Digital Commons Network^™

Proposing Measures For Assessing Systems Thinking Interventions, Megan Aline Hopper

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper presents an analysis of systems thinking interventions in educational settings. Although these interventions have been implemented in K-12 classrooms since the mid 1980s, there is still no clear definition of systems thinking or identification of the best method to test the effectiveness of interventions or methods for teaching systems thinking The goal of this paper is to answer the question: how do we assess the effectiveness of systems thinking interventions in education? In order to answer this question, I had to address the following sub questions: (1) what is systems thinking, (2) what systems thinking interventions are being …

Integrating The Wasl Into The High School Algebra Curriculum, Kent Stafford Pearsons

All Graduate Projects

Most Algebra courses in Washington are supplemented with Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) material. However, in the last two years, little more than half of Washington sophomores passed the math portion of the WASL; for about half of tenth graders the extra worksheets did little to no good. Students need relevant WASL material that correlates with the current math they are studying. In this manner, even though questions may be phrased differently, the material is familiar and so answering questions are more possible. Also, since new worksheets have multiple choice, teachers can discuss how most wisely to answer this …

Module 9: The Learning Cycle

Module 9: The Learning Cycle

It is quite clear in the research related to the work of Piaget that persons need many years of practice in meaningful understanding and manipulating relationships with the aid of concrete-empirical props. Gradually they develop greater facility in performing these operations and they are able to perform the same operations without relying upon props. In other words, "hands-on", "eyes-on" experiences are essential prerequisites for the development of advanced reasoning abilities.

On the basis of this developmental theory, classroom activities may play a central role in the improvement of student reasoning. Given the possible importance of classroom experiences , does it …

Module 10: Teaching Goals And Strategies

Module 10: Teaching Goals and Strategies

At this time in the workshop you may be wondering how you can begin to use the ideas of stages of reasoning and self-regulation immediately, without writing your own textbook or developing all new laboratory activities. Even though the teaching materials have a strong influence on your course, your own personal actions and approaches to the students can be very important as well. In this module we shall describe procedures that will enable you to make your teaching more effective in stimulating your students to use their existing reasoning patterns and to develop new ones by self-regulation. We shall also …

Module 7: Analysis Of Textbooks

Module 7: Analysis of Textbooks

Probably you have had many students at the end of the semester tell you they could not read the text or else they read it and got nothing out of it. One cause of this could be a mismatch between the reasoning skills the student normally uses and the skills the textbook requires. As you read the text excerpts selected for your review, keep in mind the characteristics of concrete and formal reasoning as explained in Module 2. Also, remember that even students using formal reasoning find it easier and probably understand in a more broadly-based way if they can …

Module 3 - Formal Reasoning Patterns: Introduction

Module 3: Formal Reasoning Patterns

In Piaget's theory, concrete operational reasoning is characterized by patterns of serial ordering, simple classification, conservation reasoning, and other operations applied to objects that a person is able to observe or manipulate directly. Formal reasoning patterns include these operations but go beyond them to utilize other processes in situations where one does not deal with tangible objects. Formal patterns often involve proportional reasoning, separation of variables, and combinatorial reasoning.

The film "Formal Reasoning Patterns" Davidson Films, 1976) will enable you to watch two interviews (Dr. Karplus and Dr. Peterson) working with several secondary school students who exhibit concrete or formal …

Module 1 - How People Reason - Overview

Module 1: How People Reason

You have probably been puzzled at various times in your teaching career by the thinking strategies that students appear to use to solve problems. It is difficult for most of us to understand that many students do not use reasoning patterns that seem obvious to us. Many students substitute numbers into a formula they remember even though the formulas may not be applicable to the problem at hand. This situation quite naturally leads us to wonder about the reasoning that students utilize when we would employ mental operations such as separating variables, excluding an irrelevant factor, or applying a mathematical …

A Case Study Of Three Rural Schools: Factors, Characteristics, And Conditions That Influence School Performance Scores, Jacqueline L. Mason

Doctoral Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to explore three rural Louisiana PK-12 schools with high percentages of minority and high poverty populations and to examine how activities, conditions, events, policies, and procedures in these schools might be associated with their consistent growth in School Performance Scores across the period 2001-2005. Qualitative data were collected from individual interviews, researcher observations, focus groups, and analyses of school documents. Constant comparison theory was used to triangulate data across the three schools and to identify emerging themes and patterns common to all schools. The study was one of mixed methods; most of the data …

2007-2009 Otterbein College Undergraduate Course Catalog, Otterbein University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

2007-2009 Otterbein College Graduate Course Catalog, Otterbein University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Thumbs Up To Undergraduate Research At Umw, Jack Bales

Administrative / Professional Faculty Articles

With newly minted college graduates flooding the job market or graduate schools, each one is naturally searching for an edge to stand out among the competition. According to Mary Washington students, UMW's Undergraduate Research Program is earning high marks for helping provide that edge.

