Digital Commons Network^™

The Seven Deadly Virtues, Lynn Z. Bloom

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

The university stifles most creative writers except the most intrepid—even reckless, the good along with the bad—in the process of teaching them to write according to the conventions of the academy in general, and their specific disciplines in particular.

Listening: Beyond Telling To “Being” What We Want To Teach, Roben Torosyan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

In response to a culture of polarized argument, this paper shows a way to provide people with practice at deep listening and understanding. The author examines ways in which self-disclosure about problems of dialog may be an ideal means for teachers or leaders to show people alternate ways of being in the world of meaning making.

Image Into Word: Glimpses Of Mental Images In Writers Writing, Hildy Miller

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay uses thought samples and interviews to show ways writers use mental imagery in non-creative writing task.

Critical Thinking Skills And Emotional-Response Discourse: Merging The Affective And Cognitive In Student-Authored Texts Through Taxonomy Usage, Ed Comber

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay discusses a taxonomy designed to help students identify emotive-response discourse in their evolving texts, a process that joins emotion and cognitive to foster critical thinking.

Shallow Literacy, Timid Teaching, And Cultural Impotence, David L. Wallace

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Any attempt to move to a deeper notion of literacy in our theory and pedagogy must—among other things—involve us facing our own self interest and expecting disruption in our own classrooms, departments, and universities.

Reviews, W. Keith Duffy, Elizabeth Vander Lei, Marian Maccurdy

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reviews

W. Keith Duffy. Memoirs of Soul: Writing your Spiritual Autobiography. (Nan Phifer, 2002).

Elizabeth Vander Lei. A Communion of Friendship: Literacy, Spiritual Practice, and Women in Recovery. (Beth Daniel, 2003).

Marian MacCurdy. Writing To Save Your Life. (Michele Weldon, 2001).

Action Research To Study Classroom Impact: Is It Possible?, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

In recent years, a discourse is emerging in education that emphasises the study of the impact of in-service teacher education on student outcomes (more often than not student outcomes are seen in the form of test scores of academic achievement). Implicit in this discourse is the view that the impact of in-service teacher education is directly observable on students' outcomes, suggesting that the variables in a school or classroom are connected in some kind of a causal link. However, it is problematic to view variables in a social setting such as a school or a classroom as being in causal …

Improving Student Learning Through Theme Based Curriculum Design And Team Teaching: An Action Research Study, Brenda Dermody

Theses

This study is concerned with improving the design and delivery of the curriculum on a four year BA in Design Visual Communication programme in the Technologicl University Dublin. The study examines how aspects of curriculum design and delivery affect some of the key stakeholders - the students and academic staff – involved in the programme. It looks at how the design and delivery of the curriculum can be improved with a view to achieving two main aims. The first aim is to promote a deep approach to learning among visual communication students. The second aim is to promote a deep …

Why Do Students Abandon Programs Prior To Completion?: An Investigation Into The Phenomenon Of Dropout Students From The Diploma In Hotel And Catering Management, Dit., Ann Teresa

Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine how students experience education at the Dublin Institute of

Technology. What happens to them that influences their decision to leave their course of choice and what can we do to help? In this thesis I have looked at the phenomenon of dropout students from the Diploma in Hotel and Catering Management in DIT and the factors that influence their choice of course and then subsequent withdrawal from this course. I have interviewed a student who has left another course to pursue the Diploma in Hotel and Catering Management to examine if her …

A Model Faculty Handbook To Promote A Shared Vision And A Collaborative School Culture, Nadine D. Betts

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of the study was to develop a model faculty handbook to promote a shared vision and a collaborative school culture. To accomplish this purpose, a review of related literature was conducted. Related information and materials from selected sources were obtained and analyzed. Additionally, specific information and forms were adapted and developed to serve an elementary faculty.

Munazza’S Story: Shedding Light On A Science Teacher’S Conceptions Of The Nature Of Science Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai, Derek Hodson

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Life history research creates a broader understanding of teaching by providing illustration of the relationships among various aspects of teachers’ lives and their teaching practice, both inside and beyond the classroom. This article focuses on the life history of Munazza, a young science teacher at the Karachi Model Secondary School (KMSS), a private, co‐educational, English‐medium school for children from middle‐income families. Its purpose is to gain insight into a female science teacher's understanding of teaching science in a school in Pakistan, ascertain what aspects of this science teacher's conceptions of the nature of science are explicit in her practice, and …

Enhancing Student Learning Using Simulation Programs And Scientific Visualization, Madeleine Andrawis

Bush Project Anthology

A new approach in teaching electromagnetics using multi-media simulation programs was implemented to enhance student learning and hence increase student retention. The fundamental nature of Electromagnetics makes its understanding a necessity in order to comprehend all the other Electrical Engineering topics. The basic Electromagnetics theory and its engineering applications material are all based on highly mathematical equations. Students had difficulty understanding and/or visualizing its abstract topics. This course is presently taught using the latest class technologies and its contents are available on the Internet for out of class access.

