Digital Commons Network^™

Getting To Excellence: What Every Educator Should Know About Consequences Of Beliefs, Attitudes, And Paradigms For The Reconstruction Of An Academically Unacceptable Middle School, James A. Johnson, Jay Cummings, Margaret Stroud, Gatsy Moye' -Lavergne, Wilbert J. Andrews Jr.

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

In this chapter a discussion of a salient dimension of the external environment in which today’s educators find themselves practicing – the policy context - is presented. Critical elements of this discussion include a truncated history of the encroachment on local control of the schools and the ensuing standardized-tests-based accountability and standardized testing movement. We also pay some attention to growing efforts to push back against these movements. We conclude this chapter with perspectives of a set of scholarly informants on quality, equity, and adequacy. Our effort in this chapter is to trace the political distance traveled from education defined …

Urban Education Reform- Case Study: North Forest Independent School District, Jay K. Aiyer, Michael O. Adams, Subria Lapps

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Education reformers and advocates have conducted extensive studies and produced significant research around various models of school turnaround and reform. As a case study for policy in relation to models for school district turnaround, we will explore Houston’s North Forest Independent School District (NFISD). The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, as a study of policy we will retroactively explore the key factors that led to the proposed closure of NFISD. Second, using existing strategies of school turnaround, we will explore potential models of reform that may be applied to NFISD. Third, we will discuss biases and recommendations concerning …

The Curriculum Of Health And Nutrition Education In Czech Republic (Article), Jana Koptíková

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

ABSTRACT

The average one-year health expenditure per capita in the European member states has doubled in the last 15 years. Prevention is less expensive than treatment, and changes in diet and lifestyle remain the most effective way to reduce the financial health care costs. However, European health systems are primarily treatment systems, not preventive systems. Improper diet and lack of physical activity are the most critical factors contributing to the overweight and obesity pandemic. Along with heavy alcohol consumption and smoking, these four factors contribute the most to the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. These diseases kill more than 36 …

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes

Susan Bauer's 2003 Theory Of Well-Educated Mind: Could The Classical Approach To Teaching History Work In Southern California History K12 Classrooms?, Tomasz B. Stanek

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The main purpose of this research evolved from the publication of S. W. Bauer Well-educated mind, a study of the significance of new methods of teaching history course. Bauer (2003) argues that the grammarian approach of simple recognition and memorization removes students from reading primary sources. This theory suggests a new methodology for the instructors and students through the three-stage process of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric preparation with aid of primary sources or “great books list”. This paper supports Bauer’s thesis and provides evidence through extensive interviews that indeed this concept of pedagogy is present in Southern California schools.

Creativity For Learning Biology In Higher Education, Diki Diki

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

Learning biology is considered difficult, especially in some areas like cell division, genetics, and hormones (Cimer, 2012). On the other hand, there is a connection between student success in learning science with creativity (Son, 2009). As creativity can be defined as the formation of new and useful ways to solve a problem (Sternberg & Kaufmann, 2010), it can be used to help students to learn biology. Meanwhile, according to Guilford (1950), creativity includes divergent and convergent thinking. Research on creativity in learning biology helps to integrate different research findings, formulating ideas, and analogies (Dunbarr, 1997). Analogy is a process to …

Building A Better Blend: Research-Based Blended Course Design, Jennifer Spohrer

Blended Learning Research and Open Educational Resources

Slides from a faculty workshop organized by the Central Pennsylvania Consortium, held at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. In this talk I discuss how to use findings from the NGLC grant-funded study of blended learning at 40 liberal arts colleges and related pedagogical and cognitive science research to develop effective blended courses. Some of the topics covered include the "testing effect," spacing learning learning over time, feedback, and metacognition.

Factors Affecting Student Satisfaction In Different Learning Deliveries, Kuang-Yu Chang

Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed the relationship between student satisfaction and four interaction variables--student-content, student-instructor, student-student, and student-technology--in online, blended, and traditional learning settings. Demographics, previous experience with the Internet, and discussion-board applications were also investigated.

