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Conference Program [2013], Georgia International Conference On Information Literacy

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Investigating The Implementation Of The Indonesian Ktsp (School-Based Curriculum) In The Teaching Of Writing In Year Two, Sulfasyah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study focused on the interpretation and implementation of the Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) in primary schools in Makassar City, Indonesia. The KTSP is a school-based curriculum which was introduced in 2006 and became compulsory across Indonesia in 2009. The main purpose of the study was to explore teachers‟ interpretation of the KTSP in relation to teaching writing to Year 2 students; to investigate how these teachers implemented the KTSP when teaching writing; and, to identify factors that influenced their interpretation and implementation of the KTSP in relation to writing. The teachers‟ interpretation and implementation of this new curriculum …

Researching Pds Initiatives To Promote Social Justice Across The Educational System, Gail Shroyer, Amanda Morales, Sally Yahnke, Lisa A. Bietau

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

The examples and data shared in this chapter provide evidence that our comprehensive mission to understand and impact issues of social justice and equity within education is being achieved as the PDS Partnership continues to improve K-16 teaching and learning and enhance the teaching profession across all levels of education. The major implication of our findings is that systemic reform is achievable and the outcomes can be exceptionally rewarding. Of course, such initiatives require time, continuous effort, resources, broad-based participation of all stakeholders, and a sense of need for change. Developing human capital across the educational continuum requires a commitment …

Interrupting The Professional Schism That Allows Less Successful Educational Practices With Ells To Persist, Edmund T. Hamann, Jenelle Reeves

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

Different worldviews, different histories of induction into teaching, presumed differences in responsibilities, and different emphases in pre-service and in-service preparation have all long contributed to enduring schisms that keep general education (or mainstream) teachers and English language support faculty from coordinating and finding common cause in their efforts. This division has been at the cost of impeding many English language learners’ (ELLs) academic success. So, given that ELLs consecutively or concurrently negotiate these too-often separate schooling subworlds, it is imperative to overcome historical divisions and to conceptualize all teachers as needing (a) to be willing to see ELLs as part …

Understanding American Mexican Children, Víctor Zúñiga, Edmund T. Hamann

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

In 1997, when we first met while independently conducting field work in Whitfield County, Georgia, and its county seat, Dalton, we heard from local principals and teachers that Latino students sometimes "disappeared" from the schools. Most of these who disappeared were immigrant students from Mexico and other Central American countries, students who had arrived suddenly in local schools while accompanying their parents who found jobs in the carpet and poultry mills of the area (Hamann, 2003; Hernández-León & Zúñiga, 2000; Zúñiga & Hernández-León, 2009). The "disappearances" led one of us (Hamann, 2001) to develop a concept—the sojourner student—and draw from …

Integrating Aesthetics Within Professional Development For Eeachers Of English Learners, Audrey Figueroa Murphy

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

The emphasis on testing in curricular content areas has left little room in most U.S. schools for education in the arts. Yet research supports the pedagogical value of aesthetic education, particularly for English learners (ELs), whose representation in schools continues to increase. This article presents a qualitative action research study intended to contribute to the understanding of the impact of incorporating aesthetic education into the training protocol for teachers of ELs. Twenty‐three graduate education students at a private university in Queens, New York, participated in an artist‐led workshop rooted in the aesthetic education theories of Maxine Greene (1995, 2011, 2007) …

Teachers As Informal Learners: Workplace Professional Learning In The United States And Lithuania, Elena Jurasaite-O'Keefe, Lesley A. Rex

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

Historically, formal directive approaches to teacher learning, based upon a developmental expert-to-learner model, have dominated policy and research, with limited success. This study is based on a learner-centered view of teachers learning from the problems of their own teaching. It demonstrates the understandings that can result from teachers’ explanations of what they do and why when they encounter everyday situations that evoke their learning. Further, the microethnographic study renders these explanations as a framework for further research on teacher learning in informal school-related settings. The framework emerged from a constant-comparative analysis of the structure, language and content of a years’ …