The Impact Of U.S. National And State Level Policy On The Nature And Scope Of K-12 Virtual Schooling, Anna Lukemeyer, Kent J. Crippen, Leanna Archambeault

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

During the past five years, virtual schools in the United States have gained popularity and acceptance as viable alternatives to the traditional school system through provisions for charter schools under Title V, Part B, Subpart 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This paper describes the existing federal policies that are driving the online virtual school movement, and how one state, Nevada, has set forth and interpreted specific policies regarding online distance education. In addition, this paper identifies the beliefs acting as the driving forces …

Unlv Magazine, Cate Weeks, Erin O'Donnell, Shane Bevell, Barbara Cloud, Joy Drohan, Adam Baer, Holly Ivy De Vore, Gian Galassi, Eric Leake

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Models Of Interdisciplinary Research And Service Learning At Hope College, Aaron A. Best, Matthew Dejongh, Amanda J. Barton, Jeff R. Brown, Christopher C. Barney

Publications

"Children love to explore the world around them. In doing so they are not aware of disciplinary boundaries or even of disciplines. They move freely from watching ants (biology) to building structures (engineering) to counting rocks (mathematics and geology) to seeing what things dissolve in water (chemistry). Only as they go to school do they learn that humans divide up the way we learn about the universe and start to think within disciplinary boundaries. In doing so, those children, who are now us, lose the ability to think broadly and use the insights of various ways of thinking to solve …

Evaluation Of An Adult Education Technology Program, Iwasan D. Kejawa

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

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adult education technology program at a chartered alternative adult education center in Florida. The adult education center had a low rate of students passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study examined the impact of the use of computer technology in an effort to improve student learning in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers at the institution were used by all students for tutorials to prepare them for the FCAT and to obtain a high school diploma. The research questions for this study were as follows: 1. Is the education technology …

2007 Fall Faculty Conference: The Role Of Scholarship And Creative Work At Otterbein College, Academic Affairs

Fall Faculty Conference

The 2007 Fall Faculty Conference features remarks by Dr. Scott Colley, the former president of Berry College, and breakout discussion groups.

Action Items, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Overview of action items handled by the Graduate Council.

Onset Of Hearing Loss, Gender And Self Concept As Determinants Of Academic Achievements In English Language Of Students With Hearing Disability In Oyo State, Nigeria, J. Abiola Ademokoya, B. A. Shittu

Essays in Education

Since every class of students with hearing disability is always a heterogeneous one, the need for establishing relationship between some intrinsic factors in these students and their academic achievements becomes very imperative. This study therefore examined the influence of onset of hearing loss, gender and self concept on their academic performance in English language. 100 Senior Secondary School class III students with hearing disability were purposively selected to participate in the study. The study also raised 3 hypotheses to ascertain relationships between onset of hearing loss, gender, and self concept and English language achievement. Instruments such as the self concept …

Teacher Candidates’ Emerging Perceptions Of Reader Response Theory, Khaled Alazzi

Essays in Education

What are the possibilities when teacher candidates participate in focused instruction in reader response theory and connected opportunities to experience response to literature, then design and implement response experiences with their elementary students? Consideration of this question led to this study that describes teacher candidates’ knowledge about reader response theory and their perceptions of the value and usefulness of reader response theory throughout a semester of focused experiences in university and elementary classrooms. Through qualitative analysis, four distinct, but related themes emerged. These themes describe teacher candidates who: 1) are at differing stages of understanding, 2) find that responding to …

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Programming: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending August 31, 2007, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

During the past three months, the focus of the university’s efforts has included the following highlights:

• Three projects have been identified to meet SNAP strategic messaging needs: an anti-litter exhibit; a volunteer restoration program with educational components; and activity stations to tell the story of Lee Meadows restoration efforts.
• Interpretive planning is underway for Mountain’s Edge Explorer’s Interpretive Trail.
• A Hispanic survey and monitoring program has been identified.
• A six-week Spanish class tailored to meet the communication needs of environmental educators and interpreters will be offered beginning September 20.
• Forever Earth was scheduled for 11 days and benefited 297 individuals. …

Elementary School Teachers' Understanding Of Essential Topics In Statistics And The Influence Of Assessment Instruments And A Reform Curriculum Upon Their Understanding, Timothy Jacobbe

