Digital Commons Network^™

Scientific Literacy In Central Appalachia Through Contextually Relevant Experiences: The “Reading The River” Project, April D. Haight, Wilson J. Gonzalez-Espada

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Despite the best intentions of the United States educational system, implementing science reform efforts equitably and consistently throughout the nation is still a long-term goal. The light of scientific literacy has yet to shine brightly in many rural, isolated and economically depressed regions. Using Appalachia as a case in point, this paper provides a synopsis of the challenges of quality rural science education in the United States and the hope of new contextual and culturally relevant pedagogies aimed at engaging science students in inquiry research using their environmental surroundings as cognitive scaffoldings. The program Reading the River is showcased as …

Quick Listening Activities To Improve Phonological Awareness In The Kindergarten Classroom, Jill Florence Stephens

All Graduate Projects

Current research shows phonological awareness plays an important role in a kindergarten student's ability to read. Phonological awareness (PA) is identifying and manipulating parts of spoken language, such as words, syllables, onsets and rimes, and rhyming. Recent research also indicates a kindergartener's level of phonological awareness is connected to his or her ability to decode words, recognize vocabulary and comprehend text. Students lacking a sense of phonological awareness struggle learning to read. The good news is that kindergarteners' phonological awareness can improve with 10-15 minutes of focused instruction each day. This project guides kindergarten teachers through phonological awareness listening activities, …

Building On The Cultural And Linguistic Capital Of English Learner (El) Students, K Brooks, Katya A. Karathanos

Faculty Publications

Approaches and strategies that value and build upon the cultural and linguistic capital of English learner students are described. Through implementing such strategies, teachers can impress upon students and families that multiculturalism and multilingualism are highly beneficial to the classroom, school, and community.

A Pedagogy Of Process: Using Arts Based Research With Community Development Co-Researchers To Explore Campus Community Dialogue, Brian Hand

Theses

This thesis will outline how I employed an arts informed participatory research process with four women members of the Southend family resource centre in Wexford town. The primary context for this research was the introduction of a module in community based learning on the BA (hons) in Art at the Wexford Campus of I.T. Carlow combined with a desire to participate more actively in the community sector outside the campus. The choice of an arts based methodology was to capture knowledge in a multifaceted way, to give depth to the many meanings of individual experiences and finally to suggest a …

How Can Morning Meeting And Character Education Foster A Community Of Respect In A Second Grade Classroom?, Alyssa Conlon

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to determine how Morning Meeting and the integration of character education values in a second grade classroom can lead to a respectful classroom community. As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, teachers need to learn ways in which they can create a positive learning environment where all students feel accepted and respected. Participants of this study include 13 second grade students; seven boys and six girls. Participants took part in daily Morning Meetings for approximately 20 minutes a day for a period of six and a half weeks. Data was analyzed and …

The Implementation Of The Exit Slip Strategy To Examine The Advancement Of Paraphrasing And Summarizing Shakespearean Text, Andrea M. Hawn

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to help mediate areas of deficiency that were identified in the essay and composition writing of a group of freshman Honors' students. During this study, students were provided with specific strategies to interpret texts so they could begin to understand the author's intended message to the audience. They could then translate those understandings into their written work. Specifically, the exit slip strategy was implemented to help develop students' summarization and paraphrasing skills. Teacher feedback was also integrated onto the learning process to help reinforce and refine the skill development process. The findings …

Using Movement And Kinesthetic Learning To Teach Academics In A Fourth Grade Classroom, Elise Fulginiti

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to determine what happens when movement and kinesthetic learning are implemented academically in a fourth-grade regular education classroom. Kinesthetics were used to help teach a social studies unit on Europeans in New Jersey and were later infused into the classroom curriculum. Qualitative inquiry strategies such as video-taped lessons, student written feedback, individual interviews, and observations written in my own teacher research journal were used to collect data. Sorting and categorizing data within and between data sources revealed that the kinesthetic learning lead to increased understanding of the topics being studied, heightened student engagement, …

