Digital Commons Network^™

Curriculum, Classroom, Culture And Connectedness, Mary O'Rawe

Stream 2: Curriculum

Curriculum and pedagogy are central to many contemporary debates on fostering a successful student experience, particularly in a massified higher education sector. These themes are evident in discussions from policy level to the staffroom in many countries. Attention has been specifically directed at the transition point from ‘second level’ to ‘higher/third level’ education, resulting in the development of many initiatives and materials around the ‘first year experience’ (‘FYE’). Central principles have been identified as curricula that engage students in their programme, modules and learning. Indeed the term ‘student engagement’ has evolved as a focal point of these debates as the …

The Relationship Between Social Presence, Student Satisfaction And Academic Achievement In Fully Online Asynchronous Courses, Martin Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of the study was to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between social presence and student success as measured by student satisfaction and academic achievement in fully online asynchronous courses. A correlational research design was utilized to study the relationship between social presence, student satisfaction, and academic achievement. The participants in this study are a convenience sample of 104 undergraduate level students enrolled in fully online asynchronous courses at The University of Texas at Brownsville from August to December 2014. The data for the participants’ perception of social presence and student satisfaction were elicited through two …

The Effect Of Video Interviews With Stem Professionals On Stem-Subject Attitude And Stem-Career Interest Of Middle School Students In Conservative Protestant Christian Schools, Philip Alsup

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Inspiring learners toward career options available in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is important not only for economic development but also for maintaining creative thinking and innovation. Limited amounts of research in STEM education have focused on the population of students enrolled in religious and parochial schools, and given the historic conflict between religion and science, this sector of American education is worthy of examination. The purpose of this quantitative study is to extend Gottfredson's (1981) Theory of Circumscription and Compromise as it relates to occupational aspirations. Bem's (1981) Gender Schema Theory is examined as it relates to …

Questions As A Generative Strategy For Knowledge Transfer And Problem Solving, Brett Howard Cook-Snell

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Consistent with generative learning theory, Grabowski (1996) suggests the use of questions may serve as an effective generative strategy for learning. However, the learning effects of questions have produced conflicting results (Bulu & Pedersen, 2010; Chen & Bradshaw, 2007; Choi, Land, & Turgeon, 2005; Chou & Liang, 2009; Davis & Linn, 2000; Dornisch & Sperling, 2008; Ge & Land, 2003). Similarly, there are five basic challenges inherent in question research (Andre, 1979). These include lack of intentional and consistent question design, lack of detail making it difficult to replicate studies, lack of control groups against which to measure differences, aggregation …

A Conceptual Analysis Of Perspective Taking In Support Of Socioscientific Reasoning, Sami Kahn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scientific literacy is concerned with the informed citizens' ability to negotiate scientifically-related societal issues. The suite of skills necessary to negotiate these complex issues is referred to as Socioscientific Reasoning (SSR). SSR requires, among other things, perspective-taking abilities in order to consider the multi-faceted nature of these open-ended, debatable socioscientific issues (SSI). Developing interventions and instruments to foster and measure perspective taking in support of SSR is therefore critical to the promotion of functional scientific literacy through both research and practice. Although widely studied in many disciplines, perspective taking is a particularly tangled construct that has been used to describe …

Critical Theory And Catholic Social Teaching: A Research Framework For Catholic Schools, Jill Bradley-Levine, Kari A. Carr

Journal of Catholic Education

In this article, the authors share findings from an ethnographic study drawn from an evaluation of an after-school program directed by a Catholic diocese to meet the educational needs of children attending urban Catholic schools. The authors used critical research methods within the context of Catholic social teaching (CST) as a theoretical framework for the data presented in this article. Two themes emerged during this data collection and analysis. The first theme, student interactions, describes the helpful ways that students engaged with each other during the after-school program, and also the manner in which students exhibited a need for greater …

The Global Health "Interactive Curricula Experience (Ice) Platform & App": Technology That Enables Inter-Professional Innovation, Martha Langley Ankeny M.Ed., Janice M. Bogen, James Plumb Md, Mph, Lucille B. Pilling Edd, Mph, Rn, Ellen J. Plumb Md, Louis N. Hunter Pt, Dpt, Nicholas Leon Pharmd, Amy Earle Bfa