An Analysis Of The Factors That Influence Global Mindedness In First-Year College Students, Kristie Broadbent Guffey

Dissertations

This non-experimental, quantitative descriptive study was designed to determine what factors influence a first-year college students’ global mindedness and if any of those factors were predictors of the five subscales of global mindedness. Surveys were used to measure students’ global mindedness and their type of personality (N=424). Demographic questions were administered that included gender, county population, Pell grant eligibility, and first generation college student. Results indicated that first-year college students at a four-year public Master’s Large institution were moderately global minded. To predict global mindedness and its subscales, a regression model was developed using the Myers Briggs scores for extravert, …

An Undergraduate Seminar On Irish Musical Culture In Ireland And The Irish Diaspora In America, Including The Influence Of Irish Music On Appalachian Folk Music Culture, Frieda Eakins

Masters Theses

The following project establishes a concise, yet multifaceted design for a seminar on Irish musical culture. While it was initially developed as a course for its author to teach in the undergraduate, on-ground classroom, this project provides a framework adaptable enough for use by other instructors and/or for additional music seminars. This project is unique in its two-fold purpose in that the design and resources are directed to assist the instructor with streamlining course curriculum preparation, while the course content specific to the project when utilized offers students in the undergraduate college classroom a better understanding of Irish musical culture …

A Phenomenology Of Academic Support In Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Homes Of At-Risk Students, David Barber

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

I examined the home environment and the amount of academic support non-English speaking parents are able to provide for their English Language Learner (ELL) children in the United States school system. In particular, the focus is on the families of children who struggle academically in the state of Georgia, where non-English speaking children are mainstreamed into regular education classrooms with limited support. Although there has been a great deal of research on how ELLs learn and what type of program can be used to best facilitate mastery of academics as they are learning the English language, the focal point of …

Educational Genocide: Examining The Impact Of National Education Policy On African American Communities, Christopher B. Knaus, Rachelle Rogers-Ard

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Abstract This paper clarifies the cumulative impact of the current national education policy on African-American children, which ultimately aims to limit local control of urban schools. The authors argue that urban schools in the United States are increasingly required to rely upon temporary teachers who are trained to implement a curriculum focused on standardized testing. The No Child Left Behind Act and the current Duncan administration’s approach to closing (and re-opening) schools combines to further exclude low-income community involvement in local schools. These efforts to control the development, hiring, and evaluation of local educators further expands educational racism that silences …

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

“Teach To The Middle”: A Double Case Study Of Two Multilevel Efl Classes In The Middle East, Teresa Hernandez

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive understanding of multilevel classes. It examines the pedagogical challenges that teachers often face in this teaching context, but it also considers the implications for what multilevel classes indicate about access to education in the EFL teaching field. The author has opted to examine two distinct cases of multilevel classes in the Middle East that she taught from 2010-2011 and in 2012. The first was a remedial 7^th grade English class called 7F in an international school in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The second …

Students’ Views Of Impact Of Textbooks On Their Achievements, Riaz Hussain

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The history of curricula and textbooks development in Pakistan has remained contentious particularly during Zia Ul Haq era (1977- 1988) and after. There have been quite a few reviews of the curricula and textbooks undertaken both by Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan and independent researchers. These reviews have mainly employed document/textbook analysis methods and few of them explored teachers or students’ views of curricula and textbooks. This paper argues that since teachers and students are the ultimate users and beneficiaries of textbooks so their views are worth exploring before suggesting or initiating any change process including curricula and textbooks …

The Effect Of Voice Thread® Integration On High School Students' Anxiety And Oral Proficiency In The Foreign Language Classroom, Melanie Dunn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the asynchronous voice-conferencing technology, Voice Thread ®, on the anxiety and oral proficiency of high school students in their third year of studying Spanish as a foreign language. In this quasi-experimental study students' foreign language anxiety levels and oral proficiency were examined to determine if a difference existed based on the type of practice used. The treatment group used Voice Thread ® to practice speaking. The control group used the traditional method of the language laboratory to practice speaking. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used to …

