Digital Commons Network^™

Critical Soft Skills To Achieve Success In The Workplace, Gloria A. Meeks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this study was a problem identified by human resources directors and managers in a medium sized community in the southeast of the United States. The problem was that some college graduates are not equipped with the necessary soft skills to be successful in the workforce. Executive directors and human resources managers brought this problem to the attention of the career center directors in the community. Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence was the theoretical framework to ground this study. This study involved purposeful sampling to select 9 human resources directors from local companies. To investigate soft skills in …

Online Professional Learning For Science Teachers Of Multilingual Learners, Kara Viesca, Elizabeth Mahon, Christopher D. Carson, The Ecallms Team

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

In its 2009 position statement Science for English Language Learners, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recommended “that teacher preparation and professional development programs for teachers, regardless of area of certification, focus on science content and pedagogy for English language learners” (p. 2). Since that time, widespread adoption of both English language developments standards such as WIDA (https://www.wida.us) and comprehensive, rigorous science standards such as NGSS (http://www.nextgenscience.org) have provided extensive support in describing what bilingual students can and should be doing in science. While most science teachers have access to professional development to support the teaching …

Othering Others: Right-Wing Populism In Uk Media Discourse On “New” Immigration, Grace E. Fielder, Theresa Catalano

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

Right wing populism is on the rise. Through the use of othering, right-wing groups delimit their own identities while excluding others. The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on how European mediated public spheres (such as reader responses to media discourse) constitute an important domain of identity articulation and struggle through the discursive construction of the ‘Other’. In this case, the others come from the Central and Eastern European countries that are perceived as newcomers to Western Europe due to the consecutive enlargements of the European Union. Specifically, this chapter provides an in-depth analysis of 236 reader comments …

A Theory Of Veteran Identity, Travis L. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--English

More than 2.6 million troops have deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, surveys reveal that more than half feel “disconnected” from their civilian counterparts, and this feeling persists despite ongoing efforts, in the academy and elsewhere, to help returning veterans overcome physical and mental wounds, seek an education, and find meaningful ways to contribute to society after taking off the uniform. This dissertation argues that Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans struggle with reassimilation because they lack healthy, complete models of veteran identity to draw upon in their postwar lives, a problem they’re working through collectively …

Annual Report Of Research And Creative Productions By Faculty And Staff, January To December, 2017, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs. Morehead State University.

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Reports and Publications

Annual Report Of Research and Creative Productions by Faculty and Staff from January to December, 2017.

Teacher Perceptions Of School Climate And Pbis, Douglas Periman

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between perceptions of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a behavior change system implemented in schools, length of teaching experience, and teacher perceptions of school climate. The sample for this study was made up of certified teachers in schools that had implemented PBIS, and from schools that had not implemented PBIS, located in Washington State. Data were collected from two surveys, one of which measured teacher perceptions of PBIS and the other measured teacher perceptions of school climate. A simultaneous multiple regression analysis was performed to determine if there was …

Educational Neuroscience, Educational Psychology, And Classroom Pedagogy As A System, Alexander Vaninsky

Publications and Research

This paper introduces a view of educational process as a 3-layer system comprising human brain, personality psychology, and classroom pedagogy. It aims to present a classroom as a place where educational neuroscience and educational psychology meet to result in effective pedagogy. The paper demonstrates the advantages of such approach for mathematics education. Among them are understanding of mathematical anxiety as a defensive reaction of the brain on operating memory overflow, finding gifted and talented students objectively, assertion of possible limitations on the educational goals given unfavorable conditions, restricted time of information perception, limited liability of teachers and instructors for the …

Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (Sea-Plm) Assessment Framework, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer), Southeast Asian Ministers Of Education Organization - Seameo, Unicef

Assessment and Reporting

This assessment framework for the South-East Asia Primary Learning Metric (SEA-PLM) assessment program outlines an approach to assessing mathematical literacy (Chapter 2), reading literacy (Chapter 3) and writing literacy (Chapter 4). It also puts forward a conceptual framework for the context questionnaires (Chapter 5). The orientation implied by these labels is intended to emphasise that the curriculum arrangements in participating countries, which are necessarily at the centre of a regional assessment program, have as a major purpose the preparation of young people to participate effectively as members of society in such a way that they can use what they have …

Multiple Perspectives On Cognitive Development: Radical Constructivism, Cognitive Constructivism, Sociocultural Theory, And Critical Theory, Meir Muller, Kelley E. Buchheister, Gloria Boutte