Journaling As A Teaching And Learning Tool, Delmar Lonowski

Bush Project Anthology

Requiring students to keep journals is a most valuable teaching and learning tool. Student writing can be more than a way that we justify the grades we give students at the end of each term. Writing is a multi-functional tool that can be used not only for evaluation but also for teaching and learning. In using writing for teaching and learning, we help our students develop analytical, critical thinking, and organizational skills that will help them be successful. Requiring students to keep journals is just such a tool. In addition, it helps achieve the SDSU Lead Forward Goal of making …

Avoiding Binary Thinking: Using Multiperspectivism As A Classroom Tool, Maria T. Ramos-Garcia

Bush Project Anthology

One of the greatest challenges teachers face in literature classes is encouraging students to go beyond the easy answers. That is especially true when students are studying literature in a second language. In their lower-division classes, they have become accustomed to providing the "right" answer applying the language they are learning. Therefore, when they enter a more advanced language class with a literature focus, they feel cheated when the instructor fails to tell them what the right answer is ... even if the issues involved are extremely complex. Students must learn that most literary works pose questions that have no …

Leadership And Management - Are They Alike?, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper tries to distinguish between the leadership and management constructs to clarify the confusion caused by the loose usage of the terms in popular language. The two concepts should be understood as distinct for theoretical clarifications but not to argue for any hierarchical relationship. The paper tries to define both management and leadership, and then describes several ways the leadership construct is presented in the literature followed by a resolution of leadership definitions. Finally, the paper shares four criteria to distinguish between the leadership and the management functions. The paper concludes by arguing that leadership should be seen as …

Effects Of Thinking-Aloud Pair Problem Solving On The Troubleshooting Performance Of Undergraduate Students In A Power Technology Course, Michael L. Pate, George W. Wardlow, Donald M. Johnson

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A randomized post-test-only experimental design with a counter-balanced internal replication was used to determine the effects of thinking-aloud pair problem solving (TAPPS) on the troubleshooting performance of college students in a power technology course. The experimental results were stable across two troubleshooting tasks. Students who participated in the pair problem solving groups were significantly more successful (p ≤ .05) at troubleshooting engine faults than were students in the control groups. Among students who successfully completed the troubleshooting tasks across both groups, there were no significant differences in time required for completion. These findings indicate that the use of pair problem …

Professional Development : The Missing Component In Education, Brett C. Ernst

Graduate Research Papers

Professional development addresses student needs and is based on researched teaching strategies that are proven to assist both the teacher and the student in meeting high achievement standards. Other indicators of effective professional development, as described by NCLB, include: ongoing support; data-driven decision making; and effective evaluation of the professional development. It has the potential to improve educators' attitudes, behaviors, knowledge and skills, so it benefits student learning. High quality professional development, when explicit about the results it is seeking to achieve, can assist both teachers and students to meet or exceed the desired outcomes they are being asked to …

A Multicultural Learning Community: Facilitating Faculty Relationships With East Asian Students On An American Christian College Campus, Larry K. Asplund

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the cross-cultural challenges faced by teachers and East Asian students on an American Christian college campus, and to seek effective ways of facilitating relationships between them. How could I effectively facilitate meaningful cross-cultural relationships between members of the faculty and East Asian students? How is it possible for a Christian college campus to become a multicultural learning community?

My claim is that it is possible to facilitate faculty relationships with East Asian students if a high priority is placed on the Christian value of relationships in community and cultural learning, i.e. learning …

Successful Online Course Retention At Marylhurst University Constructing A Model For Online Course Retention Using Grounded Theory, Vincent Schreck

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past 6 years, the course retention rate for Marylhurst University's (MU) online courses was 91%, which is within four percentage points of its on-campus course retention rate (Schreck, 2002). This appears to contradict a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that stated, "Although there is significant variation among institutions with some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80% and others finding that fewer than 50% of distance-education students finish their courses, several administrators concur that course-completion rates are often 10-20 percentage points higher in traditional courses than in distance offerings" (Carr, 2000). Recent studies (Beatty-Gunter 2001; …

First Steps Toward Change In Teacher Preparation For Elementary Science, C. Klevickis, R. Kolvoord, M. Handley, K. Giovanetti, D. Peterson, T. Daughtrey, S. Fairchild

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Unless introductory undergraduate science classes for prospective elementary teachers actively incorporate the philosophy of inquiry-based learning called for in K-l2 science education refom little will change in elementary science education. Thus, at James Madison University, we have developed a new integrated science core curriculum called Understanding our World [1]. This course sequence was not only designed to fulfill general education science requirements. but also to focus on content areas our students will need to know as teachers. The objectives of these courses are based on the National Science Education Standards and Virginia’s Science Standards of Learning, including earth and space …

Aligning Mathematics Curriculum To Create Potential For Active Learning In Pre-K Through Eighth Grade Teacher Education, G. E. Parker

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In this paper, we consider some issues surrounding the teaching of mathematics to pre-service teachers. In particular. we look at the possibilities for teaching elementary mathematics from an advanced standpoint and alignments of curriculum that have the capacity to enhance student involvement in the making of the mathematics.The particulars of the James Madison University curriculum are used to illustrate many of the points.