Infusing Music In An Academic Curriculum, Katelyn E. Frevert

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this teacher research was to examine the effects of music on student comprehension, cooperative learning and the surrounding learning community. This study was conducted within a third grade inclusion classroom. The students were exposed to educational songs in mathematics, writing and science. The students were also provided with the opportunity to create their own songs about matter and showcase them through their production of music videos. Data for this study was collected through video recordings, student interviews, teacher interviews, and teacher/researcher observations and journal. This study demonstrated that music has a positive effect on the learning environment …

Encouraging Criticality Through Academic Reading, Fariha Hayat

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The paper focus on the findings of one of the research questions of a larger research study. It explores the affordance of academic reading to invoke ‘criticality’ (Cope, 2002; Burns and Hood, 1998 and Brown 1999) amongst postgraduate students within traditional university classrooms. Anchored in a research study that roots itself in the broad area of English for Academic Purposes (or EAP), it probes into the process of reading and responding to academic texts written in English. With a qualitative orientation, the study uses a case study design to gather empirical evidence through the introspective method of ‘stimulated think alouds’ …

Educational Leaders Perceptions Of Emotional Intelligence And How It Effects Their Professional Practice, Yaffa Krugliak Lahat

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Researchers argue that Emotional Intelligence (EI) plays a key role in effective and successful leadership (Goleman et al., 2004; Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005; Chan, 2007). Although other researchers claimed that these assertions lean "little empirical support" (Ciarrochi, Deane & Anderson, 2002), Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2004) assert that EI is essential for leadership because leaders work through emotions and their primal job is emotional. With most of this research done in the business world, this study focuses on the role of EI in educational leadership. The purposes of this study are to explore and to construct new knowledge regarding educational …

“The Negro Speaks Of Rivers” An African Centered Historical Study Of The Selfethnic Liberatory Education Nature And Goals Of The Poetry Of Langston Hughes: The Impact On Adult Education, Sarah E. Howard

Dissertations

The purposes of this historical study were to 1) document the Selfethnic Liberatory adult education nature and goals of the poetry of Langston Hughes (from 1921 to 1933); and 2) to document the impact this poetry had on members of the African Diaspora. In addition, the goal of this research was to expand the historical knowledge base of the adult education field, so that it is more inclusive of the contributions of African Americans.

This study addressed the problem that the historical and philosophical literature of the field does not to any significant degree include the intellectual and adult education …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, Mamie Peers

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Exploring Writing Of English Language Learners In Middle School: A Mixed Methods Study, Robin L. Danzak

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

The study's purpose was to assess, through mixed methods, written linguistic features of 20 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in middle school. Students came from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Participants wrote two expository and two narrative formal texts, each in Spanish and English, for a total of eight writing samples each. Additionally, students developed 10 journal entries in their language of choice, and 6 randomly selected, focal participants were interviewed for the qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis involved scoring formal texts at the lexical, syntactic, and discourse levels. Scores were analyzed using Friedman's 2-way ANOVA by ranks, …

Early Childhood Public School Teacher Licensure For The Fifty States And Washington, D.C.: An Inquiry To Ascertain Student Age Ranges For Public School Teacher Licensure May 2009, R. Caudle Jones, S. Martin, M. Crandall

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

There is a need for birth through kindergarten (B-K) public school licensure in the state of Arkansas. In Arkansas, licensure for teachers of young children is for pre-kindergarten through fourth grade (P-4). Teachers who receive P-4 licenses are often less prepared to work with children under age six than with older children. A more appropriate license would be a B-K license. A teacher with B-K licensure would be prepared to meet the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive needs of young children. This document is an inquiry to ascertain student age ranges for public school teacher licensure in the fifty states …

Blended-Art At The Kindergarten Level, Jessica E. Sill

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

A foundational research assumption for this project is that the combination of open-ended-art and structured-art will enhance the development of the kindergartener. In today's standards driven classroom environment, art is often overlooked in place of text based curriculum. The idea of this project is to blend two approaches to teaching art and intertwine this approach into the rigorous daily curriculum. The deficits in each approach will be covered by the other, thereby providing opportunity for all students to reap the benefits. The purpose of this endeavor is to determine the positive and negative effects of blended-art, a combination of open-ended-art …

