Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Storytelling In Mathematics Teaching, Michelle Pfost

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This project was designed as a way for me to create lesson plans that incorporate the research proven highly effective method of using storytelling to teach math. My plan is to incorporate these lesson plans into my future classroom. All of the lesson plans are based on the math common core standards and as such are designed to help students understand and be able to apply these concepts in real-life situations. The main objective of using storytelling to teach these lessons is to help make math "come alive" for these students and help to show them that math can be …

Testimonios On The Role Of Mentorship Of Mexican Immigrants’ Higher Academic Attainment: Vengo Con Ganas, Solo Échame Una Mano!, Jessica Grisel Mendoza Servin

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of having academic mentors of similar heritage to facilitate higher academic attainment of first generation Mexican immigrants. The researcher assures to demonstrate how constructs such as mentorship, self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, social and cultural capital, and similar heritage due to cultural values can positively influence and contribute to the success of English Language learners in academia.

Through the mentorship relationship, students, particularly minority groups, can tap into social and cultural capital that would otherwise be limited due to their immigration to a foreign country. Immigration typically limits individuals’ ability to communicate …

Move, Interact, And Connect Personally Barter Theatre’S Project Real Gets Implicit In Order To Learn, Megan E. Atkinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Body movement, hands-on activity, embodiment, social interaction, emotions, and self-reflection allow teaching artists of Barter’s Theatre’s Project REAL to conduct a lesson with an implicit learning experience as the focus. Barter Theatre’s Project REAL exists as a theatre for education program that collaborates with regular classroom teachers on delivering the curriculum through specific theatre exercises in order to connect the material personally to the students’ lives. Theatre tools provide a human experience that enhances learning for the student by use of kinesthetic movement, social learning, emotions and interpersonal skills. To understand the effects of Barter Theatre’s Project REAL, the director …

Exploring The Correlation Between Teachers’ Mindset And Judgment Accuracy To Reveal The Cues Behind Teachers’ Expectations, M. Brady Webb

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Teaching is about constantly evaluating one’s students to best situate them for learning and future progress. Based on such evaluations, the academic expectations teachers hold for their students influence their instructional practice and are mediators of student achievement. Forming accurate expectations of students’ ability and accurate predictions of performance is instrumental to effectively improving instruction and advancing student learning. Therefore, when teachers form inaccurate expectations of student academic performance, students can suffer academically and personally. When teachers’ judgments of student learning are based on accurate information reflecting students and their learning, students can benefit academically and personally. Yet, little research …

Towards A Richer Understanding Of Presence In Teaching In The Elementary School Environment, Jennifer Diane Gardner

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

During the act of teaching, teachers are faced with numerous decisions on how to best meet the varied needs of their students based on their awareness of those students’ needs. This process is encapsulated in the theory of Presence in Teaching, which includes the constructs of teacher awareness, reflection-in-action, teacher decision-making, and connections to student/teacher relationships, professional identity, and pedagogical content knowledge. This qualitative study sought to deepen current understandings of this theory through exploring how experienced teachers become aware of student needs, how they use those awarenesses to inform their decisions made during instruction, the role of reflection in …

"It Is Not In The Stars To Hold Our Destiny But In Ourselves": Tales Of Saudi Muslim Women Maintaining Their Identities In U.S. Higher Education, Debi Sheridan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of these oral histories was to examine, explain and reveal the success of a small group of Saudia (female Saudis) whose studies at a mid-Western American university through the medium of English (their second or third language). Four students were randomly selected from a group of volunteers, based on their successful completion of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program, plus a year of other academic classes in the university. One student, who had not completed the ESL program, was admitted to the master of English program having passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language …

The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Special And General Educational Professionals Concerning Alcohol And Drug Problems, Troy Wayne Kieser

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the greatest challenges of public education. Substance abuse affects student academic performance. Teacher attitudes concerning substance use are linked to drug and alcohol use by students. The purpose of this study was to assertion teacher attitudes and beliefs about drug and alcohol use. The data were collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was a modified version of the Addiction Belief Inventory (ABI) based on the five constructs (e.g., coping, efficacy, disease, lack of efficacy, moral weakness) of substance abuse (Broadus, Hartje, Roget, & Cahoon, 2010; Luke, Ribisi, Walton, & Davidson, 2002). The participants …

