Digital Commons Network^™

Maximizing Communicative Competency In A Classroom, Yinshun Wang

Faculty Publications & Research

Developing students’ communicative competence is a primary goal of many language classrooms. This session will present various strategies to encourage learner agency. The presenter will introduce strategies to execute fast-paced communicative learning activities that bypass mechanical activities and task-based student assessments to measure students’ proficiency in interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes of communication. Examples of lesson plans and student work from a high school Chinese classroom will be provided.

The Bank Street Program: Child Growth And Learning In Social Studies Experiences (1952), Charlotte B. Winsor

Bank Street Thinkers

"The teachers and psychologists who are the Bank Street group lay no claim to the discovery of any new axioms in educational practice. They have invented no method, no device, no gadget that opens magic doors to learning. What they have done is to establish principles based upon the needs and purposes of children, related to the world in which they live..." This article illustrates a program at City and Country School in which class jobs, such as running the school post office, supply store, and printing shop form the base for social studies experiences. Applying a philosophy similar to …

The Bank Street Thinkers: Foundational Knowledge To Support Our Roots And Wings, Bank Street College Of Education

Bank Street Thinkers

A series of papers and lectures that explore Bank Street history, the concepts of teaching and teacher preparation, our long history of social studies teaching and curriculum development, the role of language and play in young children's growth, and a look at the meaning of competence in schools.

Social Studies And Geography (1934), Lucy Sprague Mitchell

Bank Street Thinkers

Lucy Sprague Mitchell muses upon the meaning of each of the title words separately and then together providing insight into how children learn best -- by doing. Discusses Mitchell's concepts of human geography and how school trips promote students' understanding of their world.

The Importance Of Highly Effective School Library Media Programs On School Learning Environments, Alexandra M. Juch

EDL Sixth Year Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of a previously identified successful school library program (SLMP) in a Connecticut public school. The primary goals of this research are to answer these questions by conducting a single case study to examine the nature of this previously identified SLMP so that promising practices identified from this study can be applied to other SLMPs in Connecticut public schools. The data collection methods embodied both qualitative and quantitative instruments that included surveys, interviews and documents. Qualitative data analysis included preparation, familiarization, coding and general meaning that was entered into a table …

The Ed.D. As Investment In Professional Development: Cultivating Practitioner Knowledge, Margaret A. Macintyre Latta, Edmund T. Hamann, Susan Wunder

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

As teacher educators and participants in the US-based Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED) initiative to differentiate the Ed.D/Ph.D., we have programmatic commitments to the centrality of practitioner knowledge for shaping professional development. Through CPED, we structure opportunities for local educators to develop their professional practices within their graduate studies toward an Ed.D, while maintaining full-time educational work commitments. Concurrently, we examine and document how CPED creates room, alongside concrete practice, to cultivate, promote, and value the voices, sensibilities, and capacities of practitioners engaged in advanced practices. In doing so, we confront marginalization of practitioners’ perspectives in the field …

A Survey Of The Factors Influencing Parents In Michigan To Select Full-Time Cyber Learning For Their Children In Grades K-6, John A. Chandler

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

School choice is a long-standing tradition in the United States. New to the options available to K-12 parents are full-time virtual schools, and this option is an even more recent development for Grades K-6 parents. Very little research exists on why parents are choosing full-time virtual education for their school-aged children, and almost no research exists on why parents of younger children (Grades K-6) are choosing this option. This descriptive, exploratory study sought to answer the following research questions: (1) What factors led parents to enroll their elementary students in a full-time cyber school? (2) Were these factors attributable to …

Beyond Downton Abbey: Remembering The Great War’S Fallen Through Education And Marketing, Nina M. Ray, Andrew T. Mink

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper explores the expanding marketing and education mission of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Superintendents at overseas cemeteries and battle sites must continue their job of “keeping the headstones white and the grass green” but also must market specific events such as the 70^th anniversary of D-Day at the Normandy location and an upcoming 100^th anniversary of the end of the Great War in 2018. Part of the effort is passing the memory on to the next generation via materials relevant to young people today. U.S. history teachers who received ABMC grants to travel to Meuse-Argonne …

Teaching Argument Writing And "Content" In Diverse Middle School History Classrooms, Chauncey Monte-Sano, Susan De La Paz, Mark Felton

Faculty Publications

Monte-Sano et al describe a program in which they worked with curriculum leaders in an academically and culturally diverse school district to develop materials and techniques that would strengthen middle school students' skills in making arguments and using evidence in historical essays. They outline the Shays' Rebellion investigation activity, which enable students to develop inquiry and literacy practices as they integrate critical reading, historical thinking, and argument writing.

Media Literacy In Teacher Education: A Good Fit Across The Curriculum, Jessica Meehan, Brandi Ray, Sunny Wells, Amanda Walker, Gretchen Schwarz

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Abstract

Current preoccupations in teacher education reform include data gathering, teaching technique, and preparing PK-12 students for standardized tests. The purpose of American education has been reduced to economic benefit. Concerns with ethical behavior, the good life, and democratic citizenship have fallen by the wayside except perhaps in a single social foundations course. Media literacy education infused in the teacher education curriculum offers one way to restore purpose to teacher education, encouraging both pre-service teachers and their students to think critically about their media-dominated society.