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This multi-vocal article represents the work of three teacher educators. In conjunction with Glasersfeld’s (1996) description of Radical Constructivism, we agree that any theory “cannot claim to be anything but one approach to the age-old problem of knowing. Only its application in contexts where a theory of knowing makes a difference can show whether or not it can be considered a viable approach.” (von Glasersfeld, 1996, p. 309). In this conceptual piece, we examined the relationship between Radical Constructivism and three distinct, yet sometimes overlapping, theories: 1) Cognitive Constructivism 2) Sociocultural Theory; and 3) Critical Theory. First, we discuss the …

Relative Importance Of Anxiety And Motivational Variables In Predicting Language Achievement For College Learners Of Chinese, Qi Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The growing worldwide enthusiasm in learning Chinese calls for more research on learner characteristics in Chinese classrooms to better inform teaching practice. Language anxiety, which falls under the umbrella of learner’s affect, is considered an important affective aspect that negatively influences language learning and acquisition. As research on language anxiety mainly focused on the learning of Western languages, this study constitutes an initial attempt to investigate anxiety in the learning of Chinese through the testing of a structural model. The purpose of the study was to examine the relative importance of language anxiety in predicting Chinese achievement when motivation, integrativeness, …

แนวทางการพัฒนาครูไทยที่สอนในโครงการจัดการเรียนการสอนตามหลักสูตรกระทรวงศึกษาธิการเป็นภาษาอังกฤษในโรงเรียนมัธยมศึกษาสังกัดสำนักงานคณะกรรมการการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐานในเขตกรุงเทพมหานคร, ภานุพงศ์ ใจเยือกเย็น

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การวิจัยครั้งนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์ 1) เพื่อศึกษาสภาพปัจจุบันเกี่ยวกับความรู้ทักษะและความคาดหวังในการพัฒนาครูไทยที่สอนในโครงการจัดการเรียนการสอนตามหลักสูตรกระทรวงศึกษาธิการเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ 2) เพื่อนำเสนอแนวทางการพัฒนาครูไทยที่สอนในโครงการจัดการเรียนการสอนตามหลักสูตรกระทรวงศึกษาธิการเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ ประชากรคือครูไทยที่สอนในโครงการจัดการเรียนการสอนตามหลักสูตรกระทรวงศึกษาธิการเป็นภาษาอังกฤษในโรงเรียนมัธยมศึกษา สังกัดสำนักงานคณะกรรมการการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐานในเขตกรุงเทพมหานคร จำนวน 253 คน ผู้ให้ข้อมูลในการสัมภาษณ์ 20 คน เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัยเป็นแบบสอบถามจำนวน 1 ฉบับ และแบบสัมภาษณ์แบบกึ่งโครงสร้าง 2 ฉบับ ผลการวิจัย พบว่า แนวทางการพัฒนาครูไทยที่สอนในโครงการจัดการเรียนการสอนตามหลักสูตรกระทรวงศึกษาธิการเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ 1. การพัฒนาทักษะการใช้ภาษาอังกฤษในการสื่อสาร ควรจัดสิ่งแวดล้อมระหว่างครูไทยกับครูต่างชาติให้นั่งทำงานอยู่ภายในกลุ่มสาระการเรียนรู้เดียวกันรวมถึงการจัดให้ทำกิจกรรมต่างๆ ให้ครูพัฒนาตนเองในการฝึกทักษะภาษาอังกฤษในชีวิตประจำวัน ควรกำหนดนโยบายให้ครูไทยที่สอนในโครงการ English Program สอบวัดทักษะภาษาอังกฤษทุกๆ 3 ปีและจัดสรรงบประมาณเพื่อส่งเสริมให้ครูไทยไปอบรมความรู้ด้านการพัฒนาทักษะภาษาอังกฤษทั้งในและต่างประเทศ 2. การพัฒนาการจัดการเรียนการสอน ควรจัด English Program Boot Camp ให้ครูไทยที่สอนคณิตศาสตร์ วิทยาศาสตร์ สังคมศึกษาฯ การงานอาชีพและเทคโนโลยี สุขศึกษา ก่อนที่จะเข้าสอนในโครงการ English Program ครูไทยควรวางแผนร่วมกับครูต่างชาติในการจัดทำแผนจัดทำแผนการเรียนรู้เป็นภาษาอังกฤษในรายวิชาโดยให้ครูต่างชาติเป็นผู้ตรวจสอบด้านภาษา ควรจัดสรรงบประมาณจากเงินอุดหนุนช่วยเหลือพัฒนาการจัดการเรียนการสอนให้กับครูไทยที่สามารถจัดการเรียนการสอนในโครงการ English Program จัดการนิเทศการสอนให้ครูไทยโดยใช้เทคนิคการนิเทศแบบคลินิค Mini Observation จัดการนิเทศ Lesson Study ให้ครูไทยได้แลกเปลี่ยนเรียนรู้กับครูต่างชาติ 3. การใช้สื่อและอุปกรณ์ในการจัดการเรียนการสอน ให้ครูไทยจัดทำเอกสารประกอบการจัดการเรียนการสอนเป็นภาษาอังกฤษโดยมีครูต่างชาติเป็นผู้ตรวจสอบด้านภาษา จัด English teacher Camp เพื่อสร้างและใช้สื่อการเรียนการสอนที่เป็นภาษาอังกฤษ ให้ครูเลือกใช้สื่อออนไลน์ Google Classroom, Google App โดยเลือกให้สอดคล้องกับบทเรียน รายวิชา 4. การพัฒนาการวัดและประเมินผล สนับสนุนให้ครูไทยในกลุ่มเครือข่ายโรงเรียนประชุมและวางแผนเกี่ยวกับการวัดและประเมินผล ให้ครูไทยและครูต่างชาติร่วมกันออกแบบเครื่องมือในการวัดและประเมินผล 5. การพัฒนาการจัดกิจกรรมเสริมหลักสูตร ให้ครูไทยไปร่วมทำกิจกรรม ฝึกทำกิจกรรม ศึกษาความรู้ในการทำกิจกรรมทั้งในและต่างประเทศ สนับสนุนการจัดกิจกรรมเสริมหลักสูตรในลักษณะเครือข่ายโรงเรียนได้เข้าร่วมการแข่งขันทักษะ คณิตศาสตร์ วิทยาศาสตร์ การงานอาชีพและเทคโนโลยี สังคมศึกษาฯ โดยใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นสื่อกลางในการแข่งขัน

