Digital Commons Network^™

2018-2019 Catalog, Wku Graduate School

Graduate School

Graduate School catalog regarding admissions, curriculum and policies.

Determining And Implementing Social Presence In College Level Online Course Using Student Input: Theoretical Underpinnings Supporting Student Participation In Online Course Design, Brad Van Alstyne

Communication & Media Studies | Faculty Dissertations and Theses

As online education continues to grow as a method to deliver education at the college and university level, research on online education has shifted from studying the technology and its ability to deliver course content to trying to better understand what encourages a positive online experience for instructors and students.

The marked difference between a virtual classroom as opposed to a physical one has shifted technology-focused research to research that inquires about the vitality of the social environment in virtual venues. It is conceived that social presence is what makes the virtual experience feel real and sustains student’s attention and …

Group Portfolios As A Gateway To Creativity, Collaboration, And Synergy In An Environment Course, Katherine Nashleanas

Innovation in Pedagogy and Technology Symposium

Group Portfolios as a Gateway to Creativity, Collaboration & Synergy in an Environment Course

Yankee Hill I

Katherine Nashleanas (UNL)

Recent studies have suggested the world students are facing today is moving so fast that the professions and skills they are training for now might be obsolete by the time they graduate. As a result, students in the 21st century need to think more flexibly, innovatively and creatively as well as practice in collaboration, negotiation and teamwork. With an entry-level class of 49 students in a hybrid course, groups were assigned with a semester portfolio project on the general topic …

Study Abroad In The Neoliberal Academy: Shifting Geographies, Terri Carney

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Educational Development Needs Of Higher Education Faculty Working With Ells, Kevin Joseph Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was undertaken to examine the educational development (ED) needs of higher education (HE) faculty who have English language learners (ELLs) in their mainstream courses but do not have specialized training in teaching such students. A quantitative approach was used to explore the impact of any existing ED and areas that might need improvement. This study, guided by andragogy, examined the pedagogical needs of these HE faculty. A cross-sectional analysis of online survey data using a multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) examined the ED needs and available resources of faculty with respect to …

A Classroom-Based Physical Activity Intervention For Adolescents: Is There A Relationship With Self-Efficacy, Physical Activity, And On-Task Behavior?, Colleen Cornelius

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Classroom-based physical activity is a newly explored avenue for providing physical activity opportunities to children within the school, but it is one that is showing academic gains in areas such as on-task behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of pedal desks placed in high school classrooms. Three main objectives were examined: 1) The possible increase in physical activity self-efficacy among high school students in the classroom, 2) the effectiveness of pedal desks on increased physical activity among high school students, and 3) the impact of pedal desks on increasing classroom on-task behavior. Participants included 114 …

What Does An Anthropologist Of Educational Policy Do? Methodological Considerations, Edmund T. Hamann, Thirusellvan Vandeyar

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

Although Margaret Mead (Hughes, 1952; Mead, 1961), Manuel Gamio (1916), and other leaders of 20th-century anthropology often made pronouncements regarding what schooling should and shouldn't do-in essence proposing to be educational policymakers of a sort-the turn of anthropology to the study of policy and particularly education policy is relatively new (Shore & Wright, 1997). It follows that what an anthropologist of educational policy implementation should do is therefore not yet depicted all that clearly or in detail. The groundbreaking work of Sutton and Levinson (2001) and their contributing authors in some senses stands out as an important exception to that …

Where Should My Child Go To School? Parent And Child Considerations In Binational Families, Edmund T. Hamann, Víctor Zúñiga, Juan Sánchez García

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

Using examples encountered from our multi-year study of students encountered in Mexican schools with prior experience in US schools, we look at transnationally-tied families’ decision-making regarding where to send their children to school and ask whether parents should ‘parent from afar’. We don’t pose that as a question about ideals— what would be best if parents had economic security and unambiguous legal residential status— but rather as a more pragmatic one. Given some parents’ and children’s limited agency in real- world circumstances, what is their best path forward?

