Digital Commons Network^™

Advice, Cautions, And Opportunities For The Teachers Of Binational Teachers: Learning From Teacher Training Experiences Of Georgia And Nebraska Teachers In Mexico, Edmund T. Hamann

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

With the rapid growth and geographic spread of Mexican-origin student populations in the United States, the practice of U.S. teachers going to Mexico for travel study/professional development has become increasingly common. This paper considers what U.S teachers’ Mexican travel study experiences entail by looking at narratives from Nebraska and Georgia educators who made summer trips to Mexico to learn about Mexican education.

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Images Of Inventors, Audrey C. Rule, E. L. Bisbo, V. Waloven

Open Educational Resources

Technology and invention are an integral part of the elementary school science curriculum, addressed by national standards. Student drawings of scientists have been studied extensively, but little is known of student mental conceptions and drawings of inventors. To uncover student’s images of inventors, ninety preservice elementary teachers at a mid-sized college in central New York State drew images of both inventors and scientists, which were analyzed and compared. Both sets of drawings portrayed white, mostly male figures. Scientists were shown wearing lab coats and working with fuming chemicals in a lab, while inventors more often wore casual clothing and were …

An Integrated Nutrition Unit For Half-Day Kindergarten, Erin Spencer

All Graduate Projects

The obesity rates among children in the United States have been rising rapidly over the past thirty years. Children are getting messages from the media to eat unhealthy foods. This epidemic is beginning to be addressed in schools. A nutrition curriculum was developed and implemented in a half day kindergarten program. Core academic subject were integrated using Washington State GLEs as a guide. Parent involvement was a component to strengthen student's understanding of cultural diversity as it pertained to food.

Support Systems, Isolation, And Intended Persistence In Doctoral Education, Casey Nicole Cockrell

Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of formal academic support systems and stage of doctoral study on persistence, satisfaction, and knowledge of resources, expectations, and customs in doctoral education. Part-time and full-time doctoral students (N=141) enrolled in four public institutions in a southeastern state during the spring and summer semesters of 2007 were surveyed.

An online questionnaire, adapted from the 1999 Survey on Doctoral Education (Golde & Dore, 2001), was used to survey participants. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were performed to define the variables. A MANOVA was performed to determine if any differences existed between formal academic support system …

Identification Of Key Counseling Skills For Highly Effective School Administrators, Tonya Christman Balch

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative research study looked at the predictability oflndiana's Public Law 221 Status for the 2005 and 2006 academic years. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, to determine if elementary administrators' key counseling skills and select demographics can predict Public Law 221 (PL 221) status in their respective schools; secondly, to develop a valid and reliable survey supported by strong psychometric properties that identifies key counseling. iii Quantitative analyses factored key counseling skills and tested the predictive nature of those skills as well as select demographic items (school locale, administrator gender and ethnicity, building-level administrator pre-service training institution, …

Early Childhood Teachers' Sustainment In The Classroom., Pam Kilgallon, Carmel Maloney, Graeme Lock

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper describes an investigation of Australian early childhood teachers’ sustainment in their profession, focussing on those factors which enhance professional commitment, job satisfaction and occupational motivation. Utilizing qualitative methodology this study also identified key factors early childhood teachers consider crucial to sustaining engagement in teaching, while coping with the daily demands of their work and the implementation of mandated educational change. In particular, this study found early childhood teachers’ students, work colleagues, educational setting and attitudes, beliefs and pedagogical practice contributed to their sustainment, as did their ability to maintain personal well-being and a life-work balance.

The Art Of Loving In The Classroom : A Defence Of Affective Pedagogy., Allan Patience

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This essay proposes a defence of a form of teaching eroded by what Sennet (2006) calls ‘the culture of the new capitalism’. The term coined for the form under consideration here is ‘affective pedagogy.’ Affective pedagogy is evident in teachers who: • value a discipline (or disciplines) and their associated practices; • value imparting them to students; • challenge students’ learning achievements while respecting their developing intellects; • assess students’ academic progress transparently and constructively; • encourage students to move beyond their knowledge comfort zones; and • engage students in ‘dramatic friendship’ .

