Digital Commons Network^™

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 18, Number 2, Fall 2007, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President - Judy Miller, Clark University

From the editors - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology, and Jeanne Albert, Castleton State College

NEFDC Fall Conference, Friday, November 9, 2007, Worcester, Massachusetts; theme: Engaged Learning: Fostering Student Success; keynote speaker: George Kuh, Indiana University

Engaged Learning: The Foundation for Student Success, Note from our Fall Conference Keynote Speaker - George Kuh, Indiana University

Fall Conference Agenda

Learning Through Community Engagement - Kevin R. Kearney, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Reciprocal Mentoring - Mathew L. Ouellett and Susan E. McKenna, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Helpful …

Evaluating A Four State Workforce Education Project: Questions Of Investigative Interest And Impact, Neal Grandgenett, Elliott Ostler, Applied Information Management Institute, Jeanne L. Surface

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

How can a large scale, multi-state, collaborative workforce development project be evaluated? This article describes the evaluation process of the Midwest Center for Information Technology (MCIT). The project uses “impact threads” to connect the outcomes of the project to strategic evaluation questions. The MCIT project, involving 10 public two-year colleges located in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota, strives to assist partner colleges in enhancing information technology training and related degree programs. The MCIT was funded as a regional center within the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). This article details the evaluation plan …

Defining And Interpreting Professional Knowledge In An Age Of Performativity: A Scottish Case-Study, Beth Dickson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper will argue that by considering in detail the Scottish Standard for Initial Teacher Education [SITE] (Quality Assurance Agency [QAA], 2000), the foundation document of the teaching profession in Scotland, a model exists that synthesises the positions of those involved in education who support a “technical-rational” position and others who support a “values” discourse. The paper will consider how the authors of SITE were affected by the contextual factors of policy and epistemology. Literary methods of reading will be used to show that SITE defines professional knowledge as being dynamic, intellectual, personal, developmental, research-informed and achieved in synthesis and …

Repositioning Research As Writing To Improve Student Learning, Sara Booth

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In recent years teacher education has used the process and practices of research to improve pre-service teachers’ pedagogical practices. Pre-service teachers, however, generally prefer to understand the practices of teaching rather than research. This paper considers the writing process rather than the research process as central to the construction of pre-service teachers’ subjectivities. It explores the responses of twenty-six Tasmanian Secondary English postgraduate pre-service teachers in 2004 and 2005, drawing on data from research writing projects, surveys and interviews. These responses indicated that when writing is positioned central to the research process it can change pre-service teachers’ construction of research …

Many Treasure Soup: A School-Based Project For Pre-Service Teacher Educators, Sally Godinho, Julie White, Trevor Hay, Pamela St Leger

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper narrates the development of a project developed by four researchers with differing approaches to qualitative research. The aim of the study was to examine the value of a school-based approach to pedagogy and curriculum subjects for pre-service teachers. What emerged from our collaboration was the accommodation of significant differences about what constituted ‘evidence.’ The article begins with an account of the project itself, followed by a number of research narratives. The researchers draw upon diverse traditions in qualitative research fields that include program evaluation, empirical research and narrative inquiry. Our study embraced Lather’s (2006) notion of paradigm proliferation …

Seeking Refuge In Literacy From A Scorpion Bite, Loukia K. Sarroub

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

The purpose of this study is to examine a refugee boy’s experiences with literacy in and out of school in the US. Within these contexts, I explore this youth’s literacy development in light of his identity as a poor Yezidi Kurdish refugee from Iraq. Central to the article are two main themes. The first, life as a scorpion sting, explicates the young man’s life as a refugee, and the difficulties he faces in and out of school. The second theme, reading for mayonnaise, alerts us to the limitations of literacy programs in which unconnected texts and distanced narratives are prominent, …

Mind Your English, Sadia Hanif

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, Diane Russell, Erin O'Donnell, Mamie Peers, Grace Russell, Cate Weeks

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Making Use Of Bilingual Interview Data: Some Experiences From The Field, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper describes the challenges faced, and rules devised, while dealing with bilingual interview data as part of a life history study of a female science teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science while teaching in a school in Karachi. The interview data generated was both in Urdu and English, which underwent a number of processes (transcription, translation, and transliteration) to evolve into “interim texts,” to finally become a part of the data analysis process. I have called these translated materials “transmuted texts,” as they reflect the original, but have been recreated. This paper is significant because as globalization connects …

