Digital Commons Network^™

Media Literacy Curriculum For The Adolescent Young Adult Classroom, Leah Oliver

Honors Projects

The American public education system has been lagging behind other developed nations in its implementation of media literacy curricula throughout all grade levels. As mass media outlets (including television, film, magazines, advertisements, and video games) become more prevalent in our society, the accompanying job market and the everyday use of electronic media platforms require high school and college graduates to have at least a basic understanding of how media can be used to disseminate information and to buy and sell products. Moreover, research studies in the field suggest that exposure to popular culture mass media can greatly influence teens’ self-esteem, …

The Role Of Family Interactions In Hiv Risk For Gay And Bisexual Male Youth: A Pilot Study, Michael C. Lasala, Carl F. Siebert, James P. Fedor, Elyse J. Revere

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite ongoing prevention efforts, young gay and bisexual males continue to engage in sexual behaviors that place them at disproportionately high risk for HIV infection. Parental monitoring and parent-child communication have been found to be associated with low-risk sexual behavior among heterosexual youth, but the role of family interactions for gay and bisexual male youth remains largely unexplored. To help address this gap, an exploratory study of recorded and coded interactions among 35 gay and bisexual youth and their parents was done to begin to identify which types of family interactions were associated with youth high-risk sexual behavior. Parent-son communication …

Using Interactive Engagement Strategies To Enhance Learning In College Science Courses, Bailey Z. Kreager, Leilani Arthurs

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The number of decreasing science majors in U.S. institutions of higher education is connected to the quality of science instruction (Seymour, 1994; Daempfle, 2003) and resulted in nation-wide efforts to improve the quality of college-level science education (National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment et al., 1996; NGSS Lead States, 2013). This talk presents historical trends in the adoption of interactive engagement (IE) strategies in college-level science courses and presents one such IE strategy, lecture tutorials (LTs), in the context of sedimentology and stratigraphy.

To determine historical trends in the adoption of IE strategies, peer-reviewed journal articles accessible via …

Bringing Curriculum Outdoors: Implementing Gardening Outdoors, Nicole Aboujaoude

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Traditional public schools are not always giving students access to opportunities to experience innovative approaches to learning like garden-based education. Garden-based education uses the garden in everyday curriculum as well as giving students the opportunity to experience hands-on learning. An outdoor garden can be a tool in promoting outdoor education and positive peer relationships. Through interviews with teachers from the garden program and surveys with students who participate in this program, this Capstone examines the benefits of taking the curriculum outdoors and implementing garden-based education. Students and teachers showed high remarks when taking the curriculum outside in the garden. Having …

Social Justice And Writing In A Math Classroom, Jesica Chaya

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

By intertwining new math concepts with important and relevant social issues, teachers can empower students to recognize the applicable nature of math to problems that their generation will be dealing with for years to come. In doing this, they can also change students’ perceptions of what succeeding in a math class looks like and address a rising necessity for writing across the curriculum by connecting these social justice based plans with writing assignments that encourage and reinforce vocabulary and a deep understanding of the material.

Higher Education Leadership And Communication Apprehension Reduction Efficacy, Shane Puckett

Doctoral Dissertations

Universities use public speaking courses to reduce the communication apprehension among the student population of the institution. Previous research connects lower communication apprehension to higher university retention rate and higher student success rates. However, a gap in current research does not explain if communication apprehension reduction is as significant when a student enrolls in a public speaking course taught online as opposed to a public speaking course taught in a traditional face-to-face manner. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of systematic desensitization as it is used in public speaking courses online. This study set-out to answer …

Islands Of Personality And Trains Of Thought, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

In the film Inside Out, 11-year-old Riley holds several islands of personality in her brain. These islands were created from her past core memories, experiences, interests, and passions. Positive and negative core memories create these islands that make up our personality or sense of self. Riley's included Family Island, Friendship Island, Soccer Island, and Goofball Island. Our brains form islands of personality (or, for the purposes of this discussion, islands of self) because of our interests, relationships, experiences, and how others in our lives have affirmed, supported, or possibly weakened our thoughts about who we are and …

