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Review: Academic Life: Hospitality, Ethics, And Spirituality, Deryl R. Leaming

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

A book review of Academic Life: Hospitality, Ethics, and Spirituality by John B. Bennett.

Peer Review Of Teaching Project: Tiaa-Cref Hesburgh Award Application, Paul Savory, Amy M. Goodburn, Amy Nelson Burnett

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Reports

The TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award recognizes exceptional faculty development programs designed to enhance undergraduate teaching and learning. This award is given each year to a program judged to have best met the three award criteria: significance of the program to higher education; appropriate program rationale; and successful results and impact on undergraduate teaching and student learning. in 2005, the Peer Review of Teaching Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was awarded a TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award Certificate of Excellence in recognition of it being an exceptional faculty development program designed to enhance undergraduate student achievement.

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 15, Number 2, Fall 2004, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: The College is My Classroom - Thomas Edwards, Thomas College

Review of Robert Boice: Advice for New Faculty Members—Nihil nimus - Eric Kristensen, University of Ottawa

From the editors, Sue Barrett, Boston College, and Susan Pasquale, UMass Medical School

From Nepal to Iceland and Back Distance Learning Characteristics of Two Cultures - Karen A. Lemone, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Building Community with Technology - Elise Martin, Middlesex Community College, and Charles Kaminski, Berkshire Community College

Two Hours and Fifteen Minutes - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

Elections to NEFDC Board

Learning Disabilities in Higher …

Prospective Teachers’ Ability To Pose Word Problems, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of this study was to assess difference in prospective teachers’ ability to pose word problems for mathematical expressions involving division before and after an instruction intervention. After the initial assessment of participants’ ability to pose word problems for division expressions, the researcher introduced an alternative model i.e. rate or ratio to represent division involving whole numbers. After the intervention it was assessed whether the model helped the prospective teachers develop word problems for division of fractions. The findings revealed that the prospective teachers successfully posed word problems for division of whole numbers based on intuitive model of fair …

Reframing For Decisions: Transforming Talk About Literacy And Assessment Among Teachers And Researchers, Loukia K. Sarroub

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

Education research in the 21st century can be characterized by at least four dynamic, interpretive movements that include the critical analysis of pedagogy, schools, and communities; the politics of representation; the textual analyses of literary and cultural forms; and the ethnographic study of the production, consumption, and distribution of these forms in everyday life. Although these issues are beyond the scope of this chapter (see Denzin & Lincoln, 2000, for an extensive discussion), in large part the basis of these movements in the field of education grows out of a struggle among researchers and educators to make sense of competing …

Family-School Partnerships: Creating Essential Connections For Student Success, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Presentations

Why Family-School Partnerships??
“... parents take their child home after professionals complete their services and parents continue providing the care for the larger portion of the child’s waking hours... No matter how skilled professionals are, or how loving parents are, each cannot achieve alone what the two parties, working hand-in-hand, can accomplish together” (Peterson & Cooper, 1989; pp. 229, 208).

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: An Ecological Model To Facilitate Home-School Partnerships, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Presentations

Why Collaborate with Families?
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation
Conceptual Bases: Ecological-Behavioral Theory
CBC Outcome Goals
CBC Process Goals
Stages of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation
Problem/Needs Identification, Analysis
Plan Development
Treatment (Plan) Implementation

Peer Review Of Teaching Project: Survey Of Project Participants, Paul Savory, Amy M. Goodburn, Amy Nelson Burnett

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Reports

In planning for the future of the Peer Review of Teaching project, we performed a survey of to collect faculty participant feedback on their experience in the project (i.e., writing a course portfolio, possibly having it externally reviewed) and the impact that the experience has had on their teaching. While each of the partner campuses (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Michigan, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Indiana – Bloomington, and University of Kansas) have shaped the project experience differently for campus participants, we sought feedback from participants of all the project partners to get an overall assessment of the project.

Teaching Statistics With Sports Examples, Paul Kvam, Joel Sokol

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Class material for introductory and advanced statistics can be colorfully illustrated by using appropriate data and examples from sports. Specific methods, including statistical graphics (e.g., boxplots), ball-and-urn probabilities, and statistical regression are demonstrated. Examples are drawn from popular American sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer and American football. Classroom feedback indicates that most students enjoy sports examples as a way to learn abstract concepts using familiar, recreational settings.