A Multi-Site Case Study Investigating Teacher Perspectives Of Standards Based Reform And Gifted Students, Amy Valadez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The push by the Federal government to directly increase and positively impact achievement since the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2001) gave rise to the educational design known as standards based reform (SBR). This legislation impacted all sub-groups by measuring growth for sub-populations to determine yearly adequate progress. The growth of the sub-population of gifted students, however, was not included in the determination of a school's or county's success, so the impact of standards based reform on the gifted student is lacking. Therefore, this case study examined educators' perspectives of standards based reform on the gifted child in …

Narrative Inquiry In The Language Classroom: An Incubator Of Identity And Growth Exploration, Olga Culver

MA TESOL Collection

The paper examines narrative inquiry within the precepts of socio-cultural and ecological theories. The work touches upon constructivist learning ideologies and examines social approaches to learning with an emphasis on biographical narratives. The author makes a case for self-discovery, holistic learning, and creating collaborative learning environments. The study also presents a methodology with practical applications for implementing a narrative praxis in a second language learning environment.

El Metro De Madrid, Mark K. Warford

Spanish Model Lesson Plans

This lesson can be carried out in one class period. It centers on the symbolic competencies necessary for navigating the Madrid Metro. Targeted level would be second year of secondary-level study or second semester of college study.

Utilizing The Interactive Reading Model In A Continuing Education Course, Shawn Mcrae

MA TESOL Collection

This paper seeks to provide an alternative method of reading instruction to female Saudi Arabian university students enrolled in a continuing education class for banking. Rather than a teacher-centered approach that relies on textbooks for materials development, a student-centered approach has been utilized in order to encourage participation, allowing the learners to have more input in the learning process. The use of student-generated materials allows for an authentic medium of communication, enabling students to practice their language learning skills using topics of social and personal relevance. From a teaching perspective, this is extremely important; it can increase students’ motivation, stepping …

Rhetoric, Referential Communication, And The Novice Writer, Barbara P. Blumenfeld

Faculty Scholarship

Classical rhetoric is integral to teaching legal writing, and this essay argues that its use must be enhanced with audience awareness. This is so rhetoric can be successfully applied to teaching and the practice of legal writing.

This essay begins with a very brief overview of the relationship of rhetoric to legal writing and how audience awareness is a key factor in both. This overview leads to a definition of two distinct tasks that must be incorporated into the writing process: first, learning about and understanding specific audiences; second, learning how to implement writing that works for that audience.

A …

Applying The Theory Of Variation In Teaching Reading, Siu Yin Annie Tong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper presents a model of collaborative and reflective professional development for teachers that focuses on student learning. The model comprises a cyclical series of lessons that were carried out in Hong Kong with three classes of Secondary Four (Grade 10) students (94 students. The lessons were designed to develop the reading skill of inferring characters’ traits from the events of a story—a skill that presents difficulties for many secondary school students of English as a second language. The learning activities incorporated in the research lessons were underpinned by the Theory of Variation proposed by Marton and Booth (1997), which …

High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Inclusion, Carmen Wiggins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, school systems must ensure students with disabilities receive instruction in general education classrooms. Implementing the inclusion model has been challenging for many school systems as the systems try to find ways to meet the needs of their diverse student populations. The purpose of this quantitative casual-comparative and correlational study is to identify high school teachers' perceptions of inclusion. One hundred seventy-three high school teachers from six school districts located in a southeastern metropolitan area completed a survey to allow the researcher to examine if a relationship existed between teachers' perceptions of inclusion …

Impact Of Technology Infused Instruction On Project Ace (Accelerated Content-Based English) Students, Tarena Ruff, Adria Leal

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

See presentation description.