The Effects Of The Teacher's Use Of Guided Inquiry In The Fifth Grade Classroom, Deborah Strickland Spiess

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF THE TEACHER'S USE OF GUIDED INQUIRY IN A FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE CLASSROOM. INQUIRY IS SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL(2000), AND INDICATES THAT ALL STUDENTS SHOULD DEVELOP THE ABILITIES NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND DEVELOP UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (P.21). THIS STUDY WAS A QUALITATIVE ACTION RESEARCH DESIGN, FOCUSING ON SEVENTEEN STUDENTS AND THEIR RESPONSES TO A GUIDED INQUIRY METHOD OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION ON MATTER, ENERGY AND MOTION, AND EARTH AND SPACE. AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE AND STUDENTS' ATTITUDES ABOUT SCIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM WAS CONDUCTED ABOUT EACH UNIT OF INSTRUCTION. THE …

Meeting The Literacy Development Needs Of Adolescent English Language Learners Through Content Area Learning - Part One: Focus On Motivation And Engagement, Julie Meltzer, Edmund T. Hamann

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

This paper highlights the substantial overlap in recommended practices from two emerging areas of educational research: research on the academic literacy development of adolescents and research on English language learners (ELLs) in secondary schools. Specifically, this paper examines instructional principles related to the connection between students’ motivation and engagement and their literacy development as supported by both bodies of literature. These principles include making connections to students’ lives, creating responsive classrooms, and having students interact with each other and with text. This paper is the first of two papers based on the same reviews of the adolescent literacy and adolescent …

Uses Of Technology By Science Education Professors: Comparisons With Teachers’ Uses And The Current Versus Desired Technology Knowledge Gap, John Settlage, A. Louis Odom, Jon E. Pedersen

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

A survey of the AETS membership was conducted to examine potential gaps in their current versus desired knowledge about technology uses relative to science teacher education.

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers To Teach With Technology: Getting Past Go In Science And Mathematics, Julie Thomas, Sandi Cooper

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

We are teacher educators (in elementary science and mathematics) who are enthusiastic about technology as a teaching tool—though it is as new to us as it is to our university colleagues. We recently led a United States Department of Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant project entitled TechLinks. In an effort to encourage peer faculty members to connect methods instruction with current technology initiatives (namely the International Society for Technology Education [ISTE], 2000, and the National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 1997), TechLinks provided faculty fellowships–$1,000 for equipment and materials and a technology assistant who …

The Local Framing Of Latino Educational Policy, Edmund T. Hamann

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

In many parts of the country, Latino newcomers are encountering educational policies that were framed by non-Latino local leaders. This study, an ethnography of educational policy, depicts an unorthodox assemblage of policy framers from both the United States and Mexico who shaped the local education policies aimed at Latino newcomers in Dalton, GA, in the 1990s. The study considers the evolving underlying understandings of these framers and the strategies that resulted, considering also why a temporary consensus that launched an impressive initiative—the Georgia Project—ultimately

Perceived Professional Needs Of Korean Science Teachers Majoring In Chemical Education And Their Preferences For Online And On-Site Training, Taehee Noh, Jeongho Cha, Sukjin Kang, Lawrence C. Scharmann

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

In this study, we investigated the perceived professional needs of Korean science teachers majoring in chemical education, and examined their preferences for online and on-site inservice teacher training programs. The results were also compared with those of preservice teachers. Participants were 120 secondary school teachers and 67 preservice teachers, whose majors were either chemical education or science education with emphasis in chemistry. A questionnaire consisting of a modified Science Teacher Inventory of Need and a section concerning respondents’ demographic information and their use of the Internet was administered. In contrast to previous studies, the perceived needs of Korean inservice and …

Connecticut Blueprint For A Nclb “Housse” In Educational Technology, Antoinette P. Bruciati

Education Faculty Publications

According to the United States Department of Education, teacher quality is one of the most critical aspects of the teaching and learning process. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has required that state agencies assume the responsibility for increasing student achievement and ensuring teacher quality by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. The NCLB outlines minimum qualifications that are needed by teachers who work on any facet of classroom instruction and authorizes state administrators to establish the criteria through which an experienced teacher will meet the subject matter competencies in a specific content area. This paper …

The Influence Of Teacher Preparation Programs On Student Achievement And The Use Of Nctm Standards And Principles In Middle School And High School Algebra I Classrooms, Denelle L. Wallace

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

The impact of traditional and alternative teacher preparation programs on student achievement and the instructional delivery methods used in middle school and high school Algebra I classrooms was explored through a mixed method comparative design. The data analysis revealed that alternative teacher preparation programs are a viable avenue to explore in meeting the needs of public schools for providing qualified teachers in mathematics classrooms at the middle school and high school levels. Data from the standardized state test and district level quarterly assessments revealed no significant differences between groups on half of the achievement measures, but there was a significant …

A Study Of The Perceived Relationship Between Mentoring And Job Satisfaction Among Selected New Teachers In Independent Schools, Randy Kleinman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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