All Dissertations

With the increased emphasis on statistics at the elementary school level as recommended by the GAISE document, it is important to consider the current status of teachers' understanding of statistics. This study explored teachers' understanding as they implemented new curricula materials which have ten lessons focused on statistical topics at each grade level. These curricula materials provided a medium for discussion that helped reveal whether or not elementary school teachers possess an adequate understanding of essential topics in statistics to implement the standards they are now called upon to teach.
The results of this study indicate that elementary school teachers …

Gradual Release Of Responsibility Approach In Developing Synthesis In Primary-Aged Children, Michelle Te Grootenhuis

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research explored the effects of using the gradual release of responsibility instructional method (Harvey and Goudvis, 2000) to improve the synthesis abilities of fourteen second grade students who attend a small rural school. The specific treatment involved the students in modeled, shared, guided, and independent practice of the synthesis strategy using authentic children's literature. The DRA2 interpretation scores of the students were compared before and after the treatment. The results showed that twelve of the students scored within the independent or advanced level, one student improved from frustration to instructional level, and one student remained at the frustration …

Editorial Board, About This Issue, Table Of Contents, Deirdre Greer

Perspectives In Learning

Welcome to Volume 8, Issue 2 of Perspectives in Learning. This issue represents our first fall publication and begins with an article by Lenoir Gillam and Lisa Shaw, which details the process of student placements in partner schools for a counseling program. The authors reveal how the use of data has improved this process.

Constructivism In Early Childhood Education, Joseph Mills

Perspectives In Learning

At most universities and colleges, a form of constructivism based on child psychological theories dominates the stage as the “official knowledge pre-service early childhood teachers must know to be proclaimed competent” (Livingston, 2003, p. 3). Why, then, have the understandings of how children learn and the teaching practices suggested by this theory not taken root in many early childhood classrooms? In attempting to answer this question through a review of current literature in the field, three topics of discussion have been suggested: an explanation of the development and learning theories which support constructivism, identifying classroom practices which are considered to …

Writing Across The Curriculum: Designing Science Lessons Using The Theory Of Multiple Intelligences To Promote Literacy, Bonita E. Flournoy, Ollie Manley

Perspectives In Learning

As science teacher educators, whose task is to facilitate learning for teachers of science, we impress upon our pre-service teachers to engage their students in writing activities to promote literacy in science. One of the issues that our teachers frequently express in class is that students don’t like to read their textbooks or engage in traditional writing exercises. As we work with these pre-service teachers we assist them with developing a repertoire of strategies that can be used to engage students in reading and writing as they learn science. One way to actively engage students in reading and writing is …

Aligning Paradigms, Standards, And Assessment: A Higher-Education Application For Instruction In Science And Mathematics, Vikki K. Collins, Donna E. Pascoe, Martha C. Hall, H. Marguerite Yates

Perspectives In Learning

Disciplines of science and mathematics are essential for 21st century life and progress of our nation. To strengthen the effectiveness of education in the state of Georgia and to address emerging and enduring issues in 21st century life, the state adopted Georgia Performance Standards. To meet the standards of science and mathematics in Georgia classrooms, programs of teacher preparation and educational leadership in higher education institutions across the state must support and develop pre-service and in-service teachers and leaders able to effectively incorporate standards and assessment consistent with this paradigm shift. Student leadership teams at Columbus State University were instructed …

Homework: A Nightly Ritual Beginning In The Elementary Grades, Ann-Marie N. Skaggs

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Homework has become an accepted staple within education in the United States. However, little is acknowledged regarding the influences homework has on students. The purpose of this extended literature review is to look at the influences of homework on students in the elementary grades. The following research on homework was found through books, peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, magazine articles, and interviews. Within the research, educational, socioeconomic, and parental factors show the largest influence, both positive and negative toward homework. The author discusses future implications to better improve homework's influence on students in the elementary grades. These implications include a …

Recycle Please: Teach Your School To Recycle, To Care, And To Help Solve The Climate Crisis, Ted Wells

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This Independent Study offers one developmentally-appropriate way in which the elementary school teacher can help alleviate the current global warming crisis by leading students to organize a school-wide recycling program carried out in the spirit of service learning. The reader will learn that this recycling work is two-pronged: the physical labor of recycling and the educational outreach to the school community through marketing, using posters, assemblies, videos, and more. A philosophy of education underlying this work is described in detail, as is the journey of the author in discovering this pedagogy that includes tapping into a personal environmental activism for …

Nsu Fischler School Of Education And Human Services (Fsehs) Catalog And Student Handbook 2007–2008, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Fischler School Of Education And Human Services (Fsehs) Catalog And Student Handbook 2007–2008, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.