Academic Commons and Scott Memorial Library Staff Papers and Presentations

Global Health Initiatives Committee (GHIC)

Serves the Jefferson community as the premier point of engagement for students & faculty interested in medical and public health issues that transcend national boundaries

Creates an institutional focus on preparing students for public service careers in population health and public policy at local, national, and global levels

To enable all TJU faculty to:

- Deliver global health education, in a friendly, interactive format - Does not require an expert to deliver - Can be used in very small or large pieces depending on your needs

Beyond The One Shot: Creating A Course For Sustained Adult Learning, Makiba Foster, Kristine Helbling

WashU Libraries Presentations

Avoiding the one-shot instruction standard was the goal when targeting adult learners in our university’s evening degree program. We crafted a semester-long course to help returning adult learners navigate academic research. Attendees learned how we designed our course based in adult learning theory. We also discussed our strategy for persuading reluctant administrators on the importance of information literacy courses. This presentation also included feedback from students regarding their newly gained skills.

Facilitating Motivation In A Virtual World Within A Second Language Acquisition Classroom, Andrew Warren Gump

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Turning Vision Into Action, Keturah Mazo

SoTL Commons Conference

"Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion." (Jack Welch)

Vision requires action. The course I teach, Professional Communication for Executives, has a variety of objectives:

• To develop a working knowledge of both theory and skills for effective and ethical public and persuasive communication.
• To develop individual presentation skills.
• To demonstrate awareness and practice of effective leadership skills and professional behavior.
• To create appropriate visual aids to enhance communication.

The following assignment incorporates the students' initiative with their knowledge to demonstrate both visually and orally what plans they are …

Waking Dormant Researchers: Student Co-Research As Writing Research Methodology And Pedagogy, Angela Renee Sheets

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the ways that students took up writing researcher skills, knowledges, and identities through a teacher-student co-research investigation of writing in an online writing research course. The following questions guided this study:

* How did literate activity occur in an online Composition as Critical Inquiry Course?

* What writing research skills, knowledges, and identities did the students take up and demonstrate as they participated in a co-research project?

The study also examined the efficacy of co-research as a methodology and pedagogy.

Chapter 1 reviews literature from the relevant English studies fields. Central topics include the rationale for writing …

Cyberbullying Prevention: Intervention Effects On Student Involvement, Sarah Nash Bumpas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Repeated studies show that cyberbullying is pervasive amongst adolescents. Cyberbullying can lead to self-harm, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Educators are called to intervene in educating students about cyberbullying through research and federal legislation. However, there is little research examining whether this education is taking place or having an effect.

This study investigates the relationship between the incidences of cyberbullying victimization and offending over time and the direct cyberbullying instruction and activities facilitated by classroom teachers. The study took place amongst sixth graders in Jefferson County Public Schools, a large urban school district located in northern Kentucky. Students in one school …

The Possibilities Of Being “Critical”: Discourses That Limit Options For Educators Of Color, Thomas M. Philip, Miguel Zavala

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Through a close reading of the talk of a self-identified critical educator of color, we explore the contradictions, possibilities, limitations, and consequences of this identity for teachers and teacher educators. We examine how the performances of particular critical educator of color identities problematically intertwine claims of Freirian pedagogy with crude dichotomizations of people as critical and non-critical. We explore how particular tropes limit the productive possibilities of being critical for other educators of color and erase the centrality of dialogue, reflexivity, and unfinishedness that define Freirian-inspired notions of being critical.

Digital Media Literacy In A Sports, Popular Culture, And Literature Course, Carolyn Fortuna

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Abstract: This article considers how media sports culture is an apt space for digital media literacy instruction. Describing a senior year high school English course that requires students to deconstruct and compose with sports media texts, the author outlines how learning modules, analysis of curated collections of texts through heuristics, and mentor texts help students achieve higher literacy levels. The author argues that sports media literacy, due to its authenticity and relevance, can be a model for traditional literacy classrooms as ways to infuse multimodal texts and help students to gain both enhanced communication skills and critical distance from media …

Connecting, Creating, And Composing: A Shared Multimodal Journey, Margaret B. Krause