There were 916 respondents, including 185 in online settings, 90 in blended settings, and 641 in traditional settings, to Strachota's (2002) Online Satisfaction Survey. Participants took the survey either in an on-site classroom (traditional learning) or through e-mail, website link, or the Blackboard course management system (online setting). Participants in the blended setting could choose between completing the survey on-site or online, but were asked to …

The Effects Of Synchronous Class Sessions On Students' Academic Achievement And Levels Of Satisfaction In An Online Introduction To Computers Course, Andrea Leshea

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quasi-experimental static-group comparison study was to test the theory of transactional distance that relates the inclusion of synchronous class sessions into an online introductory computer course to students' levels of satisfaction and academic achievement at a post-secondary technical college. This study specifically looked at the effects of adding live, synchronous class sessions into an online learning environment using collaboration software such as Blackboard Collaborate and the impact that this form of live interaction had on students' overall levels of satisfaction and academic achievement with the course. A quasi-experiment using the post-test only, static-group comparison design was …

Putting The Heart Back Into Writing: Nurturing Voice In Middle School Students, Barbara Ruben, Leanne Moll

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

To gain a deeper understanding of young adolescent motivation and developmental needs as the nation plunges ahead with the national Common Core Standards and their implications for writing instruction, the authors of this article pondered five questions as they studied their own middle school writing team: (1) What intrinsic motivators drive these young students to write? (2) What components create a nurturing writing environment? (3) How can we understand student motivation so that we can nurture student interest in writing within the constraints of large classes and mandates to address Common Core Standards? (4) For students who are already intrinsically …

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes

The Intersection Of Preservice Teachers’ Confidence, Perceptions, And Ideas For Using Instructional Technology For Teaching And Learning, Louis Nadelson, Darcie Bennett, Ezra Gwilliam, Catherine Howlett, Steve Oswalt, Jaime Sand

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The evolving landscape of instructional technology is influenced by access to a wide range of technology tools that can be accessed to enhance teaching and learning. Technological tools such as smart phones, apps, tablets, social media, and YouTube exemplify the kinds of resources that are readily availabl e for teaching and learning. Further, the development of different course delivery systems and the exposure to concepts such as flipped classrooms and electronic portfolios have extended the use of mainstream technology into new instructional applications. The ongoing evolution of technology hardware, software, and instructional applications has numerous educational implications. In an effort …

A Teacher-Educator Uses Action Research To Develop Culturally Conscious Curriculum Planners, Muriel Simms

Democracy & Education

Experienced teachers need to have opportunities to discuss and plan curriculum in ways that meet the academic needs of a demographically changing student population. According to the experienced teachers in this study, these opportunities did not occur in their teaching environments or in their teacher preparation courses. Moreover, the literature on multicultural education supported the experienced teachers’ claims. To address the problem of the lack of opportunities to discuss and plan a multicultural curriculum, this teacher-educator used a self-study approach to experiment with action research as a way to change her own curriculum to be multiculturally based.

Using Multimedia Conferencing To Connect Literacy Educators, Marilyn Drury, Rick Seeley, Salli Forbes, Rick Traw

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

The University of Northern Iowa's literacy center staff faced challenges including limited time, numerous locations to visit and people to connect with, and many postgraduate students to mentor. Using multimedia conferencing tools met the faculty and staff's needs and enabled additional mentoring of faculty working with pre-service teacher students as well as providing the opportunity for postgraduate students to observe and critique live classroom teaching and learning situations. To facilitate the project's technology needs, the IT staff used a Legos-style "building brick" solution that let the staff integrate or remove different technologies to suit JCCL needs, while also permitting flexibility …

Steps To Support Student Engagement In An Online Course With Large Enrollments, Paula Jones