Teac 908e: Critical Conversations In U.S. Teacher Education Policy And Practice—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Lauren Gatti

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Since compulsory school began in the early 1900s, there have been lively and at times intense debates regarding how teachers ought to be prepared. Current debates are particularly pitched as the achievement gap persists and teacher attrition remains high, made more intense by the level of polarization in the country. Debates in the field of teacher preparation, like the country writ large, are often characterized more by heat than light. Given this reality, I opted to use this peer review of teaching opportunity to think about my graduate course as a place where students could practice perspective-taking and dialogue around …

(Mis)Reading The Classroom: A Two-Act “Play” On The Conflicting Roles In Student Teaching, Christi U. Edge

Journal Articles

This case study examined concentric and reciprocal notions of reading—that of high school students, a pre-service teacher, and a teacher educator. An intern charged with teaching students to read, interact with, and compose texts in an English/language arts classroom constructed her role in the classroom based on her reading the “text” of her internship experiences, relationships, and responsibilities. Using interviews and observations, a teacher educator read and interpreted the classroom “text” the pre-service teacher “composed” during her internship and then constructed a two-act “play” which details the conflict in the intern’s enacting the dual role of student-teacher and her subsequent …

Disrupting The Dominant Narrative: Beginning English Teachers’ Use Of Young Adult Literature And Culturally Responsive Pedagogy., Elsie L. Olan, Kia Jane Richmond

Journal Articles

In this multiple case study that uses narrative research methodology, two beginning English teachers’ stories, their use of young adult literature, and their dialogic interactions with university mentors are examined through a lens of culturally responsive pedagogy. This study is focused on how teachers’ stories indicate the difficulties they have incorporating culturally relevant young adult literature into their secondary English classes, how they establish connections between the texts, their students’ lived experiences, and their own lived experiences, and why they struggle with the application of culturally responsive pedagogy. Findings indicate that beginning teachers’ stories (a) express uncertainty regarding the place …

Storying Our Journey: Conversations About The Literary Canon And Course Development In Secondary English Education., Elsie L. Olan, Kia Jane Richmond

Journal Articles

Olan and Richmond present preservice English teachers’ stories about having little experience with canonical texts they are asked to teach in their field experiences.