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Given the dynamic nature of our society, literacy conceptualizations are constantly being redefined. While print literacy continues to be the primary literacy within elementary classroom, the growing nature of technological capabilities, social networking, and multimodal affordances require educators to delve into explorations of how children can be successful in negotiating meaning in our world. As an elementary educator, university instructor, and mother of three children, the author explores personal views of literacy through a shared multimodal journal experience with her children. This article highlights the experiences of her son through the journaling process and how he selects material for a …

Developing Media Literacy: Managing Fear And Moving Beyond, Katherine G. Fry

Journal of Media Literacy Education

One way to view the development of the media literacy movement is through the various different ways in which strains of media literacy education have been called on to allay fears that accompanying new media technologies. This article focuses on how one media literacy organization,The LAMP, deals with two very different arenas —the internet safety arena and the news literacy arena--where fear of digital media has created narrow pockets of concern seeking narrow solutions. As media literacy grows and develops the hope is that these fears subside, a perception of separateness dissolves, and a broader media literacy vision advances.

Puppets On A String? How Young Adolescents Explore Gender And Health In Advertising, Deborah L. Begoray, Elizabeth M. Banister, Joan Wharf Higgins, Robin Wilmot

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article presents qualitative research on young adolescents’ abilities in communicating and evaluating health messages in advertising especially how they understand and create gendered identities. A group of grade 6-8 students learned about media techniques and movie making. In groups divided by gender, they created iMovie advertisements for health activities in their school. They represented themselves in these advertisements by creating stick puppets. Observations during lessons, examination of movies and puppets, and interviews with students and their teacher revealed that young adolescents were neither completely manipulated by media nor were they completely in charge of their responses to media’s messages …

Dusty But Mighty: Using Radio In The Critical Media Literacy Classroom, Miglena S. Todorova

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In a culture dominated by images, what is the capacity of radio-making to enact the ideals and meet the objectives of critical medial literacy education that empowers learners and expands democracy? This article conceptualizes a radio-based critical media literacy approach drawing upon a course project called “Borderless Radio,” where fifty-two students in a large urban Canadian university produced short radio programs narrating how they view and experience “multiculturalism.” Radio making in the classroom is soundscaping that politicizes intimacy, disrupts hegemonic discourses, and allows for teaching and learning to transgress; yet it also illuminates the ways in which self-positionality poses limitations …

Measuring News Media Literacy, Adam Maksl, Seth Ashley, Stephanie Craft

Journal of Media Literacy Education

News media literacy refers to the knowledge and motivations needed to identify and engage with journalism. This study measured levels of news media literacy among 500 teenagers using a new scale measure based on Potter’s model of media literacy and adapted to news media specifically. The adapted model posits that news media literate individuals think deeply about media experiences, believe they are in control of media’s influence, and have high levels of basic knowledge about media content, industries and effects. Based on measures developed to assess news media literacy, highly news literate teens were found to be more intrinsically motivated …

Guiding Digital And Media Literacy Development In Arab Curricula Through Understanding Media Uses Of Arab Youth, Jad P. Melki

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The role of new media in the Arab uprisings and the news of widespread surveillance of digital and mobile media have triggered a renewed interest in Arab audiences research, particularly as it pertains to these audiences’ critical abilities and digital media literacy competencies. Taken for granted have been Arab youth’s widespread use of social media for activism and political expression and their suspicion of government monitoring and privacy threats. This study questions these assumptions and attempts to provide a more accurate picture of Arab youth’s media uses, with the goal of informing the development of digital and media literacy curricula …

The Positive Impact Of Project-Based Learning On Attendance Of An Economically Disadvantaged Student Population: A Multiyear Study, Casey Creghan, Kathleen Adair-Creghan

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Students who do not regularly attend high school are at an increased risk of failure in the classroom and may eventually contribute to a higher dropout rate. More specifically, the attendance rates of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds have traditionally been lower than those with average means. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effects of a project-based learning (PjBL) environment on economically disadvantaged high school students in regard to their attendance rates. Data were collected in order to compare attendance rates of a school utilizing traditional teaching methodologies with a school using PjBL as the …

Reading And Math Strategies For Struggling Students, Tonya Hiers, Arlene Berry, Kim Trepanier

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will provide Common Core based strategies for teachers to use with students at risk of failure. Participants will engage in tasks that will allow them to experience Close reading, constructed response, and math problem solving. These cross curricular strategies will address literary, informational, and problem solving standards.