Creating Community Among Colleagues: A Call To Collaboration, Thomas J. Knapper

Master of Education Program Theses

Teaching has traditionally been a lonely enterprise. Working in isolation is commonplace. Collaboration among teachers is rare, particularly at the high school level. How can Christian high schools be more purposeful in developing an ethos in which collaboration among faculty is encouraged and expected? Teachers will need to be taught how to collaborate. Teachers will have to develop attitudes of openness and trust. Administrative leadership will need to implement structures and strategies that promote a collaborative environment. Christians are called to live in community with each other. To that end much can and should be done to promote collaboration among …

A Decision To Serve: Decision Making Through Service Learning, Elizabeth A. Romey

Perspectives In Learning

The use of service learning and community service with students at all levels of ability is becoming increasingly prevalent, especially with gifted students, because of their need to prepare for college applications. These applications often require a range of activities including community service as well as straight academic success. However, the distinction between community service, a reactive activity, and service learning, a proactive process in which students take leadership roles in their community, is not always emphasized. The role of structured decision-making processes, like those in Talents Unlimited and Future Problem Solving, to enable gifted students to take proactive leadership …

The Design And Implementation Of An International Day Project To Foster Cultural Awareness And A Global Perspective In Tukwila Elementary School, Zakariya Salim Palsha

All Graduate Projects

The primary purpose of this project was to successfully design and implement cultural awareness and a global perspective at Tukwila Elementary School utilizing an International Day project, as there are a large number of ethnic groups and various cultures represented in the school. This provided students and parents from different cultures with an avenue to celebrate their own cultural heritage while simultaneously they learned about and celebrated the diverse cultures of the entire school community. The project had five components, which included: 1) a flag ceremony that included forty-nine different flags; 2) cultural dances (performed by students, parents, and community …

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 …

Online Instruction In The University Setting: Reflections On Four Years Of Practice In Distance Education, Tom Hackett

Perspectives In Learning

The development of online courses is replete with challenges for the instructor and for curriculum planners who wish to provide students the convenience of online instruction and take advantage of the power of the venue. Despite the obvious promise of technologies with seemingly unlimited potential and capability, certain inherent limitations add a complexity to their implementation. This article discusses the need for a philosophical underpinning that considers both the power and limitations of the online instructional venue.

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 …

Building A Model: Identifying Learning Episodes To Include Within A Web-Based Faculty-Training Program For The Conversion Of A Traditional Course To An Online Course, Steven Bradley Combs

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research project developed a model over time through a detailed, in-depth Simplifying Conditions Method (SCM) interview (Reigeluth, 2001) of community college faculty members at an Indiana community college. Four faculty members, who met the credentials to be considered Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), were interviewed to determine the learning episodes to include within a faculty-training program for the conversion of a traditional course to an online course. The tasks identified were then organized and placed into a comprehensive Data Categorization Table. Included within this Data Categorization Table are complexity ratings and time required for each learning episode. This newly …

A Cross-Cultural Teacher Training Program For Singaporean Muslim Students, Margaret Bowering

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Drawing upon evaluations of a teacher-training program for Muslim participants presented by Edith Cowan University staff in Singapore, this case study provides readers with insights into program design and management. It reports on lecturer and student attitudes as revealed in evaluations of the Singapore short course. In drawing the conclusion that attention must be given to cultural matters such as religious values and obligations and issues of language and assessment, the article asks the reader to rethink the universality of prevailing notions about internationalisation, particularly those relating to the necessary redesign of the curriculum. It ends with the suggestion that …

Professional Knowledge In Initial Teacher Education (Ite): A Preliminary Review Of Hispanic Literature, Raymond Mccluskey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The global dominance of English as the principal language of international interchange in the teacher education field has, perhaps, diverted English-speaking scholars from the task of reviewing discourses in non-English languages. Taking as its focus the issue of professional knowledge in ITE, the present article considers scholarship predominantly of Spanish origin – to a lesser extent Portuguese and Latin American also – in an effort to begin to form an understanding of both historical antecedents and more recent approaches to professional knowledge in a Hispanic context. While the remit of the present article is one of introducing the work and …

Reflecting On Teaching Practices Using Digital Video Representation In Teacher Education, C Paul Newhouse, Jenny Lane, Claire Brown

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on the perceptions of teacher education student of the value of using digital tools to analyse video-based information on the practice of teachers in classrooms. This strategy was employed to address a dilemma in providing sufficient exposure to real examples of good classroom teaching to link theory with practice. The use of video of teachers in action could augment their practicum experience in schools but this required efficient and effective access to appropriate video material. For this purpose, the use of digital tools in a system called LessonLab was successfully implemented in an introductory unit focussed on …

Children’S Hopes And Fears, Bernadette L. Dean, Shazia Solangi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Character Education On A Third Grade Inclusion Classroom, Christina M. Barbato

