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Constructivist Education : Exploring The Constructivist Theory And No Child Left Behind To Develop An Effective Kindergarten Program, Leigh M. Siegert

Graduate Research Papers

This paper is a literature review of Constructivist Education Theories and how they can be incorporated into a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) classroom. The focal point of this paper will be the theories of Constructivist Education. In addition, will be discussed, the benefits of and problems concerning Constructivist Education. Also, guidelines for incorporating Constructivist Education into a NCLB classroom will be established. The conclusion of this paper will share which theories work and which do not. Also, recommendations for additional research are included.

Critical Elements For Leading Secondary Schools, Darci J. Wagner

Graduate Research Papers

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "living and learning must go hand in hand." I cannot remember a time in my life when this was not true. As a child, school was always a positive experience for me. I loved the challenge of mastering new skills. As I progressed through high school and college, I had the opportunity to develop my thinking and reasoning skills through challenging courses taught by master teachers. These teachers served as role models for me, displaying dedication and passion for their subject matter as well as their students.

Reaching Older Less Proficient Readers With Books Suggested In A Standard Bibliography, Sandra E. Antons

Graduate Research Papers

With emphasis on improving reading scores from No Child Left Behind legislation to local district and local building goals, is there a bibliographic source of titles to help engage less proficient readers?

The purpose of this study was to determine if the school library media specialist can rely upon a bibliographic source of books for beginning readers to make appropriate suggestions of titles to read by less proficient third grade readers at Strawberry Hill Elementary School, Anamosa Community School District, Anamosa, Iowa.

This study was conducted as an ethnographic study. Ten students were selected to participate if: they scored at …

How Jesse Cosby Relates To The History Of Leisure And Youth Services In Black Hawk County, Jesse Clinton Henderson

Graduate Research Papers

Today Black Hawk County seems to have a number of growing problems in the African American community high crime, alcohol and drug abuse, violence , high school drop-outs, teen pregnancies, and civil unrest. Much of this seems to be attributed to a lack of participation in positive leisure, recreation, and youth activities in the African American Community.

There has always been a problem in the African American community when it comes to participation in leisure and recreational activities. Jesse Cosby recognized this problem and tried to encourage many African American youth to participate in square dancing, tennis, golf, baseball, ice …

Effects Of External Rewards On Elementary Students' Motivation To Read Independently, Benjamin David Olsen

Graduate Research Papers

In an age of increased accountability, even down to how well, and how much, students read independently, teachers are looking for ways to motivate students to read. One popular way schools and teachers have looked to increase motivation is with reading incentive programs. Despite this widespread enthusiasm for such programs there has not been solid, replicable research that has supported the continued use of incentive programs to increase students' future motivation to read. This study examined how a reading incentive program affected students' motivation and attitudes toward reading and the time they spent reading. Research was guided by the following …

Suggested Core Materials For Early Childhood Programs, Erin Feingold

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this project was to examine current available resources related to emergent literacy in order to create a core list of literature for early childhood center libraries. "Research suggests that the foundation for academic success is laid well before a child enters the public schools" (Smith, Fairchild, and Groginsky, 1997, p. ix). The researcher described past and present Federal initiatives that support these efforts. Current curriculum guidelines and recommendations from national organizations for early childhood learning centers were examined to determine what resources were needed to provide a framework for learning. Studies examined emphasized that exposing children to …

A Brief Study Of Real-Valued Continuous Functions On Various Spaces, Dusty Ross

Honors Program Theses

The intent of this study is to find sufficient criteria on a space X in order to bound the cardinality of the real-valued continuous functions on X by 2w. The desired result is known for X separable and for X first-countable, Hausdorff, and either Lindelof or ccc, but these are all very strong properties on a space. It is the goal of this study to find properties that are weaker, yet sufficient in bounding .the number of real-valued continuous functions on a space by the size of the continuum.