Scientific Teaching: Defining A Taxonomy Of Observable Practices, Brian A. Couch, Tanya L. Brown, Tyler J. Schelpat, Mark J. Graham, Jennifer K. Knight

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Over the past several decades, numerous reports have been published advocating for changes to undergraduate science education. These national calls inspired the formation of the National Academies Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Education in Biology (SI), a group of regional workshops to help faculty members learn and implement interactive teaching methods. The SI curriculum promotes a pedagogical framework called Scientific Teaching (ST), which aims to bring the vitality of modern research into the classroom by engaging students in the scientific discovery process and using student data to inform the ongoing development of teaching methods. With the spread of ST, the need …

Preliminary Examinations Of The Relationships Between The Use Levels Of Maine Learning Technology Initiative Devices And School-Level Poverty, Bernadette Doykos Phd, David L. Silvernail, Amy F. Johnson Phd

Education Technology

As MLTI extends into its second decade of operation, a number of questions have emerged that require increased attention to ensure that the needs of students and teachers are being met. For example: Is there evidence of a second “digital divide”—one of skills and use—across the state of Maine? Does the socioeconomic status of students and schools in Maine influence the level of technology integration? The purpose of the present Brief was to explore these questions. To accomplish this, we examine how students’ use of technology varies by schools’ free and reduced priced lunch (FRPL) by analyzing data from student …

Addressing Misconceptions About Evolution, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Don Dosch

Faculty Publications & Research

"Leave with effective ways to identify and address misconceptions about evolution, with a particular focus on supporting explanations with evidence."

Engaging The Learning Community With An Integrated E-Learning, Gaming And Social Networking Platform, Tim Thomasma

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Our view is that an e-learning platform based on user-created content, gamification, and with an integrated social network, will create a content-dense environment in which all of the stakeholders can maximize their outcomes and in which the best teachers, students, lessons, and organizations will rise to the top. The elements of such an integrated e-learning platform would include: Wizards to enable instructors to quickly create engaging multi-media lessons; Capability to automatically transform lesson content into additional activities, games, and quizzes; The ability for students to take lessons in the form they prefer, including lessons presented as games; Reports and monitoring …

Breathing Life Into Information Literacy Skills: Results Of A Faculty-Librarian Collaboration, Divonna M. Stebick, Janelle L. Wertzberger, Margaret E. Flora, Joseph W. Miller

Education Faculty Publications

When an education professor and a reference librarian sought to improve the quality of undergraduate student research, their partnership led to a new focus on assessing the research process in addition to the product. In this study, we reflect on our collaborative experience introducing information literacy as the foundation for undergraduate teacher education research. We examine the outcomes of this collaboration, focusing on the assessment of the process. Using a mixed methods approach, we found that direct instruction supporting effective research strategies positively impacted student projects. Our data also suggest that undergraduate students benefit from not only sound research strategies, …

Hands-On Russian Culture Lessons, Ksenia S. Zhbanova, Audrey C. Rule, Michelle L. Tichy

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

The global diverse society necessitates that teachers develop cultural competency and use authentic resources for teaching. This article presents classroom-tested materials for teaching elementary students about aspects of Russian culture, developed by a native Russian and two education professors. Multiage, multi-racial American Midwestern students from a homeschooling cooperative learned vocabulary and concepts with statistically significant increases from pretest to posttest and a large effect size. The lessons began with recognition of human commonalities between Russian people and Americans, in accordance with omniculturalism theory. Lessons then highlighted and celebrated cultural differences through an exploration of Russian literature and culture. Culminating creative …

Addressing Misconceptions About Evolution, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll, Don Dosch

Evolution

"Leave with effective ways to identify and address misconceptions about evolution, with a particular focus on supporting explanations with evidence."

Tenure: A Communal Privilege For Service, Not An Individual Privilege For Research, Steven Kessler

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Tenure is commonly understood as a privilege earned by individuals in higher education guaranteeing a lifetime appointment barring gross negligence. To individuals outside of higher education, the tenure process is less clear. Contemporary tenure is earned today largely for research and teaching with the heaviest emphasis on research. The third leg of tenure, service, is often neglected or discouraged in the rewards structure. While this information is widely known in higher education, the irony of this system is not. This paper aims to explore higher education’s historical roots as a medieval corporation in explaining the origins of tenure. Tenure originally …