Teaching In A Mixed Secondary Spanish Classroom: A Case Study Of Strategies And Successes Of Minnesota Teachers, Meredith Gunderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The population of Spanish heritage language learners is increasing throughout the state of Minnesota. This change in demographics impacts schools in a variety of ways; one such consequence is the creation of classes for Spanish for Native Speakers in locations with high Latino populations. However, in most locations, such programs currently do not exist, resulting in Spanish heritage language learners enrolling in Spanish foreign language classes. These classrooms, called mixed classes due to the combination of second language learners and Spanish heritage language learners in the same classroom, pose a unique challenge to the foreign language instructors. This qualitative multiple …

Relationship Between Admission Criteria And Program Completion In A Radiation Therapy Program, Adrienne Mae Dougherty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Poor completion rates in the radiation therapy associate's degree program offered through a community college did not meet the standards set by the college and damaged the program's reputation. The relationship between admission criteria and program completion was not known. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any relationships between the admission criteria (GPA in prerequisite courses, interview scores, writing sample scores, and preadmission testing scores) and students' completion of a radiation therapy associate's degree program. This correlational study used 2 stages of Tinto's retention theory: (a) recruitment and admission to college and (b) pre-entry assessment …

Teachers' Perceptions In Developing Robust Vocabulary Instruction At An American International School, Cathleen S. M. Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At an international school in Taiwan, English learners have struggled to meet the U.S. national average in vocabulary on standardized testing instruments. This problem has become more significant since 2009. The purpose of this research was to conduct a case study on successful vocabulary teachers to determine their perceptions of effective teaching. Knowles' andragogy, Brookfield's self-directed, experiential learning, and Vygotsky's social constructivist framework provided the conceptual framework for this study. The research questions focused on teachers' perceptions of why they were successful in teaching vocabulary in English. The study site had access to quantitative data regarding previous standardized testing results; …

K-5 Educators' Perceptions Of The Role Of Speech Language Pathologists, Dr. Karmon D. Hatcher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Rarely is a school-based speech language pathologist (SLP) thought of as an active contributor to the achievement of students or to the learning community in general. Researchers have found benefits for students when members of the learning community collaborate, and the SLP should be a part of this community collaboration. This qualitative case study examined elementary school teachers', administrators', and reading specialists' perspectives related to knowledge of and the inclusion of the SLP in the learning community at a local elementary school in central Georgia. Schon's theory of reflective practice and Coleman's theory of social capital provided the conceptual framework. …

The Challenge Of Chinese Character Acquisition: Leveraging Multimodality In Overcoming A Centuries-Old Problem, Justin Olmanson, Xianquan Chrystal Liu

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

For learners unfamiliar with character-based or logosyllabic writing systems, the process of developing literacy in written Chinese poses significantly more obstacles than learning to read and write in a second language like Portuguese or Cherokee. In this article we describe the linguistic nature of Chinese characters; we outline traditional and new media approaches to Chinese character acquisition; we unpack how multimodal technologies combined with computational linguistics might be used to provide new types of support for Chinese character learning; and we offer a design that incorporates several of these concepts into a digital writing support tool that could work as …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Confidence And Attitudes Toward Teaching English Learners, Stephanie Wessels, Guy Trainin, Jenelle Reeves, Theresa Catalano, Qizhen Deng

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

Research has shown that many pre-service teachers do not feel confident in their abilities to work with English learners (ELs), and that attitudes toward ELs can have an effect on their confidence in working with these students. The purpose of this quantitative study is to find out what factors affect the confidence and attitudes of pre-service teachers in regard to teaching ELs. Data consisted of a four-part survey of 244 pre-service teachers entering an elementary teacher education program. Findings revealed that attitudes toward ELs’ use of L1 correlated with reported second language proficiency and diversity experience, and indirectly with international …

Perceptions Of Linguistically Responsive Teaching In Teacher Candidates/Novice Teachers, Madhavi Tandon, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Colin Hueston, Tamara Milbourn

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

This qualitative study examined data from 36 teacher candidates and novice teachers to explore their perceptions and understandings of linguistic responsiveness. The findings illustrate the challenge of demonstrating linguistically responsive teaching practices in the early and initial stages of entering the teaching profession, and more research is necessary to understand how to support teachers.

Includes supplemental materials.

Interpreting Early Career Trajectories, Joan Barnatt, Dianna Gahlsdorf Terrell, Lisa Andries D’Souza, Cindy Jong, Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Ann Marie Gleeson, Patrick J. Mcquillan, Karen Shakman

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

Career decisions of four teachers are explored through the concept of figured worlds in this qualitative, longitudinal case study. Participants were purposefully chosen for similarity at entry, with a range of career trajectories over time. Teacher career paths included remaining in one school, repeated changes in schools, attrition after relocation, and nonrenewal of contract. Data included interviews, observations, participants’ assessments, and pupils’ work. Cross-case analysis suggests that no single teacher attribute or workplace condition determined teachers’ career decisions; rather, teachers’ ability to refigure their identity within the figured world of teaching shaped career trajectory. Key factors such as ability to …