Retrieving Possibilities: Confronting A Forgetfulness And Deformation Of Teaching/Learning Methodology, Margaret A. Macintyre Latta

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

This paper draws on data collected in a one-year research project focusing on elucidating theory/practice relations in learning to teach. As a teacher educator I grapple with the nature and role of teaching methodology. The notion of method, with its implied order and certainty, is confronted alongside prospective teachers throughout their coursework and student-teaching experiences. Reflexivity is considered essential to this research process, providing a means to address the interface between the empirical data collected alongside student-teachers and its interpretations. In this regard I draw on the historical writings of Dewey and Bakhtin, found to provide insights into theory/practice relations. …

School Psychologists Walking The Talk In Authentic Teacher Preparation Programs, Mindy Sloan

Essays in Education

Knowledge and skills bases once confined to school psychologists are now considered critical to the functioning of effective teachers (CEC, 2003, NCATE, 2003, Wilson, S. M., Floden, R. E., & Ferrini-Mundy, 2001). This paper uses three assumptions to argue for the inclusion of doctoral level school psychologists in teacher preparation programs. The first assumption acknowledges school psychology’s tradition of consultation with teachers (Bardon, 1990, Brown & Pryzwansky, 2002, Conoley & Conoley, 1992). Second, interdisciplinary teamwork is critical to effective educational planning (National Association of School Psychologists, 2003a, 2003b). Rather than merely informing future teachers that they will collaborate with other …

Families And Schools In Partnership: Creating Connections For Student Success, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Presentations

Why Family-School Partnerships?
What Do We Mean by “Partnership?”
Families and Schools as “Partners”
Characteristics of Effective Partnerships
Family-School Partnerships: Research Findings
General Research Findings
Research Findings Related to Outcomes
Family-School Partnerships: Theoretical Underpinnings
The Importance of Continuity
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: A Definition
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation
Conceptual Bases: Ecological-Behavioral Theory
Stages of CBC Problem Solving
CBC Outcome Goals
Outcome Research in CBC
Child Participants
Analyses
Results
Research Conclusions: Problem Solving Outcomes of CBC
Relational/Process Goals in CBC
Process Research in CBC
Congruity Research
Research Conclusions: Process Variables in CBC

Teacher And Student Attitudes Towards Multicultural Issues, Nathan Taraska

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this research were to (a) measure the multicultural attitudes of teachers in a secondary setting, grades 9-12 (n=6); (b) measure the multicultural attitudes of the students in those teachers' classes (n=92); and (c) determine whether these samples of students and teachers have statistically similar multicultural attitudes that indicate a positive relationship. Teachers and students demonstrated largely positive attitudes towards multicultural issues. A series of t-tests revealed the attitudes of the two groups were statistically similar on 12 of the 13 questionnaire items regarding multicultural issues. Implications for schools, teachers, and multicultural education in …

An Examination Of Teacher Education Programs And School Induction Programs In Their Preparation Of Teachers For The First Year Of Teaching., Nancy Kay Dillon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify beginning teachers' perceptions of how colleges and universities can improve their teacher preparation programs and what school systems can do to ensure that first-year teachers have a successful and satisfying experience in the classroom. A total of 20 first and second-year elementary teachers participated in 20 separate, qualitative interviews. The information collected from the interviews was inductively analyzed.

Several themes reflecting the perceptions of study participants emerged during the data analysis process: (1) a belief that college classes did not reflect or prepare new teachers for the "real world" of teaching. (2) …

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation And Diversity: Research Findings And Directions, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Presentations

Why Partner with Families?

-The research is unequivocal…

-When parents are actively engaged in their child’s development and learning, there are important benefits for children, families, and schools

-Parent-professional (home-school) partnerships are predictive of increased academic performance, socioemotional benefits, better work habits, more consistent school attendance, school completion, and greater connections between home and school

Process-Writing Instruction In One Teacher's Classes And Its Impact On The Writing Of Her Seventh Grade Students, Christine M. Dicicco

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the project was to determine whether process-writing instruction in the classroom was improving one group of seventh grade language arts students' writing. Students in three classes with the same language arts teacher were involved in the study. Over the course of the first three marking periods, writing samples were collected from each of the students involved. Each student's writing was assessed according to criteria on both the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards and the New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric. The teacher was also both observed and interviewed in order to determine what process-writing techniques she implemented …

An Investigation Of The Tools And Strategies Used To Present Multiple Perspectives In The Classroom, Christopher P. Madden

Theses and Dissertations

The research question for this project is what are the tools and strategies teachers are using to present multiple perspectives to their students? The data sources for this research included classroom observations, teacher interviews, student questionnaires, and document analysis. Four different teachers were interviewed and had their classes observed. There were a total of 16 observations containing detailed field notes. Twenty-seven students filled out the questionnaire. Documents used in the classroom as tools were collected and analyzed for this research. Four main strategies for presenting multiple perspectives in the classroom were found: open discussion, current events, alternative texts, and movies …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Let Me Learn And Process Writing: A Qualitative Analysis, Grace D. Hagan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine the relationship between Let Me Learn and process writing. Christine A. Johnston's Let Me Learn Inventory was administered to a middle school class of 27 students, and 8 students were selected with use-first learning patterns in each of the four learning pattern categories. Once the 8 students were selected, the students participated in interviews with questions regarding their learning patterns and writing process style. The researcher then collected three writing samples from each student as well as a novel project. Upon completion of the data collection, the writing samples were analyzed …

