Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Colic In Infancy As An Indicator Of Subsequent Sensory Processing Development, Terri Anne Pohlenz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempted to find a link between infantile colic and subsequent sensory processing development. Literature research turned up very few studies linking colic with later development of sensory processing disorder. Ten hypotheses, based on literature research, linked colic in the first year with later indications of sensory processing disorder, whether formally diagnosed or anecdotally reported. None of the 10 hypotheses were proven.

Predicting Influential Factors Of Secondary Career And Technical Education Teachers' Intent To Stay In The Profession, Julie Diane Dainty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Retaining highly qualified career and technical education teachers is important in maintaining and growing quality secondary career and technical education programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify factors contributing to teacher retention specifically in the area of career and technical education (CTE) and determine predictability of the factors‟ influence on secondary CTE teachers‟ intent to stay in or leave the teaching profession. The career and technical areas of family and consumer sciences, trade and industrial, health occupations, and agriculture in the state of Kansas made up the population for this study. The six factors that data were …

Coping Strategies Of Part-Time Mba Students: The Role Of Boundary Management, Marion M. Dunagan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using the framework of boundary theory as applied to the work-life-school construct, the study focused on part-time MBA students who worked full-time, their tendency to segment or integrate their numerous roles, and the coping tactics they utilized in redistributing their efforts as they added graduate school to these roles. The research population consisted of a convenience sample of all first and second year Managerial MBA students enrolled at the University of Arkansas. A quasi-experimental research design was used to analyze the sample.

The results of the research indicated that the part-time graduate student who was employed full time faced specific …

Explicit Instruction Elements In Core Reading Programs, Angela R. Child

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Angela R. Child at Utah State University conducted a content analysis study aimed at describing the inclusion of seven explicit instruction elements, namely, direct explanation, modeling, guided practice, independent practice, feedback, discussion, and monitoring, found within five widely published core reading programs (CRPs). These seven elements of explicit instruction will be sought in essential reading component lessons which include: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension only.

The study sought to describe the instructional recommendations found within the CRPs lessons to benefit society by; aiding educators in the selection of a CRP for their school or district; assisting classroom teachers …

The Development And Implementation Of A Hierarchical Model To Measure The Effects Of Instructional Coaching On Student Achievement, Logan Thomas Toone

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A large suburban school district in northern Utah implemented an elementary school instructional coaching program intended to increase student achievement in reading and mathematics. Program administrators wished to determine the degree to which certain elements of instructional coaching affected student achievement. This no-cost study began with the collection of student achievement data (from state reading and math assessments), coaching data (from time logs), and demographic data (from the district database). Data were analyzed within a three-level hierarchical linear model to determine the predicted effect of coaching on student achievement outcomes.

Coaching factors included the length of time coaches spent with …

Effects Of Sustained Teacher Professional Development On The Classroom Science Instruction Of Elementary School Teachers, Nancy Hauck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which sustained teacher professional development in science education affects the classroom instruction of
elementary school teachers in third through sixth grade over a 3-year period. The teachers in the study were all elementary endorsed and prepared to be generalists in the content areas.

Science reform has led to more content-specific science standards that are difficult for most elementary teachers to address without professional development. Recent studies on improving elementary science instruction suggest the need for professional development to be long term, embedded in teaching practice in the classroom, and …

Faculty And Staff Perceptions Of Sustainability Initiatives On Three Arkansas Two-Year College Campuses, Kenneth Ray Warden Iii

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore higher education faculty and staff perspectives on sustainability initiatives within their respective institutions. Subjects of this study were faculty and staff members from three rural two year institutions of higher education in Arkansas. Data was gathered using an electronically delivered survey instrument. The survey organized sustainability initiatives into three categories which are management, academic, and operations. The organization of the survey was based upon the National Wildlife Federation's study, Campus Environment 2008; A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education. In effort to determine the relationship if any between the …

Assessing Content Knowledge And Changes In Confidence And Anxiety Related To Economic Literacy In A Professional Development Program For History Teachers, Julia M. Rollison, Larry H. Ludlow, Todd Wallingford

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a Teaching American History professional development program on content knowledge, and confidence and anxiety associated with teaching economic literacy. Two content assessments and a confidence and anxiety instrument were administered to teachers prior to and immediately following a two-week Summer Institute. Statistically significant findings included an increase in economics content knowledge and an increase in confidence combined with a decrease in anxiety. The scale and measurement model employed to examine status and subsequent change should be useful for similar professional development initiatives and evaluations.