Breaking Barriers In Teaching And Learning: Linking Honors Courses: A New Approach To Defining Honors Pedagogy

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The shift in higher education toward outcome-based learning represents a significant opportunity for honors. By removing disciplinary boundaries related to teaching content knowledge, outcome-based learning increases opportunities for connecting student learning across courses within well-defined honors curricula. It also empowers honors students, many of whom are eager to take leadership of their educational experiences, to extend their learning in new ways. This essay presents an example of how drawing connections across honors courses within a curriculum creates unique opportunities for engaged, transformative learning and, unexpectedly, for the development of an honors program identity.

Breaking Barriers In Teaching And Learning: Innovative Discussion-Based Pedagogy

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Psychologists have identified a series of specific kinds of learning experiences that confer broad and lasting educational benefits, contributing to overall professional success regardless of field. These benefits include developing creativity, problem-solving, cognitive complexity, and flexibility (Maddux et al.); working well in diverse or dispersed groups; negotiating interpersonal problems (Tadmor et al.); tolerating ambiguity; pursuing cultural engagement; appreciating diversity; and being open to experience (Shadowen et al.). This research is important because it provides evidence for the longterm impact of certain experiences on ways of thinking rather than their short-term ability to help students pass exams. The research argues powerfully …

The Effect Of The State Giant Traveling Map Of Montana On The Geographic Literacy Of Fourth Graders In Western Montana, Rebecca A. Kranitz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A complex set of factors and processes operating within the United States public education system contribute to high rates of geographic illiteracy in the majority of young adults. These factors include, but are not limited to, a lack of structured federal controls over state geography requirements, insufficient time to implement effective geography curricula, and inadequate assessment techniques. To raise rates of geographic literacy, the National Geographic Society (NGS) created the State Giant Traveling Maps (SGTM) to actively engage students in a geography education experience that simultaneously promotes positive attitudes towards geography while strengthening student map skills. The SGTMs incorporate a …

Contemplating Positionalities: An Ethnodrama, Neera Malhotra, Veronica Hotton

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article is an ethnodrama playscript that examines the role of positionality in an interdisciplinary general education program called University Studies at Portland State University. Drawing from both the literature and from the practice of critical reflection, the authors share their experiences as faculty members relative to their institutional and social positionalities. The authors perform this ethnodrama through the construction of this article for an audience of teaching faculty and administrators in higher education. Throughout the ethnodrama, the audience/readers are invited to interact with the playscript through prompted critical reflection on their own positionalities in their professional lives.

Maintaining Global Citizenship Education In Schools: A Challenge For Australian Educators And Schools, John Buchanan, Nina Burridge, Andrew Chodkiewicz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teaching students about global citizenship remains a critical challenge for schools and communities, especially in a developed country like Australia. With increasingly difficult national and international contexts and its marginal place in the school curriculum, there is an urgent need to help maintain support for global citizenship education. Recognising the challenges and limitations, key ways to raise its profile include considering available pedagogies, drawing on the existing Australian Global Education framework, taking up existing curriculum opportunities, accessing quality educational resources and relevant teacher education programs, and working in partnership with key Non-Government Organisations.

Teacher Twitter Chats: Gender Differences In Participants’ Contributions, Stacey L. Kerr, Mardi J. Schmeichel

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

Gender differences in participation were examined across four Twitter chats for social studies teachers. Analyses drawing on mixed methods revealed that while there was parity across most kinds of tweets, participants identified as men were more likely to use the examined Twitter chats to share resources, give advice, boast, promote their own blog/resource/website, and offer critique to another participants’ tweet. Participants identified as women were more likely to write tweets that included positive affirmations for other chat participants. These findings suggest that there are differences in the way that women and men tend to participate in teacher Twitter chat spaces.

