Digital Commons Network^™

Curation As Methodology, Lindsay Persohn

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

The term curation was once only utilized by museum professionals. Currently, the term seems to have been borrowed by aesthetically-minded persons looking to collect ideas or objects. Through a detailed account of one curatorial process, this article aims to convey the richness of context, the depth of connection, and the promotion of new ideas classically associated with curation. Drawing on these methods, the author begins to develop an outline of curation as a transferrable methodology, useful for exploration of aesthetic works as they related to sociocultural histories. As an exemplar collection of artworks, illustrations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in …

Education Reforms For Inclusion? Interrogating Policy-Practice Disjunctions In Early Childhood Education In Bulgaria, Veselina Lambrev, Anna Kirova, Larry Prochner

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This article examines how early childhood educators, as policy implementers, perceive reforms in Bulgaria’s education system that occurred between 2008 and 2018. Both Roma and non-Roma educators participated in this project that compares perceptions of Bulgarian teachers in public schools and Roma educators in informal educational settings operated by NGOs and religious institutions. Applying intersectionality as a framework, the study draws from anti-Romaism as a particular form of racism that militates against the inclusion of Roma to examine whether and to what extent discourses of minoritized and racialised children are evident in the views held by the Bulgarian educators, resulting, …

Fostering Preservice And In-Service Ela Teachers’ Digital Practices For Addressing Climate Change, Richard Beach, George Boggs, Jill Castek, James Damico, Alexandra Panos, Renee Spellman, Nance Wilson

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This report presents research on preservice (PST) and in-service teachers acquiring digital practices for addressing climate change related to knowing how to employ digital practices for studying visual representations of climate change and engaging students in critiquing online information about climate change. Study 1 examined PSTs understanding of climate change through participation in visiting a laboratory involving scientific study of ecological systems to interact with scientists, collect digital artifacts, and create a virtual field trip using these artifacts for instructional purposes. Study 2 involved PSTs and in-service teachers responding critically to the NASA Climate Change website, identifying digital literacies their …

Research With Children: Context, Power, And Representation, Danielle Lane, Jolyn Blank, Phyllis Jones

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

In this article, we examine methodological issues qualitative researchers encounter when they engage in research with children. Within this view, qualitative research is employed with children but not on children and focus is placed upon children’s voices, agency, and the ways they participate with researchers in the research process (Einarsdóttir, 2007). Our discussion draws upon a study we conducted with four- and fiveyear-old children on the preschool playground. We reflect upon methodological issues pertaining to researching with children; issues of context, power, and representation.

Emergence And Development Of A Dialogic Whole-Class Discussion Genre, Michael B. Sherry

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Prior research across disciplines has established the value of dialogic, whole-class discussions. Previous studies have often defined discussions in opposition to the notorious triadic pattern called recitation, or IRE/F, focusing on variations to the teacher’s initiating question or evaluative follow-up on students’ responses. Recent scholarship has also identified variations on recitations and dialogic discussions that suggest these categories might be flexible, containing types of interaction associated with particular contexts. However, research remains to be done on how such types, or genres, of dialogic, whole-class discussion emerge and develop over time. In this article, I take up this line of inquiry, …

Common Visual Representations As A Source For Misconceptions Of Preservice Teachers In A Geometry Connection Course, Mile Krajcevski, Ruthmae Sears

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

In this paper, we demonstrate how atypical visual representations of a triangle, square or a parallelogram may hinder students’ understanding of a median and altitude. We analyze responses and reasoning given by 16 preservice middle school teachers in a Geometry Connection class. Particularly, the data were garnered from three specific questions posed on a cumulative final exam, which focused on computing and comparing areas of parallelograms, and triangles represented by atypical images. We use the notions of concept image and concept definition as our theoretical framework for an analysis of the students’ responses. Our findings have implication on how typical …

Teaching Climate Change Science To High School Students Using Computer Games In An Intermedia Narrative, Glenn G. Smith, Metin Besalti, Molly Nation, Allan Feldman, Katie Laux

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

We explored how computer games developed as part of an innovative set of climate change education materials helped students learn and gain interest in global climate change (GCC) science by making it personally relevant and understandable. This research was conducted in a public school district in the southeastern United States. The curriculum, Climate Change Narrative Game Education (CHANGE), used a local, place-based approach using scientific data gathered from the Gulf of Mexico coast and incorporated (a) computer games, (b) a scientifically web-based science fiction novel about future Gulf coast residents, and (c) hands-on laboratory activities. This paper focuses on how …