Emergent Bilinguals' Engagement In An Online Mathematics Course Utilizing An Intelligent Tutoring System, Julian Viera Jr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Students in today's digital world draw from multiple sources of information, hypertext, videos, educational software, social media, and video games to create a multimodal learning environment (Luke, 2005). In 1994, Griffiths, et al. (1994) found that the impact of information technology on oppressed cultures hampered their education when the technology was not available in their native language and culture. Students from countries that did not have the resources to develop software in their native language felt that their language and culture did not relate to the modern world. When these students arrived in the United States and found technology in …

Teaching In The Age Of Humans Helping Students Think About Climate Change., Grinell Smith

Faculty Publications

To convey the magnitude and rapidity of current climate change and the severity of predictions for the next century, I present essential climate science information using four key sets of data and contextualize that information with personal anecdotes. I then consider the reasons for the large gap between the scientific consensus about anthropogenic climate change and public perceptions of that consensus. With several known challenges to climate change education in mind, I offer four recommendations for teachers that map relevant social psychology to pedagogy: (1) establish a learning community that works to disrupt in-group favoritism and reduce attribution bias; (2) …

The Complexity Of Practicum Assessment In Teacher Education: An Examination Of Four New Zealand Case Studies., Karyn M. Aspden

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Practicum is a key element of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes, designed to support the professional growth of student teachers. Practicum is also a key point of assessment, leading to a determination of the student’s professional growth and their readiness to teach and enter the teaching profession. This study sought to understand the way in which the assessment of practicum was enacted and experienced within New Zealand early childhood ITE programmes. Case study methodology was used to explore the experiences of practicum triads from four participating institutions. Data included recordings of triadic assessment meetings, post-assessment interviews with the student teachers, …

More Than Standardisation: Teacher’S Professional Literacy Learning In Australia?, Veronica Gardiner, Wendy Cumming-Potvin, Christine Kay Glass

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Current policies guiding literacy and teacher professional learning in Australia, tend to foreground the importance of standardised practice and assessment in classrooms and schools. However, enactments of print-oriented literacy and professional learning in alignment with this emphasis stand in contradiction with contemporary approaches, which implicate consideration of diversity and contextual relevance. This paper positions teacher problematisation and negotiation of this contradiction as key for broadening literacy learning horizons. Incorporating multiliteracies, Cultural Historical Activity Theory and sociocritical perspectives on policy and professional learning, the authors propose a multidimensional framework for exploring and supporting dynamic and conflictually sensitive teacher learning processes. Such …

How Well Prepared Are Australian Preservice Teachers To Teach Early Reading Skills?, Linda J. Meeks, Coral R. Kemp

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Preservice early childhood and primary teachers from teacher preparation institutions across five Australian states were surveyed regarding their perceptions of preparedness and ability to teach early reading and spelling skills, as well as their knowledge of components of early reading, such as phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge and early spelling patterns. Surveys were conducted in the final year of the teacher training courses and targeted students attending teacher education institutions providing teacher training in the area of early literacy. Although preservice teachers generally rated themselves as prepared to teach early reading, most demonstrated minimal to very poor knowledge of the components …

Any Time, Any Place, Flexible Pace: Technology-Enhanced Language Learning In A Teacher Education Programme, Jocelyn M. Howard, Adèle Scott

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Ongoing developments in e-learning, improved internet accessibility and increased digital citizenry provide exciting opportunities to integrate effective classroom pedagogies with online educational technologies, creating mixed-mode courses to enhance student engagement and facilitate greater autonomous learning. This research examines pre-service teacher education students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of experiential and digitally-mediated tools which take them beyond the constraints of traditional lecture-type delivery. Quantitative and qualitative results from distance and face-to-face cohorts show the value the students ascribe to tools employed in a modified language course. These are discussed in relation to reported changes in students’ proficiency in the target language and …

Back To Africa In The 21st Century: The Cultural Reconnection Experiences Of African American Women, Marcia Tate Arunga

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the lived experiences of 18 African American women who went to Kenya, East Africa as part of a Cultural Reconnection delegation. A qualitative narrative inquiry method was used for data collection. This was an optimal approach to honoring the authentic voices of African American women. Eighteen African American women shared their stories, revelations, feelings and thoughts on reconnecting in their ancestral homeland of Africa. The literature discussed includes diasporic returns as a subject of study, barriers to the return including the causes of historic trauma, and how Black women as culture bearers …