Similar Settings, Different Story Lines: The Positioning Of Esl Teachers In Two Middle Schools, Mary Mcgriff, Maria Selena Protacio

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

As the need to better support English learners’ achievement in academically rigorous content area classes increases, so does the call for expanded ESL teacher – content area teacher collaboration. However, the nature and outcomes of such collaboration depend on how these professionals are positioned within their school settings. Using positioning theory as an analytic lens, this article investigates the collaborative interactions of two ESL teachers in two separate, but demographically similar suburban middle schools. It examines the impact of these ESL teachers’ collaborations on ELLs’ opportunities for academic language and content area learning, and it calls for the field to …

Reading Horizons Vol. 54 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Curriculum Customization On Grade 3 Student Achievement In Language Arts And Mathematics In New Jersey’S 30 Poorest School Districts, Michael Deturo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose for my correlational cross-sectional study was to explore the influences of proximal and distal forces on curriculum development and how it affects student achievement as it pertains to NJ ASK Grade 3. I sought to determine the strength and direction of the relationships between curriculum customization at the local level and student achievement on the NJ ASK 3 in Mathematics and Language Arts. Seventy-four elementary principals were surveyed pertaining to development, design, and implementation of their curriculum.

Action Items, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Overview of action items handled by the Graduate Council.

Integrating Literacy And Engineering Instruction For Young Learners, Amy Wilson-Lopez, Stacie Gregory

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

According to recently published national standards, elementary students should engage in engineering design activities. This article outlines ways that teachers can use literacy instruction to support young students’ engineering design activity, such as by selecting texts in which characters face problems that can be solved through engineering, providing students with opportunities to practice comprehension strategies while reading those texts, and modeling for them how to write a variety of texts that are relevant to engineers’ practices. The authors describe how they integrated this type of literacy instruction into engineering units in third- and fifth-grade classrooms.

Confronting Pedagogy In “Confronting Globalization”: The Use Of Role-Play Simulations To Foster Interdisciplinary/Global Learning, Lesley A. Denardis

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

With the increasing emphasis on global learning as part of the redesigned institutional mission of American higher education, there will arguably be a need for a variety of global learning experiences across the undergraduate curriculum. Efforts to incorporate global learning in course content at home by globalizing or internationalizing the curricula are already underway at many institutions of higher education. This article offers a set of recommendations for educators wishing to globalize their courses by adopting an interdisciplinary approach to global learning specifically through the use of role-play simulations. As a problem-based pedagogy, role-play simulations are uniquely equipped to deliver …

Teacher Perceptions Of The Common Core Performance Standards, Sandra Cochrane, Joshua A. Cuevas

Georgia Educational Researcher

The Common Core State Standards were implemented in the state of Georgia in the 2012/2013 school year replacing NCLB. Previous studies indicated that teachers and administrators viewed NCLB negatively, and the purpose of this study was to gauge teachers' perceptions of the new standards after they had been in effect for one and a half years. Findings revealed that while teachers did see some improvements with CCGPS, such as preparing students for college and/or a job and increasing creative and critical thinking skills, they did not feel that CCGPS would improve student achievement or raise standardized test scores. Teacher morale …

Technical Communication As Teaching: A Grounded Theory Study Of Cognitive Empathy And Audience Engagement Among Computer Science Majors In A Technical Communication Classroom, Robert Michael Rowan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a grounded theory study of empathy, ethical awareness, and audience engagement activities in students in a technical writing service course. The course was designed around an empathy-oriented approach to teaching technical writing and writing research. The students are primarily computer science majors, and the teaching methods include a genre and writing research approach as well as the use of an extended metaphor of technical communication as a form of teaching. Findings indicate that students respond to the metaphor by drawing upon positive and empathetically-informed models of teachers and teaching to guide how they would work with and …

Through The Looking Glass: A Case Study Of Photovoice And Digital Storytelling With Fourth Grade English Learners, Judy A. Wright

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The recent evolution of ICTs has sparked a catalyst of action that has led the way to the creation of innovative user experiences and created a climate for on demand learning anytime and anywhere. These experiences, at both the individual and collective level, have expanded student access and interaction to information in a way that would have been unconceivable years ago. Students who are learning English for the first time, better known as English learners (ELs), make up a greater proportion of the K-12 population than ever before. Georgia specifically has experienced a 291% growth of ELLs from 1995 to …

A Study Of Conceptual And Language Issues Surrounding Weight, Weightlessness, And Free Fall: Textbook Analysis, Instructional Design, And Assessment, Rex Taibu

