secondary mathematics educators advocating constructivist-oriented instruction face the dilemma of developing students’ problem-solving skills. Students’ epistemological beliefs and self-regulated learning (SRL) processing capacity influence mathematical problem-solving prowess. This multiple-case study explored the relationships between epistemological beliefs and SRL processing while advanced mathematics students engaged in problem-solving tasks and investigated students’ SRL strategy use, heuristic strategy use, and problem-solving performance. Data sources included think-aloud and interview transcriptions, student work, and classroom observation protocols. Validity and reliability were enhanced via member-checking interviews, triangulation, peer review, and completion of a case study database. Five major findings emerged from the data: (1) participants’ unique/arbitrary …

Tackling The Pic: Successes And Challenges In Teaching The Prison-Industrial Complex, Melissa Ooten

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

“But they’re criminals. We should lock them up and throw away the key!” my student, using a tired refrain, declared. She soon had a classroom of her peers— thoughtful, engaged students who often enjoyed analyzing complicated and difficult social issues—nodding in support. Thus began my entry into teaching and discussing the prison industrial complex (PIC) and abolitionism in a college classroom. Luckily, the class moved beyond this knee-jerk reaction, but I learned a valuable lesson that day. While I regularly engage students in thinking critically about poverty, social justice, race relations, feminism, and inclusion, exploring the possibilities of abolishing a …

Perceptions Of Virginia Community College System Faculty And Administrators On The Purposes For And Composition Of A Comprehensive Evaluation System For Teaching Faculty Members, William H. Hightower Jr.

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

A survey instrument was developed to measure community college faculty and administrator views on the faculty evaluation process. Responses were then compared based on demographic characteristics such as primary area of instruction, supervisory responsibility, years of experience, and gender. Open-ended survey questions asked respondents to identify the strengths, limitations and changes needed for their current faculty evaluation plans.

A total of 404 faculty members and 67 administrators completed the survey. Significant differences were found between faculty and administrator responses with respect to the reasons for conducting faculty evaluations, the relative importance of including certain elements in the evaluation process, and …

How Do Doctoral Research Academics Perceive Their Research Activities To Be Of Benefit To Undergraduate Students, James Mccauley

Theses

The principal aim of my research is to investigate the perceptions of Doctoral research academics regarding the benefit of their research activities to undergraduate students. Through in-depth interviews, the research aims to establish the level of communication that Doctoral researchers initiate with their undergraduate students about their research activities as well as the extent to which they know if these students perceive these activities as positive or negative. The extent to which students proactively queried such academics about their research activities is also examined. Two main types of activities were identified as having a positive impact: topic specific ‘cutting-edge’ knowledge …

Technology In The Classroom An Educator’S Guide To Technology & Learning, Joseph Lawrence Bishop

All Graduate Projects

The need for an educational technology manual was researched. Based on research a resource handbook for understanding and using technology in the classroom was in demand. In order to meet the demand for a technology training guide for teachers, a detailed handbook was created. The handbook includes information on the following aspects of educational technology; desktop computers, laptop computers, miniature computing, visual technologies, educational software, accessibility software, the Internet, video technology, and WebQuests. The handbook is intended to be used as a technology resource for teachers K-12 in any State/Country.

Applying Toulmin: Teaching Logical Reasoning And Argumentative Writing, Lesley A. Rex, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Steven Engel

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

To learn to write well-reasoned persuasive arguments, students need in situ help thinking through the complexity and complications of an issue, making inferences based on evidence, and hierarchically grouping and logically sequencing ideas. They rely on teachers to make this happen. In this article, the authors explain the framework they used and describe how they taught reasoning to students at an alternative high school, where they recorded what happened.

Generous Leadership, Lana Danielson, Saundra Shillingstad

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Dr. Lana Danielson currently serves as my Department Chair in the Teacher Education Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. We served together as colleagues prior to her becoming my Department Chair seven years ago (2003). The theme of the Bulletin's Summer 2010 issue is "Educators and Changing Times." Over the years I have had the opportunity to observe first-hand the ways in which Dr. Danielson has utilized the knowledge and skills she shares with her students as their educator and how she continuously applies her wealth of experience in the classroom to her role as leader and mentor.

David Marshall Cd Summer 2009, David Marshall

Innovative Course Redesign Grant Reports

Supports faculty to redesign or develop a course in ways that implement high-impact, evidence-based, and/or innovative teaching strategies to improve student learning.

Wright State University College Of Education And Human Services Annual Report, July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010, College Of Education And Human Services, Wright State University

College of Education and Human Services Annual Reports

This Wright State University College of Education and Human Services annual report is from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.

How Do Intrinsic Motivational Strategies Impact Student's Engagement In Learning?, Kaitlyn Howarth

Theses and Dissertations

Intrinsic motivation is one of the key factors in student's academic performance in the classroom. Thus, my research question becomes "how do intrinsic motivational strategies impact student's engagement in learning?" Researchers believe there are three common factors that are thought to promote intrinsic motivation: teacher enthusiasm, student choice and cooperative learning. These factors are three techniques believed to help foster intrinsic motivation in students and were implemented in the classroom. After five weeks of implementation, research found that students were making positive changes in the classroom by reading for pleasure, challenging themselves more, and participating more in class. More importantly, …

The Effects Of Reflective Thinking On Middle School Students’ Academic Achievement And Perceptions Of Related Instructional Practices: A Mixed Methods Study, David Denton

Theses and Dissertations

The problem investigated in this study was whether instructional practices, which characterize reflective thinking, aided in the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment at the classroom level. Participants included 259 seventh grade students, 126 female and 133 male, from 10 intact social studies classrooms. The investigator used an explanatory mixed methods design, which included a quantitative and qualitative phase.