How Arizona Community College Teachers Go About Learning To Teach, Carolyn J. Hamblin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

New Arizona community college teachers go through a transformative learning process when they learn to teach. They enter the classroom with preformed ways of thinking about teaching. These habits of mind include what they imagine a community college teacher to be. They expect their knowledge and expertise to translate into teaching ability and they are shocked to learn that this is not the case. Classroom teaching involves basic pedagogical skills such as preventing cheating, creating appropriate tests, planning a course calendar, and pacing a lecture. The discomfort that accompanies this revelation causes the teachers to think critically about what good …

An Investigation Of Perceptions Of Program Quality Support Of Adult Basic Education Programs In Arkansas, Gary William Udouj

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to identify the degree to which the directors of adult basic education programs in Arkansas perceive they have program quality support, as evidenced by a well-defined mission and role in the community, a management system, human resources management, and a suitable learning environment. To collect data for this study, NSCALL's Evidence-based program self-assessment (2006) was modified and administered electronically. Thirty-nine administrators of adult education programs funded by state and federal grants under the Arkansas Department of Career Education were invited to participate. The survey consisted of 40 questions scored on a 5-point Likert type scale, four …

Leadership Behaviors Used By Principals Of Large High Schools Compared To Principals Of Small High Schools: A Comparative Multiple-Case Study, Kimberly Lynn Baker Garrett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this multi-case study was to examine if there may be a perceived relationship between the size of the school and the leadership behaviors of the four principals. This purpose was achieved through a qualitative inquiry of principal interviews, principal survey, observation of a principals' leadership team meeting, focus group interview with the principals' leadership team, and analysis of the extant texts: principals' time log for one week, organizational chart, and agenda for a leadership team meeting. The data were reduced through two cycles of coding which then further analyzed resulting in the identification of five major themes. …

"Keep Funding Or Else... It's Mustaches": Building A Community Of Literacy At Owl Creek, Ian Whitlow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following research report on literacy practices presents an analysis of the data collected over the course of four months at Owl Creek middle school in Northwest Arkansas. Following a qualitative research protocol, I interacted with middle school students who participated in the Razorback Writers after-school literacy outreach program sponsored by the University of Arkansas. This report details the two major literacy practices encouraged in this after school program - the collective read-aloud sessions focusing on the graphic novel I Kill Giants, and the students' creation of their own graphic novels, which were developed in group workshops. In the following …

Using A Job Crafting Model To Examine The Job Tasks Of Program Coordinators In Graduate Medical Education, Abigail Elise Arthur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduate medical education (GME) is essential to preparing physicians for independent practice in the United States. Oversight of GME programs requires strict attention to accreditation requirements, state and federal regulations, and high educational standards. Residency program coordinators are an essential part of GME administration. Program coordinators play a critical role in GME residency programs, provide essential, non-medical administration functions, and are positions that are required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This study examined the job tasks of residency program coordinators using a job crafting framework. This mixed methods study used a job crafting scale developed by researchers …

The Value Of Student Choice In Reading. A Book Review Of Keep Them Reading: An Anti-Censorship Handbook For Educators, Christi R. Keelen

Democracy & Education

Keep Them Reading: An Anti-Censorship Handbooks for Educators is a must-have for elementary and secondary English and reading teachers, administrators, and librarians or media specialists. While the focus for this text is how to handle and avoid challenges on books, how to create an environment where reading is important and the students' ability to choose what they want to read is part of the classroom culture is also addressed.

Media And Democracy. A Response To "The Need For Media Education In Democratic Education", Lance E. Mason

Democracy & Education

This response supports Stoddard’s (2014) assertion that media education should be considered a crucial factor of democratic education and offers both extensions and cautions related to that end. Extensions include practical suggestions for studying the non-neutrality of technology. The author also cautions educators that if media education and democratic education are to be productively merged, a more substantive consideration of the relationship between digital technologies and dispositional factors is warranted.