Instructional Development Center Faculty and Staff Research

In online courses with large enrollments, it may be difficult to support students in becoming engaged communications or projects simply because of the sheer number of students involved in the course. In this session, we will look at a summary list of steps to follow that is intended to help faculty developers to plan ways to support student engagement in an online course, specifically related to courses with large enrollments. We will then have an open discussion of methods others use in their courses to support student engagement. Finally, we will explore some specific free or low cost resources used …

Libquest: A Problem Based Learning Approach To Information Literacy, Priyanka Sharma, Yuyun W. Ishak

Research Collection Library

Problem Based Learning (PBL) appears to be the way forward. Gen Z students seem to prefer discovery and a self-paced learning environment (often using a variety of gadgets) rather than a more structured instruction module in a classroom setting. Kenney (2008) found that PBL provides the theoretical framework for a learner centered, active instructional experience that relies on collaboration, critical thinking and hands-on interaction with resources. Pelikan (2004) developed and delivered course-related library instruction using PBL over a period of two years in Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology and concluded that PBL is a worth pursuing approach …

First In Reform: The Adoption Of Common Core State Standards In Kentucky, Richard E. Day

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty and Staff Scholarship

On February 11, 2010, in an unprecedented joint meeting, the chairs of the Kentucky Board of Education, the Council on Postsecondary Education, and the Education Professional Standards Board signed a resolution directing their respective agencies to implement the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and mathematics. This act formalized Kentucky’s commitment to integrate the nascent standards into the state’s public education system – the first state to do so. This article will trace the antecedents to Kentucky’s adoption of the standards as one expression of the late 20th century/early 21st century “corporate school reform movement” as manifested in the …

Integrating Music Into Samoan Primary Schools: Teachers’ Perceptions And Potential Benefits, Jennifer Fortin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the knowledge-base of teachers’ beliefs and practices of music integration in Samoan primary schools, as well as the potential benefits it provides for young developing minds. Current Samoan teachers’ perceptions of the benefits of music are analyzed in light of data proving these benefits in Primary Education. Children gain only as much as teachers incorporate. Social benefits include a more positive learning environment, improved attention and attitude, as well as inspiration and motivation, along with academic benefits of increased verbal memory, abstract reasoning and reading development. Data was collected through a series of interviews, surveying, observation and …

Ua64 Cebs Magazine: The College Of Education And Behavioral Sciences At Wku, Charles S. Evans Dean, Pam Pierce, Editor-In-Chief, Wku College Of Education & Behavioral Sciences

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Socializing Young Readers: A Content Analysis Of Body Size Images In Caldecott Medal Winners, Linda Wedwick, Nancy Latham

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Many studies have examined gender issues in children’s literature, but a review of the literature reveals that few studies have examined the instances of fatness in the images. Studying the fat representation in the images of children’s literature is important because exposure to a variety of body types may slow the rate of children’s body dissatisfaction. The present study examines exposure to body size images in picture books. Results of this content analysis indicate that there are fewer books with fat characters when compared to those without. However, when examining every image of body size within each text, there is …

Catalog, 2013-2014, Anderson University - South Carolina

Catalogs

The 2013-2014 graduate & undergraduate academic catalog and introduction to the university.

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 14, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2013 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on Admissions and Retention in Honors

Forum Articles

Jerry Herron

Sean K. Kelly

Michael K. Cundall, Jr.

Scott Carnicom

Annmarie Guzy

Jeffrey A. Portnoy

Research Essays

Patricia Joanne Smith and John Thomas Vitus Zagurski

Robert R. Keller and Michael G. Lacy

Lynne Goodstein and Patricia Szarek

Timothy J. Nichols and Kuo-Liang “Matt” Chang

Emily Stark

The Role Of Young Hoosier Book Award Nominees In The Classroom: Using Approaches To Multicultural Education As A Lens For Evaluating Literature, Shaylyn Barrie Marks