Revision Of The Carlisle Elementary Preschool Standards Based On The Iowa Early Learning Standards, Marne M. Sievers

Graduate Research Papers

This paper describes the process of evaluating current standards and benchmarks for the Carlisle Elementary Preschool, revising them using the Iowa Early Learning Standards, which were completed in May 2005, revising a teacher-created assessment tool and progress report, and investigating the curriculum that is used and how it aligns with the newly created standards and benchmarks. Standards and benchmarks have been a focus in the educational field due to the implementation of the Federal "No Child Left Behind" Act.

Many standards and benchmarks have been created for kindergarten through twelfth grade but few programs have adopted standards and benchmarks prior …

The Importance Of Vocabulary In The Classroom, Sherri Neofotist

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this review of the literature focused on two primary areas: (a) to examine the research findings as they related to vocabulary acquisition and instruction and (b) to determine the importance of the research findings regarding students' reading comprehension.This study also sought to provide educators with information as to what a comprehensive program of vocabulary instruction consists of as well as research-based vocabulary teaching strategies to use in the classroom to help students recognize and know words and word meanings and to improve students' comprehension.

The review examines the following three questions: (a) What is the relationship between …

Cns Connections, Winter 2006-07, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Natural Sciences.

CNS Connections

Inside this issue:

-- Message from the Dean
-- Mini-robots duel in sumo competition
-- Earth Science offers B.S. in air quality
-- College News
-- Biology prof helps test method to reduce erosion
-- Title II grants fund CNS science education projects
-- Update from the Centers
-- Change of address for Computer Science
-- Carver grants strengthen CNS programs
-- Partnership for Goods starts at UNI
-- Faculty and Student Research Highlights
-- Ensuring a bright future for UNI
-- Alumni News
-- CNS Advisory Board

The Effects Of Divorce On Children And Interventions For All Members Of The Family Unit, Laurie Arieux

Honors Program Theses

ln 1989 more than 1 million children, on average, were affected by divorce in the United States and this number has risen to over 40% of the population under 18 in recent years (Amato & Keith, 1991 a). The assumption is that this number will continue to grow. When one considers that there are also parents who suffer from these stresses the number grows substantially into something worthy of much consideration. With so many people being affected by this growing trend the desire to understand the differences it has on families is growing. Divorce changes children in many ways including …

What Happened To Dad: A Portrayal Of Teenage Fathers In Young Adult Literature, Becky R. Schafer Andrews

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to see if authors of realistic fiction accurately portray the characteristics of teenage fathers. Abundant fictional novels on the topic of teenage pregnancy are in print; however, most seemed concerned with teen mothers and neglect teen fathers. How teen fathers react to being told about the conception to accepting responsibility for their actions was evaluated through a checklist. This research demonstrated that a realistic portrayal of teen fathers is absent from much young adult fiction. In sharing this research with others it is in hopes that more authors will give teen fathers a more …

Shhhhh! The Negative Effect Of Librarian Stereotypes On Junior High Students, Kerry Lust

Graduate Research Papers

Librarians are often portrayed negatively in media. The stereotypical spinster librarian with her hair in a bun and glasses on a chain around her neck has often been portrayed in books, television, and movies. Junior high students are great consumers of all types of media and have often been exposed to this stereotype. This study investigated four questions. What are the characteristics of the librarian stereotype? What are characteristics of junior high students that make them especially easy targets for media influence? Is there a set of characteristics which junior high students attribute to librarians? Can we say that media …

Student Attendance And Its Relationship To Student Achievement In An Earth Science Class, Gregory Lee Schafer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research studied the relationship between the attendance patterns of ninth grade high school students and achievement, in a required ninth grade Earth Science course as defined by course grades, in a medium sized Midwestern school district. Data was collected from a school district computerized system spanning a five year period from August of 2000 to June of 2005 and included 3667 data sets. The data consisted of course grades as indicated by A, B, C, D, and F and the number of days absent for each semester. The research question framing the study was, "Is there a statistically significant …

Relation Of Riparian Buffer Strips To In-Stream Habitat, Macroinvertebrates And Fish In A Small Iowa Stream, Jeremy P. Duehr, Michael J. Siepker, Clay L. Pierce, Thomas M. Isenhart