Young Adult Literature In The High School Classroom: Explanation And Application Of Teacher/Scholar: Student/Scholar Pedagogy, Colleen Barnes Herndon

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis investigates the ways in which literature is taught in high school English classes. The author expresses frustration with current methods and advocates an increase in teaching Young Adult Literature to high school students in order to encourage the students’ enjoyment of reading. She goes on to discuss how she has taught Young Adult literature in the classroom and includes example lesson plans.

The Seditious Class, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

I never saw it coming. My students and I had just shared a splendid semester-long educational experience. I had deftly mixed original readings, engaging class discussions, illuminating lectures, and thoughtful assessments with a community-based project that gave students the opportunity to apply course concepts in a real-world setting. Or had I? You would think that, after some 30 years of opening packets of students’ evaluations at the semester’s end (and now, downloading them from the University’s evil evaluation website), that the thrill would be gone—no more disappointment, elation, or surprise.

Not so.

My course was a required one, populated with …

Opportunities Preschool Teachers Use To Offer High Quality Instruction: Investigating Experiences Of Professional Development, Hannah B. Mudrick

Master's Theses

This study identified the professional development opportunities Connecticut pre-kindergarten teachers found helpful for improving their teaching and how this information was related to their personal characteristics and their level of high quality instruction and supports for early literacy. Participants were 16 female teachers from eight different centers across central and eastern Connecticut. High quality instruction and supports for early literacy were assessed observationally, and teachers’ ideas about professional development and their personal characteristics were assessed through semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that although teachers did mention multiple different professional development opportunities, discussion was overwhelmingly identified as the most helpful opportunity. …

Susan Addington Tssa Winter 2010, Susan Addington

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.

Alham Muhtaseb Cd Winter 2011, Ahlam Muhtaseb

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.

Rueyling Chuang Tssa Winter 2010, Rueyling Chuang

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.

Teaching, Writing, Writing Teaching: Reflective Journal Responses From Teaching Engl 1000, Christine Hamman

Honors Theses

A series of reflective journals and responses written to reflect on and improve in the teaching of English. Each journal was written following each class meeting of a Fall 2011 ENGL 1000 course, reflecting on the lesson, activities, and teaching for the day. From these journals, responses were written for 9 of them and lesson plans for those days were revised and added for the purposes of comparison. Using research in best practices in teaching writing, educational training, and personal experience, responses were written to each journal to condense the strengths and weaknesses of my teaching, to chart progress as …

Challenges Native Chinese Teachers Face In Teaching Chinese As A Foreign Language To Non-Native Chinese Students In U.S. Classrooms, Hui Xu

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This qualitative case study targeted the perceptions of Chinese teachers (n= 7) who had teaching experiences in China or Taiwan and the challenges they faced in transitioning to teach non-native Chinese students in U.S. classrooms, specifically about their teaching beliefs, styles, pedagogy, classroom management strategies which may be different from that of American education system. Results showed that Chinese teacher participants encountered numerous challenges including language barriers and culture shock, different perceptions and expectations of the roles of the teacher and students, communication with parents, different teaching pedagogies and styles, classroom management, and inclusion of students with special needs. The …

A Content Analysis Of Inquiry In Third Grade Science Textbooks, Rebecca Adams Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Since the publication of the National Science Education Standards in 1996 efforts have been made to include inquiry into school science programs. An addendum on inquiry to these standards was published in 2000 presenting five essential features of classroom inquiry as indicators of the active use of inquiry in a science lesson. The purpose of this content analysis was to examine and identify the presence of these five essential features of classroom inquiry within publisher-identified inquiry activities found in the 2000 and 2010 teacher's editions of the third grade science textbooks published by Scott Foresman. The textbooks were read and …

Guided Reading And Motivation, Allyson L. Hauptman

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Guided Reading and student motivation across fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The study defined literacy motivation as: (a) task value; (b) self-perceived competence; (c) students’ perceptions of the Guided Reading format. Factor analysis and repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine differences in motivation after implementation of Guided Reading. The Developing Language and Literacy Teaching Rubric-Guided Reading data were used in determining the level at which participating teachers implemented the Guided Reading format. Results showed that Guided Reading is not a motivating instructional strategy for fourth, fifth, and sixth …

Asma Taha Tssa Winter 2011, Asma Taha

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.

Su Liang Tssa Winter 2011, Su Liang

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.