The Perceptions Of School Safety And Discipline And How These Perceptions Affect Teaching Methods And Strategies, James J. Lapsley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions teachers have concerning safety and discipline within their school and how these perceptions affect teaching methods and strategies. The study took place in a large rural area high school with a diverse multi-cultural background of students. This particular school has increasingly been scrutinized for the disruptive behavior of the students and the ability of the administration to handle these problems among the majority of teachers in the school. This study focused on the perceptions the teachers have about their school policies and procedures and the ability the school has in …

A Study Of The Female Formation Of Identity During The High School Years: A Qualitative Analysis, Elisabeth C. Rigney

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine the factors that influence and affect identity formation by female adolescents during the high school years. Group discussion sessions were held for a sample size of 6 participants that introduced certain topics that were deemed relevant to adolescent females' identity formation. Through the group discussions, participants demonstrated that these topics, including body image, family pressure, and relationships, were inherent to the ways they form identity during the high school years. Upon completion of the data collection, the discussion sessions were coded for each topic and then divided by those responses deemed …

Parental Ability To Support Their Children's Education Of Mathematics, Jenny M. Honold

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which parents/guardians can adequately support the success of their children's innovative mathematics curriculum. The study raises questions about the skills and knowledge parents have about today's mathematical practices. Are parents informed enough to sufficiently support their children's mathematical achievement? A qualitative review will take place by collecting student perception surveys, parent perception surveys, parent interviews, and a teacher journal recording home-school communication. This study is concerned with how teachers at Webster Elementary School will better be able to foster an environment where the mathematics needs of parents and children …

Motivating Elementary School Students In Literacy: A Study On Discussion Groups, Beth A. Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research proposal was literacy motivation for students in elementary school. The researcher hypothesized that students who took part in a discussion group, which is a motivational technique used in literacy, would perform better on a comprehension test and had a higher level of motivation to read than students who did not participate in discussion groups. The proposed method included taking a stratified random sample of 6 second grade students that participated in discussion groups daily for two weeks. All students were required to keep a reading log of the books that they read in school and …

Family/Partnership-Centered Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: The Reconceptualization Of A Model, Susan M. Sheridan, Brandy L. Clarke, Jennifer Burt, Diane Marti, Ariadne V. Schemm, Ashley Rohlk, Michelle Swanger

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Presentations

• The importance of working meaningfully and constructively with families in promoting a child’s learning and adjustment is unequivocal. Home-school partnerships have been shown to relate to many positive outcomes for children, families, teachers, and schools. • Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan, Kratochwill, & Bergan, 1996) is a structured, indirect model of service delivery whereby parents and teachers are joined to collaboratively address needs and concerns of a child with the assistance of a consultant. Goals of CBC encompass those focused on addressing child needs, and developing home-school partnerships. • CBC is procedurally operationalized via conjoint interviews (Problem Identification, Problem …

Table Of Contents - Summer 2004

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Academic Leadership Journal Summer 2004 table of contents.

How To Demoralize The Faculty: A Six-Step Program That Works, Howard B. Altman

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

A satirical article discussing faculty morale.

Smile When You Call Me That…, William "Skip" Boyer

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

An article discussing the difficulties of communicating effectively through electronic means.

An Examination Of Oral Communication Patterns And Emergent Groupings Among Faculty Governance Units, Michael Miller

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

An article discussing decision making in higher education.

The Roles Of State Departments Of Education As Policy Intermediaries: Two Cases, Edmund T. Hamann, Brett Lane

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

As the variety of state education agency (SEA) responses to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 demonstrates, different SEAs interpret the same federal educational policy differently. Nonetheless, little research has depicted how federal policies are changed by SEA-based policy intermediaries. Using an “ethnography of educational policy” approach, this article offers two illustrations of mediation processes at the SEA level: Maine’s and Puerto Rico’s initial attempts to implement the federal Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program. Both attempts show that the mediation process is inevitable and that its general direction can be predicted: Policies will be adapted in ways that …

Self-Regulated Strategy Development: A Cognitive Strategies Approach To Persuasive Writing, Amy I. Bennet

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the application of Self- Regulated Strategy Development model of writing instruction will improve the writing of persuasive compositions in seven 4th grade students. Self-Regulated Strategy Development pairs mnemonics representing the parts of different genres of writing with self-talk statements used by the students to "think" through the writing process. The students in this study were introduced to these strategies through small group instruction that took place during the regular school day. Through conferencing with the students, and by comparing the compositions written before the SRSD instruction to compositions written …

Gesture: Nonverbal Communication Between Teachers And Students, Christina Roviello

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers convey nonverbal messages to their class using gestures, body language, tone and physical body placement. Research shows that nonverbal messages can be very powerful tools with students. Research has also shown that nonverbal gestures paired with verbal communication enhance comprehension. This study's purpose is to find evidence that using nonverbal gestures in the classroom improves teacher direction and class attention and understanding. Data analysis shows that particular students benefit from emblems gesture in the classroom setting. Conclusions and implications of this study suggest that nonverbal communication has an influence on the classroom environment; however, further investigation is required.