Using A Balanced Reading And Spelling Approach To Enhance The “Spell To Write To Read” Program For Preschool To Fifth Grade, Dawn A. Heer

All Graduate Projects

Reading is the foundation of much that society aspires to, even now in the age of technology. The teacher plays a key role in facilitating the learning of reading in an elementary school. By using a balanced reading approach through the use of spelling, phonics, writing and language, teachers will be able to apply user-friendly principles of reading with the curriculum, Spell to Write to Read. A handbook will be used to present this information during a workshop for teachers and para-professionals of preschool to fifth grade students.

The Effects Of Strategic Modeling On The Development Of Dispositions In Preservice Teachers, Janet Susan Boyce

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the professional dispositions of preservice teachers could be developed through explicit instruction during a teacher education program. The use of the Strategic Modeling Protocol (SMP) consisted often weeks of short segmented intervention prior to the beginning of each class session. The first step of SMP focused on discussions of dispositional related topics. The participants, 45 preservice teachers in their second semester of a teacher education program, also practiced applying the principles outside the classroom, which served as the second step of SMP, and prepared reflections on their experiences as the third …

Quality Teaching & Professional Learning : Uncritical Reflections Of A Critical Friend, Tony Yeigh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper discusses how the acquisition, development and exercise of knowledge and skills in relation to quality teaching (QT) practices have impacted upon professional learning within a number of QT inquiry projects. The emphasis is upon how the major challenges and limitations of professional learning have occurred within the social context of collaborative inquiry, and how these challenges and limitations helped shape the professional learning. The paper offers an interpretation of the methodologies and evaluative aspects of teacher professional learning as these have interacted with QT. From this perspective a metacognitive model of professional learning is proposed, aimed at linking …

Koinonia, Rick Zomer, David Johnstone, Tim Elmore, Gene C. Fant Jr., Edee Schulze, Connie Sjoberg, Mike Broberg, David A. Kennedy, Nicole Hoefle, Michael Santarosa, Stephanie Santarosa, Jason M. Morris, Heidi Johnston

Koinonia

Spotlight Features
Has Facebook Jumped the Shark?, Rick Zomer

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Virtual Community, David Johnstone

Screenagers: How Technology is Changing the Way we Interact with Students, Tim Elmore

'In Loco Parentis' Revisited, Gene C. Fant Jr.

ACSD News: From Location to Interest: ACSD Considers Move from Regional to Collaboratives Model, Edee Schulze, Connie Sjoberg, Mike Broberg, David A. Kennedy, Nicole Hoefle

Thinking Theologically
Keeping Faith: Serving Students or the Kingdom, Michael and Stephanie Santarosa

Book Reviews
Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education, reviewed by Jason M. Morris

My Freshman Year, Heidi Johnston

Features …

The Learning Profiles Of Hostos Community College Students, Christine Mangino

Touchstone

One hundred sixty-six students took the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) and were included in the analyses of learning styles preferences. The following is a description of the Dunn and Dunn Model and our students’ learning styles.

An Investigation Of New Faculty Orientation And Support Among Mid-Sized Colleges And Universities, Robin Lindbeck, David Darnell

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Colleges and universities are encountering an interesting conundrum in today’s fast-paced and aging culture. Faculty demographics are changing radically as the professorate ages and “the first 77 million baby boomers turn 60 next January.” (Friedman and Moen 2005). The impact of this demographic shift was described by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (2000), when they projected that by 2010, more than 30,000 full-time and part-time faculty will be replaced. In addition, the authors of the study projected the need for an additional 15,000 new hires to teach the roughly half million new students who will be entering higher …

What Our Students Need, Natala Orobello

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

I have been an educator for over twenty years; this is long enough to know what works in the school system and what does not work. I have mentored rookies and peers, and I have mentored students in and out of school (I was a mentor for Big Brother Big Sister). Today’s students need a lot more than reading, writing and arithmetic. They need educators who are willing to go the extra mile and by educators I mean all those who purport to be working for our students like politicians, school board members, administrators, teachers, staff and anyone else who …

A Study Of Relationship Between Consequences Of Leadership And Transformational Leadership Style Of The Presidents Of Iranian Universities And Institutions Of Higher Education, Nasrin Noorshahi

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

All through history, leadership has been a part of human societies. When leadership is considered as a function, it is an important dimension of management whose presence and existence depends on several skills which can be taken as methods or styles of leadership and guidance on the part of a group of people in order to achieve a certain goal (Bennett and Anderson, 2003).