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to implement a character education program with a third grade inclusion classroom at Cooper's Poynt School in Camden, New Jersey. This study was conducted in efforts to improve relationships and interpersonal skills using qualitative action research. Character education is a concept that describes implementing moral conduct in schools in order to encourage positive behaviors. Several benefits to character education programs include reduced negative behaviors, a more positive school environment conducive to learning, and higher academic achievement. This study conducted discusses the impacts of a character education program initiated in a third grade inclusion classroom. …

How To Establish And Maintain Positive Parent-Teacher Relationships, Tracy Cwiakala

Theses and Dissertations

Studies and literature have shown that when parents and teachers possess a positive relationship, students will be more successful and show an increase in academic achievement. The purposes of this research study were to (a) determine how to establish a positive parent-teacher relationship and (b) ascertain the most effective and ineffective methods, approaches and utilizations for maintaining a positive parent-teacher relationship. Teachers and parents defined what a parent-teacher relationship means to them as well as what roles they play within the relationship. Different obstacles and barriers encountered are discussed in addition to the best ways to approach them in order …

Students As Agents Of Change, Meghan Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how literacy instruction encouraged students to think of themselves as agents of change. Using a qualitative design, a case study examined the effect literacy instruction had on students' perceptions of themselves as agents of change. The study took place in a fifth grade inclusion classroom of twenty three students. Journal prompts and class discussions were utilized to gather data. The data collected was analyzed and categorized according to student responses. Significant findings pointed that students were willing to think of themselves as agents of change.

Student Perceptions Regarding The Use Of Rubrics In Writing Assignments, Lindsay C. O'Neill

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore student perceptions regarding the use of rubrics in writing assignments. This qualitative research study was conducted with 16 students in a first grade classroom. I have conducted 4 mini-lessons on different writing components with the class. As a class we created a scoring rubric that includes important parts of the assignment and a number scale to further weigh the importance. The students were a part of creating the rubric and were given the rubric prior to their writing assignment. During the assignment I observed how the students use their knowledge of the …

What Is The Result When Responsive Classroom Techniques Are Used As Both A Classroom Management And Character Education Program Without Implementing The Whole Approach?, Lisa Jewell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if six Responsive Classroom techniques can be used as a classroom management system and character education program, without implementing the entire approach. The six approaches used were class meetings, stress the deed not the doer, time-outs, voices of authority, social conferences and logical conferences. The research was conducted in the researcher's co-teach classroom in a suburban elementary school. A researcher's journal, teacher and aide interviews, teacher reflections and student surveys were used to collect data. Results are aligned with the literature on the subjects of character education and classroom management and the …

Differentiating Instruction: What Does It Look Like When Utilized In A Kindergarten Classroom?, Andrea L. Concordia

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not students are successful when differentiated instruction is used in the classroom. By breaking students up into smaller groups and utilizing guided reading this study seeks to determine whether or not students are successful when instruction is geared to each individual's instructional level. The students in this study were broken up into four small groups and taught guided reading three times a week for twelve to fifteen minutes each over a period of three weeks. Through observations and reflections and pre and post assessments the study showed that differentiating instruction …

A Guidebook Of Resources And Interactive Literacy Activities For Use By Parents With Primary Students, Cheryl Ann Youngblood

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to create a home Literacy Guidebook to increase children's reading and writing skills. By encouraging parental support at home through the use of children's literature and relevant activities, the lessons are intended to make learning fun and meaningful for children and their parents. Research reviewed supported the significance of the parents' role in literacy development at home and at school. Parents who read to their children and practice related activities contribute to their children's success in school. The guidebook includes children's literature selections, book lists for future readings, step-by-step instructions to guide parents through …

Handwriting: Should Formal Instruction In Handwriting Be Taught To Elementary Students?, Cathleen Rutter

Education 589 Projects

Having taught students Language Arts from 2nd grade through sophomore year of high school, I have encountered numerous samples of handwriting, with great variance in their legibility. It has caused me frustration as a beginning teacher trying to decipher what has actually been written and just what the student was trying to convey to myself, as their teacher. In some cases I have graded a spelling test, marked words incorrect because I could not read the letters in the word. But then, because I felt that the student has mastered the spelling of a given word, I had the student …

Teachers Evaluations Of Nagc Initial Knowledge & Skill Standards For Gifted And Talented Education, Theresa Monaco

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) have jointly developed standards for the review of NAGC. These standards will be presented to the NCATE for adoption. If you are interested in reviewing the program standards and offering suggestions before they are presented for adoption, please click on the URL below. The standards may be accessed at: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=1512 . These standards were evaluated by teachers enrolled in summer University graduate in the area of gifted education scheduled at the University of Houston. Comments are modified verbatim text. Teachers were asked to select one or …