Reading Horizons Vol. 55 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

English-Spanish Cognates In The Charlotte Zolotow Award Picture Books: Vocabulary, Morphology, And Orthography Lessons For Latino Ells, José A. Montelongo, Anita C. Hernández, Roberta J. Herter

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

English-Spanish cognates are words that are orthographically and semantically identical or nearly identical in English and Spanish as a result of a common etymology. Because of the similarities in the two languages, Spanish-dominant Latino English Language Learners (ELLs) can be taught to recognize English cognates thereby increasing their bilingualism and bi-literacy for these two languages.

There are over 20,000 English-Spanish cognates, many of the academic vocabulary words. Despite their vast educational potential, however, cognates are typically excluded as a word category in the language arts curriculum, thus denying Latino ELLs of a resource for acquiring English-Spanish bilingualism and bi-literacy.

English-Spanish …

Reading Comprehension Strategies In Secondary Content Area Classrooms: Teacher Use Of And Attitudes Towards Reading Comprehension Instruction, Molly Ness

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this mixed methodology study was to identify the frequency of reading comprehension instruction in middle and high school social studies and science classrooms. An additional purpose was to explore teachers' perceptions of and beliefs about the need for reading comprehension instruction. In 2,400 minutes of direct classroom observation, a total of 82 minutes (3%) of reading comprehension instruction was observed. The qualitative findings reveal that teachers did not feel qualified or responsible for providing explicit instruction on reading comprehension. Teachers pointed to the pressure to cover content in preparation for state standardized tests as barriers to providing …

Session D-2: Teaching The Russian Revolution 2.0, Steven Buenning

Professional Learning Day

Early in April 1917, Lenin crossed the Russian border and returned to his homeland, courtesy of a sealed train arranged by the German government. Almost 100 years ago, the Russian Revolution shook the world – and it still does today. Learn how fresh ideas, websites, group activities, a terrific new book, and a teaching unit from the Choices Program (Brown University) – featuring an exciting role play – can energize your classroom. See how the Russian Revolution can ignite your students’ passion for history!

Session B-2: Why World War I? Being Intelligent About The Causes, Lee Eysturlid

Professional Learning Day

This presentation will guide attendees through the complicated and often misrepresented ideas that have formed around understanding why it is that World War I started the way that it did. The focus will be mostly on the military and technological elements. Participants will be ready to teach the topic when they leave, and it suits US and World History teachers (and middle school).

Perceptions Of International High School Students Regarding Flipped Classroom Strategies In The Humanities Classroom, Nathanael Gibson

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research project sought to gauge student perceptions of the use of flipped classroom strategies in an eleventh grade class at a Christian international school in Japan. The participants were twenty-two eleventh graders in a Humanities class--a two-period blend of U.S. History and American Literature. Students wrote a Document-Based Question essay (DBQ) on the causes of the Civil War, having received most of the historical content through the use of short teacher-made lecture videos, which they watched outside of class. Class time was used to do a variety of activities to build on or apply the content from the …

Faculty And Student Issues With Group Work: What Is Problematic With College Group Assignments And Why?, Joanne P. Labeouf, John C. Griffith, Donna L. Roberts

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University researchers analyzed 811 (118 faculty and 693 student) comments to determine perceptions of group work in the academic setting. The biggest issue noted by both groups was allocation of grades for group members. Students perceived that all students received the same grade in a group project, regardless of effort. Most faculties did not share that perception, but noted difficulties in assigning group grades as well. Faculty and students described difficulties encountered by students when working on group projects in online or distance learning settings due to limited interaction and time zone differences and/or different work schedules. Faculty …