Creating A Culture Of Inquiry: Student Teachers' Stories From The World Of The Glass Box, Judith J. Ruskamp

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

CREATING A CULTURE OF INQUIRY: STUDENT TEACHERS’ STORIES FROM THE WORLD OF THE GLASS BOX Judith J. Ruskamp University of Nebraska, 2009 Advisor: Margaret Macintyre Latta This study explores critical reflective practice as a way to study and systematically improve teaching and learning, instilling in teacher candidates a culture of inquiry where they purposefully negotiate the complexities of teaching and learning experiences. Understanding the work of teaching as such, entailing ongoing analysis of the challenges and opportunities teachers face in their classrooms and schools, requires time and space for a deliberate approach to this complex work. The task for teacher …

Media Forms In Use [7th Grade], Salena Gonzales

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

Advanced Contemporary Literacy is a new course at NEISD where each grade level's curriculum is designed around a different focus for the year to meet the needs of students who require or desire a challenge and change of pace from the traditional reading class. In seventh grade, the focus is Media Literacy, the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms-from print to video to the Internet. Media Literacy is essential to today's adolescents because, according the the Center for Media Literacy, it "builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well …

Teaching Cultural Sensitivity To Pediatric Residents, Ralitsa Akins

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Teaching cultural sensitivity to healthcare professionals is critical in providing appropriate care to diverse patient populations. Constantly increasing U.S. immigrant population and growing numbers of international medical graduates practicing in the U.S. bring the issue of appropriate cross-cultural training to the forefront of addressing health disparities. Cultural competence training of healthcare professionals and provision of culturally sensitive patient care is the responsibility of healthcare leadership.1 Acquiring awareness and knowledge about cultural differences requires focused development of skills to communicate with patients from diverse cultures; this is a process developed through professional training and experience.2 Few professional continuous education programs have …

A Questionnaire For Incoming High School Ell Students To Better Assist Them In Entering The American Educational System, Narine Balayan

All Graduate Projects

This project is designed to help teachers get a better understanding of the incoming ELL students' backgrounds to better assist these students in the education process and make the transition from their native educational system to the American educational system smoother. Teachers must be aware of ELL students' family situations, lives outside the school, diverse background knowledge and how these things affect reading and writing comprehension, and be able to choose the most appropriate assessment and instruction.

Google Earth: Cool Toy Or Cool Tool?, R Philip Reynolds

Librarian and Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

Enumclaw School District Summer Reading Program, Lea Kai Tiger

All Graduate Projects

The aim of this project is to improve the elementary summer school program currently offered by the Enumclaw School District by developing a reading program to be used by the summer school instructors. Instruction outside of the school day, characteristics of successful extracurricular programs, why reading needs to be the focus of the summer school program, and what to teach and how to teach reading were researched. Taking the information found after studying the aforementioned topics, a program to be used for the Enumclaw School District summer school was developed. The program consists of lessons, games, and strategies that can …

Differentiated Instruction In The Work Sample: A Study Of Preservice Teacher Practice, Amy Lynn Dee

Faculty Publications - College of Education

Successfully implementing the practice of inclusion by differentiating instruction is dependent upon both the skills and attitudes of general education teachers. New general education teachers who are entering the field are particularly vulnerable to the demands and stress of the profession, and exemplary preservice teacher education programs must prepare pre service teachers to meet the needs of all students by giving them the skills to make appropriate lesson adaptations, accommodations and modifications. This study investigates the manifestation of differentiation for special education students in work sample lesson plans written by preservice teachers working toward an elementary school credential. The research …

Teachers’ Workplace Learning Within School Cultures Community In The United States And Lithuania, Elena Jurasaite-O'Keefe