Representação Da Raça Negra Na Literatura Escolar E Juvenil Norteamericana Do Seculo Xix, Karl M. Lorenz

Education Faculty Publications

Esta trabalho tem como objeto de estudo o conceito de “raça” e a representação do negro na literatura escolar e juvenil norteamericana no século XIX.. Trata-se de um estudo documental e bibliográfico que se insere na vertente da História Cultural. As principais fontes analisadas consiste de uma amostra de libros didaticos de geografía e história e de livros de leitura publicados nos Estados Unidos e adotados nas escolas primárias entre os anos de 1790 e 1890. Também foram analisadas revistas infantis e juvenis e publicações para adultos. A informação contidas nestes fontes revelam que os textos abordavam temas tais como …

What Is To Be Done With Curriculum And Educational Foundations' Critical Knowledges? Toward Critical And Decolonizing Education Sciences, James C. Jupp, Theodorea Regina Berry, Amanda Morales, Ann Mogush Mason

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

As editors of the special issue in Teaching Education titled What Is To Be Done with Curriculum and Educational Foundations’ Critical Knowledges? New Qualitative Research on Conscientizing Preservice and In-Service Teachers, our purpose with this conceptual essay is twofold. First, we historicize and characterize the critical knowledges deployed in this special issue as a broad array of criticalities. Second, we provide a reading of these criticalities that together we tentatively call critical and decolonizing education sciences. In our discussion and conclusion, we focus on the dual challenges of developing work in critical and decolonizing education sciences: (a) …

Evaluation Of A Flipped Classroom On Student Achievement In A Low Income School District, Michael Yeoman

Graduate Research Papers

This purpose of this research is to determine whether using a flipped classroom is as effective for students in low-income schools as it is for students in wealthy school districts. A review of the literature is performed to determine what is the underlying philosophy of using a flipped classroom as well as determining barriers that may inhibit its effectiveness.

Control and treatment groups were determined so that data could be compared between a “traditional” classroom and a “flipped” classroom. The students in the treatment group were given a Pre-Unit Survey to determine a baseline of their perceptions of flipped learning. …

The Impact Of A Blended Learning Rotational Model On Student Achievement In An Eighth-Grade Social Studies Class, Amanda Mings

Theses and Dissertations

One of the biggest determining factors of effective education is the implementation of standardized testing as a way to access students and hold schools accountable. Some educators argue that this system of accountability has done more harm than good. Many teachers have adopted a teach to the test approach to learning as they succumb to the pressures of high stakes testing linked to performance evaluation. Many educational scholars agree that instructional practices must cater to the needs and interests of the learner in order to yield positive results. The so-called, Net Generation, learns differently from their predecessors and these students …

Residential Solar In Washington State, Sam Pfeifer

All Master's Theses

Electricity generated through residential solar provides a low carbon source of electricity. However, diffusion of residential solar remains low across the United States. Growing this diffusion takes an understanding of localized uptake trends, which can focus policy and business efforts to help increase residential solar market penetration. This is the first research to investigate residential solar uptake in Washington State and to examine environmental education as a potential driver of residential solar uptake. Through a snapshot analysis which considers environmental, economic, education, and cultural variables the present research fills this gap. Triangulated results include mapping of variables, ordinary-least squares multiple …

2018-2019 Graduate Catalog, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Catalog Archive

2017-2018 Graduate catalog for Morehead State University.

Conceptual Framework For A Curriculum In Social Change, Iris M. Yob

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Colleges, universities, and many high schools are expressing their mission in terms of creating social change or contributing to the common good. Such a mission suggests that if they are going to graduate students who will fulfill this mission, they will need to consider how they will best prepare students to do this. The conceptual framework for a curriculum in social change in this article offers a holistic approach, taking into account what a student should know, be able to do, and what values and attitudes should be nurtured. To that end, the article identifies three competencies in the knowledge …

Global Climate Change In U.S. High School Curricula: Portrayals Of The Causes, Consequences, And Potential Responses, Casey R. Meehan, Brett L.M. Levy, Lauren Collet-Gildard

Educational Theory and Practice Faculty Scholarship

Broad misconceptions about global climate change (GCC) could hinder efforts to address this large-scale problem, and curricular materials can play a substantial role in what students learn about GCC. This study examines how U.S. high school textbooks and supplemental curricular materials published between 2007 and 2012 portray the causes, consequences, and potential responses to GCC. Our data included text segments related to these topics in five science textbooks, four social studies textbooks, and eight sets of GCC supplemental materials. To analyze these text segments, we conducted several rounds of coding, first categorizing curricula by their acceptance of the human causes …

Student-Centered Approach Vs. Teacher-Centered Approach: Which Is More Effective For A Graduate Data Analytics Course In An E-Learning Environment?, Kyle Camac