Dissertations

Science education is an interdisciplinary field that has developed from and continues to rely on research in the fields of cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, sociology and history. This clearly reflects that learning and teaching can be studied from multiple perspectives. Despite these wide ranging roots, contemporary science education by and large is not informed by the work of research on linguistics, and in particular, the role of language in mediating conceptual understanding. The term “weight” has multiple meanings in both science and everyday language, and this unfortunately creates inherent difficulties for teaching and learning. The present study addresses a need …

Searching For Innovation, Creativity And 21st Century Skills: A Case Study Of A Suburban Elementary School District, Robert Alexander Serdar

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to seek out and identify the traits, attitudes and characteristics of innovative, creative and highly effective teachers within a suburban elementary school district. Participants included five elementary teachers who were identified by their colleagues as being exceptionally innovative, creative and fostering 21^st Century Skills. The research method for this qualitative case study consisted of teacher interviews, student interviews, and multiple classroom observations by the researcher. From this, seven themes, or practices, of highly innovative, creative teachers of 21^st Century Skills emerged: (1) See the Teacher as Lead Learner (2) Encourage Learner Reflection …

Learning In Green Spaces : A 1st And 2nd Grade Curriculum On The High Line, Alyssa Anker

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This social studies curriculum provides educators with the framework for teaching 1st and 2nd graders about the High Line and other New York City parks. It provides the lens for students to explore how parks are used, observe the commonalities among different parks, and investigate the uniqueness of the High Line.

The Stories We All Share : A Sixth Grade Geography Curriculum Based On Paul Salopek's "Out Of Eden Walk", Georgina Wells

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This sixth grade geography curriculum is based on a digital journalism series called the "Out of Eden Walk," in which Paul Salopek, a journalist for National Geographic, is spending seven years walking the path of early human migration and digitally reporting the stories he encounters. The curriculum follows him on his journey, as students read his and other stories about early man, Africa, and the Middle East. Students also design and report findings from their own walks.

Today's Classroom Is Changing. The Living Classroom Concept, Alicia Springer

Master of Education in Instructional Design and Technology Plan II Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to research, develop, deliver and evaluate a continuing education unit based on the concept of the living classroom. The unit was designed for Education Managers and other industry experts to present to Architects and Designers (A&D) who are associated with the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The trainees were both educated in the role of student and instructor. The overall project goal was to educate those associated with the educational industry and educate them about the learning revolution that is transforming the way we teach and learn …

Honoring Diversity In An Online Classroom: Approaches Used By Instructors Engaging Through An Lms, Jacob Petersen

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

This is an inquiry into how online instructors embrace the diversity of their student body while facing the inherent differences between a traditional face-to-face class and one that is taught online. Current research suggests that diversity in a traditional classroom is an asset if the instructor is sensitive to students’ backgrounds. This paper examines if such philosophies in traditional classrooms translate well into a distance education environment, where the student body may be even more diverse than a face-to-face class, but possibly unrecognizable because of the lack of physical cues. Research on the topic of multiculturalism in an online classroom …

April Agenda, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting agenda.

Teaching History With Google Earth, Joseph Jasper

Student Work

Utilizing technology to teach subjects like history or geography can be more challenging than for other subjects. However, Google Earth is a tool that has an opportunity to create an interactive and visual experience that can be used instead of or in conjunction with a more traditional PowerPoint presentation. In this session, I will explain and demonstrate some ways in which I have explored using this tool in a classroom in order to have that more valuable educational experience, along with the results and reactions of its use.

The Benefit Of Field Trips, Michaela D. Kennedy

Honors College Theses

Episodic memory is commonly described as a person’s unique recall of a specific event (Joordens, 2012, p. 105). Episodic memories can be triggered from senses such as sights and smells. People have been known to have detailed episodic memories, allowing them to remember extremely specific details from witnessed or experienced episodes in their lives. If episodic memory can be so strong in helping people remember given information, it is thought that they may be able to help people retain specific information when learning about new subjects. If this is the case, it is reasonable to wonder whether or not helping …

Gender Bias In Teacher Interactions With Students, Kaily Stevens

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the presence of gender bias, in the form of more teacher attention, in a Christian middle school in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Eight teachers of grades six to eight participated in the study. Teachers were observed for two 20-minute lessons. Each interaction between teacher and student was coded as either academic or behavioural in nature, as well as either positive, negative or neutral. The results of this study suggest that boys receive more teacher attention than do girls in the school. As well, girls tend to receive fewer behavioural type interactions with teachers than boys. …

Graduate Work-Readiness In The 21st Century, John Keogh, Theresa Maguire, John O'Donoghue

Stream 4: Enterprising University

The term ‘graduateness’ is beginning to be used, nationally and internationally, to describe a range of competences thought to match the demands of the workplace. There is no accompanying unifying definition, nor framework for formal recognition, rather it is used to imply a combination of attributes that varies between types of Higher Education Institutions across the World. In Ireland, the desirable characteristics of 21st century graduates variously include qualities of being ‘Creative and Enterprising, Solution-Orientated, Effective Communicators, and Globally Engaged Active Leaders’ (DCU 2014). Similarly, they should be engaged, enterprising, enquiry-based, effective and expert in their chosen field (DIT, 2013). …