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to explore teachers’ workplace informal professional learning and inform educational researchers, teacher educators, administrators and teachers about ways teachers learn to improve their practice. By questioning how teachers learn on-the-job to be better teachers and how school cultures position them as learners, this work generates hypotheses about relationships between the nature of workplace informal professional learning and its content and contexts. An ethnographic design based upon a grounded theory generates analytic categories from interviews and field notes through comparison of learning environments in three contrasting schools in two countries—Lithuania and the United States. Discourse …

Practice Writing: Responding To The Needs Of The Bench And Bar In First-Year Writing Programs, Amy Vorenberg, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

Do first year legal writing programs really prepare law students for the rigors of practice writing? This article begins to answer this question based on attorney and judge survey results, as well as interviews with judges who had also read student work in preparation for their interview. We found that while legal writing programs do provide a good foundation for legal writing skills, improvement can be made. Important changes that we have made at Pierce Law include shorter, more frequent assignments, variation/flexibility in choice of organizational paradigm, understanding the difference between settled and unsettled areas of law, and increased emphasis …

It Takes Discipline: Learning In A World Without Boundaries, Stephen Healey

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

As Plato suggested, pedagogy is inextricably related to the polis. The learner and teacher are constituted by social, political, and economic bounds, and yet the twenty-first century polis is increasingly a world without boundaries. This is a perilous and exciting time to teach and learn. As agents of terror have shown, political boundaries are uncomfortably permeable. Economically, culturally, and religiously, globalization has reduced the power of nation-states and threatened erasure of their boundaries. Isolated identities—nationalistic, religious, linguistic, sexual— are under siege. Nothing is immune from alteration by these large-scale forces. Plato’s insight is that the pressures and possibilities, which determine …

Catalogue 2009-2010, Bank Street College Of Education

Graduate School of Education

This course catalog from a past academic year is a resource for referring to previous course offerings, degree requirements, institutional policies, and more.

Effectiveness Of Teacher Preparation Programs As Perceived By First Year Teachers, Loren Harriet Brevik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High rates of teacher attrition, particularly among those within their first years of teaching, have prompted studies aimed at identifying issues and recommendations for analyzing and improving teacher preparation programs. This study used a mixed methodology to investigate effectiveness of teacher preparation programs as perceived by first year teachers. Preliminary focus groups were formed to promote conversation and identify perceived strengths and weaknesses of preparation programs. Feedback from the focus groups combined with topics from extant literature resulted in a survey instrument that was administered to novice teachers as they completed their preparation/certification programs and began their first year of …

Service Learning In Preservice Teacher Preparation: Building Foundations For Engaged Professionalism In The New Millenium, Amy Strage, Susan Gomez, Kari Knutson-Miller, Ana Garcia-Nevarez

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of General Education Of Doctoral Students Matriculating In An Educational Leadership Program In A Southern New England University, Martin Sivula Ph.D., Thomas D. Sepe, Ph.D.

Higher Education

Higher education usually reserves talk of “general education” to the undergraduate experience. When entering graduate schools, graduate students have dissimilar and diverse undergraduate experiences in general education. Some graduate students have benefit of a solidly constructed undergraduate curriculum, while others have experienced broad distribution or no requirements whatsoever. Demography, language, and their disciplinary curriculum serve to divide them. Interdisciplinary programs have students usually study within the confines of two or more disciplines, and still they would be studying and researching within their disciplinary structures. Even bi-lingual and multi-lingual students still act within their linguistic structures. Stimpson (2002) created a term …

Rules And Insights: Connecting The Mathematical And Linguistic Abilities Of C.S. Lewis, Kim Regnier Jongerius

ACMS Journal 2008-2009

While most biographical works on C.S. Lewis give passing reference to Lewis' problems with elementary mathematics, few have made an attempt at diagnosing the difficulty or exploring its impact on his writing. A careful study of family correspondence, however, makes it clear that his learning difficulties were not with mathematics alone and suggests connections between attitudes toward and abilities in both mathematics and language. This paper will make these connections clear and will illustrate their ties to Lewis' effective mathematical references.