“If You Cannot Live By Our Rules, If You Cannot Adapt To This Place, I Can Show You The Back Door.” A Response To "New Forms Of Teacher Education: Connections To Charter Schools And Their Approaches", Barrett A. Smith

Democracy & Education

Stitzlein and West (2014) are primarily concerned with how Relay and Match risk failing to prepare their residents to practice democratic education. My aim is to provide a more thorough account of specific practices employed by Match and their no-excuses approach in order to illustrate and support points made by Stitzlein and West. It is my hope that this deeper examination will substantiate the concerns of Stitzlein and West while further problematizing the practices employed by and advocated for throughout Match.

Becoming A Social Justice Educator: Emerging From The Pits Of Whiteness Into The Light Of Love. A Response To "Respect The Differences? Challenging The Common Guidelines In Social Justice Education, Kay F. Fujiyoshi

Democracy & Education

This paper addresses the limitations of social justice in institutional spaces and in rhetoric. I write in the form of a quest narrative to describe the lessons I learned from a brief sojourn in a temporary position in an urban teacher education program with a social justice focus and at a nonprofit organization with other social justice workers. My quest entails a retelling of encounters with Whiteness, the challenges of engaging social justice as a process that pushes beyond conversation, and the lessons I took away from my own sense-making of the contradictions in social justice work.

Limiting Student Speech: A Narrow Path Toward Success. A Response To "Challenging The Common Guidelines In Social Justice Education", Marissa C A Minnick

Democracy & Education

In this response, Minnick asserts that unequal representation of students' voices, an idea presented in Sensoy and DiAngelo’s “Challenging the Common Guidelines in Social Justice Education,” presents multiple negative classroom implications. Foremost, Minnick argues that Sensoy and DiAngelo’s lack of clarity regarding when a teacher should limit student speech (either before the student begins to talk or midcomment) has a large effect on the success of their strategy. Second, Sensoy and DiAngelo’s discussion strategy may result in the targeting of minority students and the judging of students. These concerns are driven by considerations of how teachers’ relationships with students influence …

An Education Saved My Life: Silver Wolf’S Path To Promise, David Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya)

Books and Monographs

In An Education Saved My Life, Professor David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya) narrates his path from a difficult early family life, his introduction to alcohol and drugs as an adolescent, and a directionless early adulthood overshadowed by chemical dependency, to a series of events and encounters that transformed his life. Dr. Patterson Silver Wolf attributes not only the substance abuse, but the many turns that led to it, to what he calls a “poor belief system.” As the title suggests, by contrast, he attributes much of the success he has experienced since then to his education, but …

An Introduction To The Standards For Preparation And Professional Development For Teachers Of Engineering, Jackson E. Reimers, Cheryl L. Farmer, Stacy S. Klein-Gardner

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

The past 30 years have yielded a mature body of research regarding effective professional development for teachers of science and mathematics, leading to a robust selection of professional development programs for these teachers. The current emphasis on connections among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics underscores the need for similar research into the nature of effective professional development for teachers of engineering. With this in mind, this paper completes a review of the literature concerning effective professional development for teachers of engineering, both as a unique discipline and as a context for teaching and learning in other subjects. The results of …

Students’ Perceptions Of The Training Environment: A Study Of Race And Gender, Robbie J. Steward, Josh Staley, Tiffany Wilbourn

Bright Ideas Conference

This poster presents the results of a study of university students’ perceptions of educational training environments, which is typically limited to course evaluations. Relationships between program organization/structure, students’ perceptions, and cumulative GPA will be examined considering race and gender. Findings will enhance understanding about the impact of program variables. Packets (N = 227) , which included a consent form and a researcher-developed Training Environment Survey, were completed bi-annually by a random sampling of currently enrolled undergraduate (n = 140; 61.7%), graduate (n = 56; 24.7%), and doctoral-level (n = 31; 13.7%) university majors in programs housed within a Department of …