Is Safety A Concern For Women Runners?, Wayne Major

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Being fearful or concern for one’s safety is not normally associated with running. (Crawford, Jackson and Godbey 1991; Mannell and Kleiber 1997) have explored how fears and coping behavior affect leisure experience. In addition, research examining women’s perceptions of leisure have contributed insights into how women experience fear in leisure settings and how these fears affect their leisure experience (Henderson 1996; Henderson and Bialeschki 1993; Whyte and Shaw 1994). There has been research exploring the relationship between women, adventure activities and meaning (Little 2002), and, women, fear and solo hiking experience, (Coble, Selin and Erickson 2003). Despite this research, no …

Lynn Parker, Lynn Parker, Institute Of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

Oral History Project (all interviews)

Lynn Parker recently retired from Food Research and Action Center, FRAC, after thirty years of dedicated service to improving the nutrition of the nation’s children. She has now moved to the Institute of Medicine, where she is heading up a standing committee on childhood obesity prevention.

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, Mamie Peers, David Ashley, Diane Russell, Michelle Mouton, Grace Russell

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Teachers' Preferences On The Qualities And Roles Of A Mentor Teacher, Donetta Cothran, Nate Mccaughtry, Sara Renee Anderson Smigell, Alex Garn, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Jeffrey J. Martin, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

Research Note: From the preface: "The purpose of this investigation was to address the gap in professional development literature related to mentoring, specifically as it applies to nontraditional cases, beyond new teacher induction. In particular, we examined teachers' preferences on mentoring characteristics and practices to determine whether nontraditional mentoring (owing to grade level changes, subject area changes, and newly adopted school district curricula) would be consistent with or contradict models of mentoring based primarily on the induction of new teachers. This report is part of a larger investigation that explored a curricular change initiative in a large urban school district …

Examining 4-H Robotics In The Learning Of Science, Engineering And Technology Topics And The Related Student Attitudes, Bradley S. Barker, Gwen Nugent, Neal Grandgenett, Amy Hampton

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Youths’ natural fascination and identification with robots make them an ideal teaching and learning platform. Robots would seem to be excellent hands-on tools to teach science, engineering and technology (SET) concepts. However, while research supports their use to increase interest and motivation, the effectiveness of robots to directly teach science, engineering, and technology concepts is less clear. The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a 4-H robotics program to support the learning of specific SET concepts and to examine related student attitudes towards science. This study compared the pretest and posttest scores on an assessment of …

Working With Beginning Teachers: What Effective Strategies Do Principals Use?, Binbin Jiang, Tak Cheung Chan

Faculty Articles

The purpose of this study was to examine principals’ perception on what beginning teachers can do to ensure success in schools and what principals can do to assist them. Principals claimed that they assisted beginning teachers in mentoring, supervision, and performance evaluation. They advised beginning teachers for successful practices in effective teaching strategies, working with diverse learners, interacting with parents and guardians, handling disciplinary issues, confidentiality of student information, and continuing professional development.

All “Homework” And No Play…, Shamsah Raheem Dhanani

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Entering The Virtual Teacher’S Lounge: The Efficacy Of Community In Computer-Mediated Communication Based Environments For Professional Educators, Randall S. Dunn

Faculty Dissertations

This study seeks to illuminate an understanding of naturally forming online communities of professional educators in the context of off-line communities. Essentially, an online discussion forum for educators is evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the forum provides a “space” conducive for the development of a community of professional educators as benchmarked against an understanding of offline community formation and existence. The foundational works of Ferdinand Tonnies, James Coleman, and Ray Oldenburg are used to develop 13 characteristics of community - as understood in the context of informal social communities as opposed to the types related to more formal …

Successful Schooling For Ells: Principles For Building Responsive Learning Environments, Maria Coady, Edmund T. Hamann, Margaret Harrington, Samboen Pho, Jane Yedlin

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

Guiding Questions

• What are the goals of schooling in general and for ELLS in particular?
• What roles do language and culture play in teaching, in learning, and in the assessment of learning?
• How do we measure the successfulness of schooling for ELLs?
• What factors besides the quality of classroom instruction impact the education of ELLs? How?
• In addition to research-based, age-appropriate literacy instruction, what more do ELLS need in order to develop good literacy skills?
• What is the importance of parental and community involvement in the education of ELLs?