The first phase involved testing the effects of an intervention, administered for 23 days, on students’ academic achievement according to a content-specific test. In addition, this phase involved a questionnaire used to assess student perceptions of the intervention. Results of the …

Teaching Inquiry-Based Stem In The Elementary Grades Using Manipulatives: A Systemic Solution Report, Louis S. Nadelson, Anne Hay, Pat Pyke, Janet Callahan, Cheryl Schrader

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Young learners come to school holding myriad conceptions about how the world works, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM.^1-3 Further, young students' conceptions are commonly based on fragmented knowledge or naïve perspectives that contribute to the importance of early exposure to and practice with scrutinizing situations scientifically.^1,3 An important part of helping children gain the skills necessary to approach situations scientifically involves preparing them to conduct scientific inquiry.³ The development of critical thinking skills and scientific approaches to problem solving should begin early in education.⁴ However, lack of elementary …

Building Faculty Capacity For Better Teaching And Learning, L Dee Fink, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

Enhancing faculty capacity for teaching in ways that promote greater levels of student engagement and significant learning is an essential part of all other institutional changes designed to advance higher quality student learning. In this session, participants will lay out a general strategy for campus leaders to cultivate that faculty capability and then identify specific actions needed to implement such a strategy. Participants will also identify key elements of effective teaching and learning centers and brainstorm ways to build a teaching- and learning-centered institutional culture.

Mapping Information Literacy Outcomes And Other Intellectual Skills Into Students' Educational Experiences, Patricia A. Iannuzzi, L Dee Fink

Library Faculty Presentations

The 2007 report, College Learning for the New Global Century, outlines a cluster of intellectual and practical skills that are critical components of a liberal education: inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; quantitative literacy; information literacy; and teamwork and problem solving. The learning outcomes associated with information literacy relate to and incorporate many of the learning outcomes in all of these skill clusters. Participants in this session will address how these information literacy and related learning outcomes can be mapped into student learning experiences at three levels: in an individual course, in an academic sequence …

Narrating The Literate Identities Of Five Ninth Grade Boys On The School Landscape, Mary Frances Rice

Theses and Dissertations

I conducted a narrative inquiry with five ninth grade boys in my English class that I identified as displaying multiple literacies. The classes I taught the boys in were two sections of honors ninth grade English. The boys came from a variety of backgrounds and lived in various neighborhoods in the approximately 20,0000-member community where we all live. The site of this research was the junior high school in Utah where the boys attend school and I had been employed for six years. After the research was collected, I conducted several negotiation sessions with the boys and their parents at …

Ora Robinson Tssa Winter 2010, Ora Robinson

Teaching Skills Study Awards (TSSA) Reports

Enhances faculty's teaching by attending a conference devoted to university teaching, a high-impact practice, evidence-based practice or a newly developing teaching practice.

Faculty Attitudes Toward International Education: A Campus Experience, Susan Carley, Sutham Cheurprakobkit, Daniel Paracka

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Because of the important role of the faculty in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and curriculum development, a crucial component in internationalizing the campus is the internationalization of the faculty itself. Despite the important role played by faculty, little is known about their current support for and interest in internationalization, and available information is largely qualitative and anecdotal. To learn more about faculty views, the authors conducted an empirical study on faculty attitudes about international learning, perceptions of institutional support, perceived benefits of international learning, and the impact of demographic factors and prior international experience on faculty perceptions. Policy implications …

Professional Development Of Efl Teachers In Mexico: Examining Cross-Cultural And Global Linkages, Influences, And Outcomes, Robert A. Devillar, Binbin Jiang

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

During the past twenty years, the paradigm of professional development in U.S. education has shifted from an analyitco-incremental model to an integrative-systematic model. The integrative-systematic model focuses on the whole-scale improvement of general student performance through the articulation, implementation, and assessment of standards that apply to teachers and teacher preparation institutions as well as to students. This article addresses the basis for this paradigm shift in the U.S. and the global expansion of the professional development mandate. The authors describe the first phase of a three-year, cross-cultural professional development program involving English-as-a-Foreign Language (EFL) teachers at a private school in …

The Process Of Successfully Integrating Communication Technologies Into Short-Term, Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs: Reflections From The Field, Todd L. Goen, Jennifer R. Billinson, Linda D. Manning

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

As advances in communication technologies (CT) continue to shape modern life, it is critical study abroad professionals and faculty leaders contemplate the ways in which such technologies impact study abroad. This essay provides an argument for the value and utility of such contemplation through an in-depth examination of a short-term, faculty-led study abroad program and the three faculty who lead it. The authors provide reflective summaries of their own experiences with CT and study abroad and discuss the ways in which changes in CT resulted in changes to their own study abroad program including the integration of CT into academic …