The Culture Boundary: How Awareness Informs Teaching Practice, Angela Richardson

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper I discuss the value of exploring student culture through ongoing reflective processes for effective and responsible language teaching. I reflect on my own experience of teaching in a foreign language context for the first time, and discuss how developing cultural awareness helped me move from a place of frustration to understanding, and how a change in attitude and teaching approach impacted my relationships and significantly improved the quality of teaching and learning in my classroom. Using Pat Moran’s ‘Cultural Knowings’ framework as a guide, I reflect on my personal transformation while working in South Korea and report …

Cuisenaire Rods: Pedagogical And Relational Instruments For Language Learning, Sevilay Akarcay

MA TESOL Collection

Cuisenaire Rods are pedagogical and relational instruments with great potential for exploring the way a language works. With their flexibility and simplicity, they allow the students to focus on the process of learning; helping them notice patterns, make associations, and engage in a social and personal relation with the language and deepening their awareness of themselves as learners. The Cuisenaire Rods’ potential for creating simplicity within complexity enables a way of working with language that engages the playful and creative powers of the users. In the introductory part of the paper, the author explores Caleb Gattegno’s approach to learning and …

The Development Of Culturally Responsive Literacy Practices In The Classrooms Of Three Teachers, Alicia N. Stephens

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The responsibility of educators continues to increase as they serve an increasingly diverse population, while attempting to narrow achievement disparities between students with mainstream backgrounds and those who are culturally diverse. Educator cultural perceptions remain unique to their own background and experiences, yet when presented with the challenge of educating the culturally diverse, teachers are often less than enthusiastic toward their instructional obligations. This study targeted how professional development can enhance teacher capability in a culturally diverse school, with the intent to add to existing literature regarding this topic.

This twelve-week qualitative study examined teacher beliefs pertaining to their own …

Transformative Multicultural Science Curriculum: A Case Study Of Middle School Robotics, Mary Katheryn Grimes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Multicultural Science has been a topic of research and discourse over the past several years. However, most of the literature concerning this topic (or paradigm) has centered on programs in tribal or Indigenous schools. Under the framework of instructional congruence, this case study explored how elementary and middle school students in a culturally diverse charter school responded to a Multicultural Science program. Furthermore, this research sought to better understand the dynamics of teaching and learning strategies used within the paradigm of Multicultural Science. The school's Robotics class, a class typically stereotyped as fitting within the misconceptions associated with the Western …

Analysis Of The Impact Of Implementing Interdisciplinary Pods On Student Achievement In Georgia Middle Schools, Andrew Lynn Bristow

Dissertations

With the increasing demands for middle schools to meet Annual Yearly Progress and the Annual Measurable Objective levels of the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) middle school principals are faced with decisions to incorporate the appropriate middle school instructional model. This study examined the longitudinal achievement data of sixth and seventh grade reading, English language arts, and math on the Georgia Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT) in 20 middle schools from 2008 – 2011 in a large suburban school district in Georgia. Of the schools, two implemented a junior high model, six implemented an interdisciplinary pod model, and twelve …

English Language Teaching Using The Whole Student Philosophy, Tahira Y. Muhammad

MA TESOL Collection

Education in Kuwait is centered on rote learning methodology. Historically, the Kuwait educational system was created to mimic the Egyptian rote learning systems that date back to Pharaonic times. Furthermore, Kuwaiti educators are convinced that rote learning is the optimal form of education. In this paper, I will attempt to prove that this method is unsuccessful, and that educators, within their classroom and lesson planning, should adapt their teaching strategies to the adoption of the whole language philosophy.

The major limitation of this research is that the observer is also participant. However, the fact that the observer is fully trained …

Dream Dinner Or Dinner Disaster? French And American Cultures Collide, Wendy W. Amato Ph.D.

French Model Lesson Plans

Sociocultural Model Lesson Plan centered on a translinguistic and transcultural analysis of French and American dinner party conventions.