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored and tested the effectiveness of using student-centered methodology within an e-learning environment for a graduate level class in data analytics at Southern New Hampshire University to enhance students’ scholastic abilities. The term scholastic abilities refers to the students’ capabilities to apply to their personal world what is being taught. Inductive teaching and learning was used in this study and the student participants were assessed on their discussion posts and final projects. The primary question in this action research was: “How, if at all, can student-centered instruction increase achievement of students within a graduate level data …

Supporting Engagement Among African American Males In World Geography Class Through The Implementation Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Self-Study, Audra Dorr Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Given the reality of disenfranchised and marginalized students sitting in today’s classrooms, it is imperative that teachers meet the pedagogical needs of these students. I embarked on a self-study that would improve my personal pedagogy. Research shows that using elements from the theoretical frameworks of culturally relevant pedagogy, reality pedagogy, critical race theory, and critical race pedagogy can be an effective approach to teaching students that are marginalized. I designed and implemented three lessons that employed practitioner-applied pedagogical practices based on these four theoretical frameworks. This self-study identified the benefits and challenges of these lessons as they relate to the …

The Effects Of Regulatory Orientation On Subjective Task Values, Ability Beliefs, And Gameplay In A Grammar Editing Computer Game, Stephen Strnad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated mean group differences in composite subjective task values, ability beliefs, and gameplay behaviors between low promotion and high promotion English as a Second Language (ESL) postsecondary students while playing two versions of a grammar-editing computer game. First, students were categorized according to their scores on the General Regulatory Focus Measure. Next, students played two identical versions of the grammar-editing game; in the second game version, an independent variable was added in the form of an in-game punishment. In the middle of each game version, students completed a modified version of the Expectancy-value Questionnaire. Independent samples t-tests were …

Examining 8th Grade Students Disciplinary Literacy Of Science Material, Chelsie P. Doughty

Masters Theses

Education standards are shifting to reflect a skills-based, rather than a content-centered, curriculum that focuses on students being literate across all disciplines. This study focuses on the skills of critical thinking, close reading, and text-based writing as it applies to the scientific and historical disciplines. Eighth grade students engaged in a text-based writing assignment that required evaluation of multiple sources to support their claims. Student responses were analyzed textually and verbally as it related to the content. Findings included the ability to identify students' struggles and successes with close reading, writing claims, evaluating evidence for importance, and connecting documents to …

2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Catalog Archive

2018-2019 undergraduate catalog for Morehead State University.

The Impact Of Inquiry-Based Learning On Academic Achievement In Eighth-Grade Social Studies, Lindsey A. Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of practice described in this paper was identified by varying academic performances of students in a middle school located in South Carolina. The identified problem led the researcher to formulate a research question: What is the impact of inquiry-based learning on academic achievement for eighth-grade students in social studies? The purpose of this study is to determine if implementing inquiry-based learning will affect the academic achievement of students in social studies. Action research allows teachers to study their own classrooms to better understand them and to be able to improve their quality or effectiveness (Mertler, 2014). Action research …

South Carolina Preschool Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences Implementing Critical Literacy In The Preschool Classroom, Rebecca Weissman

Theses and Dissertations

Critical literacy situated within a critical theoretical and pedagogical paradigm focuses specifically on exploring the sociopolitical implications of texts and challenging information rather than taking it at face value. The present study constitutes a case study that describes the perceptions and experiences of seven preschool teachers who employ critical literacy in their early childhood classroom and how their pedagogy fits within the existing themes seen in the early childhood literature. Specifically, this case study is an instrumental collective study, consisting of in-depth interviews. Through qualitative analysis of these interviews a variety of specific pedagogical methods for implementing critical literacy are …

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning On Student Learning Perspectives And Achievement In A Social Studies Classroom, Jason Brisini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the possible impact of project-based learning on student learning perspective and achievement in a social studies classroom. American schools are in an era of standardized testing based on standards-driven curricula that only teaches basic recall and recognition. School curriculum should be focused on providing students with the skills necessary for them to be successful after high school graduation. Higher-level thinking skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and self-direction are not easily learned with traditional, essentialist teaching methods. Students can quickly look up facts with ready access to the internet, so they need …