Open Access Dissertations

This study demonstrates the need for the integration of multiculturalism in the K-12 curriculum as well as provides a heuristic based on the work conducted by Sleeter and Grant (2009) to evaluate literature for level of multiculturalism. In the study, the researcher uses an evaluate heuristic to critically analyze and evaluation ten of the books from the 2011-2012 Young Hoosier Book Award (YHBA) nominee list. The heuristic created for this study is applied to the books appearing on the YHBA nominee list to evaluate each book on an individual basis, but also by association, the types of books that that …

Educational Standards, Teacher Preparation, And Metacognition Instruction For Elementary Students: Studies In Pre-College Engineering Education, Ronald Lee Carr

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation is a compilation of three separate works representing a wide range of issues related to pre-college engineering. Each work addresses multiple levels of concern for educators from national policy to specific classroom intervention. Although presenting different styles of writing - due to different journals requirements - and various methods of research, all purpose to further research and instruction in pre-college engineering.

The research detailed in these papers has been inspired by the current STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education movement and in particular, by the National Academy of Engineering's leadership in promoting the integration of engineering into …

Networking Young Citizens : Learning To Be Citizens In And With The Social Web, Suzanne Mellor, Terri Seddon

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

Many claims are made, both in the popular press and the professional education literature, about the significance of the social web in enabling civic participation. However empirical evidence supporting these claims is sparse and contested rather than strongly-indicative. The Monash University pilot research project, Networking Young Citizens, relates to the discussion about the ways in which the social web might support the civic participation, especially of young people, by examining the ways in which Web 2.0 was integrated into teaching and learning in the school, and any other processes of civic socialisation that were consciously adopted in three schools.

This …

Moocs Comparison And Implications For Purdue Nanohub-U Moocs, Wei Zakharov

Teaching and Learning Technologies Presentations

A massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course aiming at large-scale participation and open access via the web. Currently there are three main MOOCs providers: i.e. Udacity, Coursera, and edX. This presentation compared these providers in terms of their technical features and business models. On the other hand, the author presented how Purdue NanoHUB-U designed and developed MOOCs.

Queer Pedagogical Desire: A Study Guide, Matt Brim

Publications and Research

This essay explores the queer pedagogical desires that attended my writing of the Study Guide for the documentary film United in Anger: A History of ACT UP (Jim Hubbard, 2012). The analysis takes up Robyn Wiegman’s central question in Object Lessons, “What is it we expect our relationship to our objects of study to do?”, which is of particular importance to the discipline of queer studies insofar as the field is oriented around the desire to meld social justice with critical pedagogy. The queer professor’s desire in the case of the Study Guide-as-object was to create a text that …

School Vouchers In Washington, D.C., Patrick Wolf

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report tells the story of the Opportunity Scholarship Program, paying special attention to lessons that can be applied to educational improvement in the urban areas of Massachusetts. Section 1 describes the design and initial implementation of the program. Section 2 outlines the main features of the rigorous experimental evaluation of the program’s impacts on participating students and parents. The main results of that evaluation are presented in Section 3. Section 4 concludes by discussing the implications of the OSP results for possible

The Impact Of The Read 180 Program On Response To Intervention, Kimberly Roshell Rakestraw

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the Read 180 program as a Response to Intervention reading strategy tool for middle school students. This study explored the effect of the RtI-designed technology-based reading program on seventh and eighth-grade students labeled as at-risk for reading failure. Data was analyzed using the standardized analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Participants in this study were given pseudonyms to protect their identity and scores. In addition, pseudonyms for the county and school where research was conducted were provided. The results of the study indicated that the Read 180 program at the focus …

Embracing A Productive Rhetorical Pragmatism: Teaching Writing As Democratic Deliberation, Jennifer Clifton

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Our current points of stasis in American politics make clear: we are facing a deep crisis of imagination in public life. Our (in)ability to imagine the interests and experiences of others limits not only how we understand domestic and global citizenship but also how we enact that citizenship with others. In talk and in practice, the inability to take seriously the interests and experiences of others leads Americans – in English Language Arts classrooms and in public life – to cast those who disagree as deeply flawed in character – unpatriotic, ungodly, lazy, irresponsible, or criminal.

In this article, I …