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Macroinvertebrate and fish habitat is often degraded as a result of agriculture. Riparian buffer strips are commonly used to counteract the negative effects of agriculture in headwater streams. We assessed the relation of multi-aged riparian buffer strips to in-stream habitat, macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in an Iowa stream. In-stream habitat, macroinvertebrates, and fish were sampled from two buffered sites and two unbuffered sites, with the greatest substrate, water depth, and velocity heterogeneity occurring in buffered sites. The highest macroinvertebrate richness (11) as well as fish species richness (14), diversity (1.99) and IBI score (3 7) were found in the site …

Research Plan And Preliminary Results - A Field Research Site For Emerging Contaminants In Iowa, Douglas J. Schnoebelen, Dana W. Kolpin, Larry B. Barber, Edward T. Furlong, Michael M. Meyer, Mary Skopec

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Research has recently documented the prevalence of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants (ECs) in streams across the United States. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been found to be an important source and collection point of ECs to streams as many ECs are incompletely removed during treatment. To investigate the complex instream processes (e.g., dilution, sorption, degradation, dispersion, etc.) chat can affect ECs following their input from a WWTP and determining if such input is having an effect on the aquatic ecosystem requires the integration of multi-disciplinary efforts at a carefully selected field site. Preliminary work has …

Cover - Table Of Contents

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

The Honey Creek Member: A New Holocene Alluvial Stratigraphic Unit In The Midwest, Jeremy S. Dillon, Rolfe D. Mandel

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

This paper describes the type locality and type section for the Honey Creek Member, a stratigraphic unit first recognized in the Honey Creek drainage in southeastern Nebraska. The alluvial chronology for Honey Creek basin is similar to the regional chronology of streams in the Midwest, and all of the formal members of the DeForest Formation occur in the basin. However, the lithology of one unit, the Honey Creek Member, does not correlate with any of the formally recognized members of the DeForest Formation. The Honey Creek Member is composed of grayish brown silt loam overbank facies coarsening downward to a …

Silicification Of Corals, Stromatoporids, And Brachiopods At The Weathered Surface Within The Devonian-Age Little Cedar Formation (Solon And Rapid Members) In Eastern Iowa, Adam L. Majeski, Paul L. Garvin

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Diagenesis of fossils contained in middle-Devonian limestones was studied at the Troy Mills and Robins quarries in Linn County, Iowa and at the Four County and Ernst quarries in Johnson County, Iowa. Fossils located at weathered bedrock surfaces were preferentially silicified, and the silicification affected corals, stromatoporids and, to a limited extent, brachiopods, but not other fossils or the host rock. The siliceous horizon extends no more than a few centimeters below the weathered surfaces, suggesting that silicification was constrained by them. Silica for silicification might have come from a variety of sources, including sponge spicules or radiolarian tests, insoluble …

Relation Of Riparian Buffer Strips To In-Stream Habitat, Macroinvertebrates And Fish In A Small Iowa Stream, Jeremy P. Duehr, Michael J. Siepker, Clay L. Pierce, Thomas M. Isenhart

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Macroinvertebrate and fish habitat is often degraded as a result of agriculture. Riparian buffer strips are commonly used to counteract the negative effects of agriculture in headwater streams. We assessed the relation of multi-aged riparian buffer strips to in-stream habitat, macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in an Iowa stream. In-stream habitat, macroinvertebrates, and fish were sampled from two buffered sites and two unbuffered sites, with the greatest substrate, water depth, and velocity heterogeneity occurring in buffered sites. The highest macroinvertebrate richness (11) as well as fish species richness (14), diversity (1.99) and IBI score (37) were found in the site buffered …

Annual Report Of The Registrar 2005/2006, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--- Definitions
--- Annual Report Data
--- Summary of Attendance
--- Attendance by Session
--- Full-time Equivalency Enrollment --Degrees Granted
--- Degree Summary
--- Program Certificates
--- Pupils in Price Laboratory School
--- Miscellaneous Enrollment Information
--- Degrees Granted by College, Degree Objective, and Racial/Ethnic Classification

Counting Coffee Combinations: An Example Of The Fundamental Principle Of Counting, David R. Duncan, Bonnie H. Litwiller

Faculty Work

Teachers in courses which involve probability and statistics are always looking for situations in which the Fundamental Principle of Counting (FPC) can be exemplified. We shall present an example involving a coffee vending machine at a highway rest stop.