Technology Integration In Elementary Classrooms: Teaching Practices Of Student Teachers, Ping Liu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study examines how and why student teachers integrated technology to enhance instruction in elementary classrooms. The participants were 31 student teachers who completed an assignment of eight weeks. Multiple data sets including observation notes of 347 lessons were obtained from three key groups for data triangulation. Results reveal that the primary technological means used to enhance teaching was to provide visuals for attention, engagement and interaction. All participants chose to integrate technology but varied substantially in their teaching practices. They applied technology for a number of reasons: student engagement, time management, motivation and meeting individual students’ needs. Variables such …

The Effects Of Simulations On Global Empathy, Chad Raymond, Stephanie Jacques, Alisia Medeiros

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

The learning outcomes for college curricula typically emphasize the development of a greater understanding of and empathy for people who come from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this research project the Alexandrian Inventory, a pretest/posttest survey instrument, was administered to undergraduate students to examine which simulations used in two courses were associated with the greatest changes in students’ global empathy. An analysis of the data did not reveal a clear, statistically significant association between the simulations and empathy indicators.

Promoting Global Empathy And Engagement Through Real-Time Problem-Based Simulations: Outcomes From A Policymaking Simulation Set In Post-Earthquake Haiti, Chad Raymond, Tina Zappile, Daniel J. Beers

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

We introduce a real-time problem-based simulation in which students are tasked with drafting policy to address the challenge of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in post-earthquake Haiti from a variety of stakeholder perspectives. Students who participated in the simulation completed a quantitative survey as a pretest/posttest on global empathy, political awareness, and civic engagement, and provided qualitative data through post-simulation focus groups. The simulation was run in four courses across three campuses in a variety of instructional settings from 2013 to 2015. An analysis of the data reveals that scores on several survey items measuring global empathy and political/civic engagement increased …

Literacy And Arts-Integrated Science Lessons Engage Urban Elementary Students In Exploring Environmental Issues, Audrey C. Rule, Phyllis Gray, Caroline Elser, Julie Leigh Klein

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

This descriptive case study examined student attitudes, writing skills and content knowledge of urban fourth and fifth graders (6 males, 9 female) during a six-week literacy, thinking skill, and art-integrated environmental science unit. Pre- and post- test questions were used to address knowledge of environmental problems and student environmental actions. Students expressed knowledge and suggestions for positive action of youth through four essays throughout the unit, the final essay being accompanied by a pop-up construction. Writings showed steady growth in number of words, sentences, suggested environmental actions for youth, and instances of discussing consequences and sequels of actions. Students were …

The Federal Government's Usurpation Of Local Control From Public Schools: A Historical Analysis Of Politics, Law, And Reaction, Brett Geier

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

February Agenda, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting agenda

Ua45 2016-2017 Four-Year Degree Paths, Wku Registrar

WKU Administration Documents

An addendum to the 2016-2017 Undergraduate Catalog

The purpose of the Four-Year Degree Path is to assist undergraduate students in determining a timeline for completion of their undergraduate degree program. Each path displayed within this website provides students with the anticipated order in which a degree would typically be completed in a timely fashion at Western Kentucky University.

The Degree Paths show appropriate timing and spacing of general education, core course requirements, elective suggestions, prerequisites and displays how each of these requirements may be met during a four-year time frame.

The Degree Path is simply a guideline and might not …

2016-2017 Catalog, Wku Graduate School

Graduate School

Graduate School catalog regarding admissions, curriculum and policies.

Review Of Education For Empire: American Schools, Race, And The Paths Of Good Citizenship, Brianna Lafoon

Department of History - Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Model Lessons About Geography And Teaching With Primary Sources, Mary Arnold, Tabitha M. Richards, Helen Peynado, Licinia Stoian, Emily Pahlke, Alison Norton, Melanie A. Mays, Deidre Pribula, Deborah Jones, Mason Mahaffie, Emily Veale, Kerry Zambrano, Scott Bailon, Elena Kavanaugh, Stephanie Burns, Delia Wallis

Instructional Materials

Model Lessons for Teaching with Primary Sources to use with The Student Atlas of Oregon.