While measurable academic gains in …

Effects Of Peer Praise Notes On Socially Withdrawn Adolescents: A Classroom Intervention, Julie Nelson, Natalie Webb, Paul Caldarella

Faculty Publications

Socially Withdrawn Students: Students find interactions with withdrawn students to be aversive or less rewarding than interactions with other students (Stormshak, et al., 1999).; Many students avoid interactions with students who have behavioral or emotional disorders (McDowell, 1988; Myerson & Hale, 1984); Students who are socially withdrawn or isolated have difficulty learning appropriate social conduct which places them at risk for difficulties later in life (Oden, 1980; Patterson, Reid, & Dishion,1992); Children who are avoided, neglected, or teased are at high risk for developing behavioral and emotional disorders (Gresham, Macmillan, & Bocian, 1998).

Validation Of The Ssbd In Secondary Schools: Student And Parent Correlates, Michael Richardson, Paul Caldarella, Ben Young, Ellie L. Young

Faculty Publications

Why Screen for Behavior Problems? Screening allows for prevention and early intervention efforts, which reduce the need for more intensive services. One of the most difficult challenges teachers and administrators face is behavior and emotional problems in students.

Educational Professionals’ Knowledge And Acceptance Of Evolution, Louis S. Nadelson, Gale M. Sinatra

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study sought to determine if we could identify a cadre of educational professionals with sufficient knowledge and acceptance of biological evolution to objectively evaluate the merits of the emerging discipline of evolutionary educational psychology. Members of APA and AERA were recruited to complete surveys measuring demographic characteristics, evolution knowledge (specifically natural selection), and evolution acceptance. We tested a model representing propensity toward open-minded examination of the merits of evolutionary educational psychology. Results showed evolution knowledge and acceptance, personal beliefs, academic and research experience, were key indicators of willingness to engage in objective evaluation of this new discipline. …

Motivating Students: Identifying And Motivating Reluctant Learners To Reach Their Academic Potential, Kim Yeager

All Graduate Projects

Motivation plays an important role in determining how well a child will perform in school (Philips & Lindsay, 2006). Regardless of how intelligent or capable a student may be if the student is not motivated to do well then their academic performance will be less than it could have been with some motivation. Teachers need to understand why some students are motivated to try hard in school and why some students are not. This understanding will lead teachers to understand why their students are not reaching their academic potential. The purpose of this project was to design a guide that …

Staff Perceptions Of Structure, Process, And School Readiness Outcomes In Private South Florida Child Care Centers, Deborah Mazzeo

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The quality of child care centers and school readiness outcomes continue to be important topics in the State of Florida since policymakers, school districts, and child care centers, in August 2005, began to implement the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program. The problem area of child care is whether various characteristics of child care center programs result in different outcomes for children's development.

Qualities of child care centers can be attributed to structure and process variables. A theoretical framework that is grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory is discussed. The structure-process-outcome model of quality and Spady's outcome-based education model were combined to explain the …

Character Traits In Newbery Award Literature 1997-2007, Julie Beth Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the character example elements in the Newbery Award winning books from 1997-2007. Content analysis was used to identify the pertinent character traits identified by the researcher using the acronym C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R. These example elements include: (a) caring/compassionate, (b) helpfulness, (c) acceptance, (d) respect, (e) ambition, (f) citizenship, (g) trustworthiness, (h) encouragement, and (i) responsibility. Using a coding system developed for this study, four readers read and discussed the books to attempt consensus as to the character traits identified. The researcher sought answers to the following questions: (a) Do the Newbery Award winning books …