Insurance: A Consumer's Perspective, Elizabeth Ann Nanke

Honors Program Theses

Life insurance is a pivotal part of the world in which we live, and yet most consumers think about it very little. Life insurance started with the Ancient Greeks and continued to develop in Europe, eventually reaching the United States. Throughout history, insurance companies have undergone a number of modifications to match changing consumer needs. ln our modem society, insurance can be best defined as an intermediary that reduces the financial drain caused by the death of an individual by apportioning this loss among a very large group. Today, insurance companies sell a number of diversified products, but most insurance …

Asbestos Litigation And Indemnification, Paul Grammens

Honors Program Theses

Asbestos started out as an amazing product. It was not only easy to manufacture and easy to work with but also fire resistant and a great insulator, asbestos became one of the most common manufacturing products in the United States, especially after World War I. What the public did not know about asbestos at the time is that long-term exposure could lead to sickness. Because of this unforeseen liability, industrial companies and insurance companies were not able to properly prepare for the losses due to asbestos.

Educating Students To Be Better Citizens: Effects Of Service-Learning Courses On Civic Attitudes And Engagement, Aubree Rae Johnson

Honors Program Theses

Why focus on democratic outcomes? According to Benson, Harkavy, and Hartley (2005), service learning can be defined as: "an active, creative [pedagogy] that integrates community service with academic study in order to enhance a student's capacity to think critically, solve problems practically, and function as a lifelong moral, democratic citizen in a democratic society" (p. 189). Given this definition of service-learning, it follows that "service learning should work to develop strategies and actions to help fulfill the democratic promise of America's colleges and universities in particular and the democratic promise of American society in general. We should, therefore, evaluate service-learning …

Testcase Tool, John Louis Van Hemert

Honors Program Theses

The title of my project is "TestCASE Tool." TestCASE Tool is the name, or label, I assigned to the software application that I created for this project. The application is a Tool for storing and reporting data in software testing projects. A Test Case consists of a planned action within a system, the expected result of that action and an assessment of whether the expected result occurred. The acronym, CASE, stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering, which is the software tool genre to which my application belongs.

Designing Healthy Spaces: Physical And Emotional Response To Color In Built Environments, Megan A. Smith

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence that color, as an environmental factor, reaches far beyond mere aesthetics, and has very real effects on human beings. Furthermore, based upon a literature review, I will provide a framework for healthcare designers to aid in their color and finish selection in order to be the most beneficial to the captive and non-ambulatory populations in healthcare settings.

Educational Ideas And The Future Of Our Society, Mallory Sue Smiens

Honors Program Theses

Thus, the study of children and educational theories provided a rationale for the present study. Further discussions led to the belief that the questions raised by the author would best be answered from a sociological perspective. Because sociology is often employed to study people and how they interact with one another, it provides a meaningful discipline to weigh the teacher preparation ideas and practices against in order to determine their wider consequences for individuals. Therefore, a study of basic sociology was undertaken.

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Taxes, And Food Stamps: Their Effects On Minimum Wage Workers By State, Aaron William Popp

Honors Program Theses

The federal government spends billions of dollars annually on programs to lift low income workers out of poverty, but the money is not necessarily efficiently spent. If the benefits provided by the government provide a work incentive, then to increase the income of a worker by $1 requires more than $1 in government funds. Some programs, however, do provide an incentive for people to work. Given the complexity of the federal bureaucracy, few people have tried to compute the income that minimum wage workers would expect to earn given a set of government benefits that they receive and a number …

Iowa Academy Of Science 118th Annual Meeting [2006]: Advance Program, Iowa Academy Of Science

Iowa Academy of Science Documents

Contains information about the schedule and presentations for the 2006 annual meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science.