Personal Agency Inspired By Hardship: Bilingual Latinas As Liberatory Educators, Amanda Morales, Gail Shroyer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This qualitative multiple case study focused on eleven non-traditional, bilingual, Latinas within a teacher education program. The study explored various factors that influenced participants’ desire to pursue and ability to persist as pre-service teachers. The overarching theme identified among participant discourse was personal agency inspired by hardship. Findings indicated that, as a result of their cultural and experiential understandings, participants enacted culturally responsive teaching with their Latino/a students. Furthermore, participants demonstrated a strong sense of personal agency to improve the educational outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse students and a desire to advocate specifically on behalf of English learner Latino/a …

“Flee From The Worship Of Idols”: Becoming Christian In Roman Corinth, Dorvan Byler

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The religious contexts in which early Christian communities grew were important factors in the first-century development of Christianity, affecting what it meant to become a Christian either as a convert from a background in Judaism or as a convert from a background in Greek, Roman, or Egyptian cults. Surrounding religions and cultural norms strongly influenced the first Christian communities in urban environments throughout the Roman Empire because the first generation of Christian converts came directly from other religious constructs. As the early Christians distinguished themselves from the Diaspora Jewish communities in which they originated and actively pursued Gentile converts, the …

A Digital Literacy Initiative In Honors: Perceptions Of Students And Instructors About Its Impact On Learning And Pedagogy, Jacob Alan English

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Researchers acknowledge the necessity of acquiring digital competencies to participate adequately in society (Ala-Mutka; Boyles; Cobo; Davies; Littlejohn, Beetham, & McGill; Teske & Etheridge; Tryon; Warf). Although the development of digital competencies has become increasingly important in higher education, integrating digital literacies in the college classroom has occurred at a slow pace. Honors programs and colleges represent one area of the academy that typically values a more traditional approach to skill development while resisting technology. My research study describes a digital literacy initiative in the Georgia State University Honors College, a large urban research university, and explores its perceived impact …

Reading Place, Reading Landscape: A Consideration Of City As TextTm And Geography, Ellen Hostetter

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The fundamental concepts employed by City as Text^TM (CAT)—the established experiential learning practice in honors education—and the discipline of geography, specifically the landscape tradition within human geography, share much in common. The overlaps offer CAT practitioners additional intellectual support from a source outside of honors while the differences suggest opportunities for incorporating new material into CAT programs. While CAT and the landscape tradition share the general concepts of professional orientations grounded in place, of close attention to place, and of place as a text to be read, the landscape tradition offers specific terminology to support and build on these …

Editor’S Introduction, Vol. 17, No. 2, Ada Long

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors students have long entered college with Advanced Placement credits already on their transcript, but in recent years the number of these credits has increased dramatically. At the same time, the more recent phenomenon of dual enrollment credits has ballooned. In a recent article called “As Dual Enrollments Swell, So Do Worries about Rigor,” Katherine Mangan writes, “Fueled by desires to cut college costs and improve access to underserved students, enrollment in dual-credit classes has been growing at a clip of about 7 percent a year nationally” (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 Aug. 2016, A8). While the …

The Use Of Song To Open An Educational Development Workshop: Exploratory Analysis And Reflections, Lawrence Lesser, Song An, Daniel Tillman

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Song has been used by faculty of many disciplines in their classrooms and, to a lesser extent, by educational developers in workshops. This paper shares and discusses a new song (about an instructor’s evolving openness to alternatives to lecture only teaching) and its novel use to open an educational development workshop. Self reported participant data from an exploratory survey suggest that the song was most effective in reducing stress as well as in increasing motivation, morale, engagement, and connection. Practical implications and implementation considerations are discussed regarding the song as well as related creative work.