Linguistic Landscapes And The Navigation Of New Cities: A Phenomenological Self-Study Of What Jim King Taught Me, Lindsay Persohn

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Landry and Bourhis are credited with coining the term linguistic landscapes, which they defined as “the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings [combined] to form the linguistic landscape”. Based on a broad study of linguistics through a college course with Jim King and a shared love of travel, I took a phenomenological approach to this self-study as I explored the linguistic landscapes of three unfamiliar countries. I analyzed the photographic data I collected to understand what information I gained from the signs and how I …

Extra: A Festschrift In Honor Of James R. King, Lindsay Persohn, Aimee Frier

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Middle School Organizational Structures In The United States And Australia, Cheryl Ellerbrock, Katherine Main, Kristina N. Falbe, Dana Pomykal Franz

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

The middle school concept, aimed at creating a more developmentally responsive learning environment for young adolescents, gained a stronghold in the later part of the 20th century. Proponents of this concept have argued continually for the holistic implementation of its six key characteristics if its benefits are to be realized. These characteristics include: (a) a challenging, integrative, and exploratory curriculum; (b) varied teaching and learning approaches; (c) assessment and evaluation that promote learning; (d) flexible organizational structures (i.e., including the physical space, scheduling, and grouping of students and teachers); (e) programs and policies that foster health, wellness and safety; and …

The Implications Of A Pacing Guide On The Development Of Students Ability To Prove In Geometry, Ruthmae Sears

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of a departmental decision to use the same pacing guide on the planning and enactment of proof tasks of the district-adopted textbook (Prentice HallGeometry). Quantitative data were collected from a textbook analysis and the tasks students were assigned, and the qualitative data were collected from classroom observations, teachers’ artifacts and interviews. The results indicate that teachers adhere to their departmental pacing guide by assigning the same tasks, however, there existed variation in the enacted lessons. Additionally, the results suggest the proof tasks assigned in the pacing guide generally required little cognitive rigor. This study has …

Impact Of An Active Educational Video Game On Children's Motivation, Science Knowledge, And Physical Activity, Haichun Sun, Yong Gao

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Background: Active educational video games (AVGs) appear to have a positive effect on elementary school students' motivation leading to enhanced learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of an AVG on elementary school students' science knowledge learning, physical activity (PA) level, and interest-based motivation.

Methods: In this randomized controlled study, 53 elementary school students were assigned to an experimental condition or a comparison condition. The experimental condition provided an AVG learning environment, whereas the comparison condition was based on sedentary educational video games.

Results: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the …

Educing Education Majors’ Reflections About After - School Literacy Tutoring: A Poetic Exploration, Janet C. Richards

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Contemplating one's teaching has long been an essential part of teacher education. Accordingly, as an instructor of a literacy methods course with a tutoring component, I asked education majors in the class to send me weekly e-mail reflections about their teaching experiences. However, they had difficulty considering their lessons. I knew poetry stimulated introspections. Therefore, hoping to evoke the education majors' reflexivity, I requested they create two poems (middle and end of the semester) that portrayed their perceptions and dilemmas related to their teaching practices and lessons. Using constant comparative analysis, I explored the education majors' lyrical forms. Writing in …

Function Concept: Learning From History, Ruthmae Sears, Dung Tran, Seoung Woo Lee, Amanda Thomas

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessment In Mathematics Education: Large-Scale Assessment And Classroom Assessment, Christine Suurtamm, Denisse R. Thompson, Rae Y. Kim, Leonora D. Moreno, Nathalie Sayac, Edward Silver, Stefan Ufer, Pauline Vos

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This volume draws on research to discuss these topics and highlights some of the differences in terms of challenges, issues, constraints, and affordances that accompany large-scale and classroom assessment in mathematics education as well as some of the commonalities.

Integrating Diversity Training Into Doctoral Programs In Mathematics Education, Ruthmae Sears, Tonisha B. Lane

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring Time-Lapse Photography As A Means For Qualitative Data Collection, Lindsay Persohn

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Collecting information via time-lapse photography is nothing new. Scientists and artists have been using this kind of data since the late 1800s. However, my research and experiments with time-lapse have shown that great potential may lie in its application to educational and social scientific research methods. This article is part history, part research method, and part methodology. As I uncover the science and art of time-lapse and sort through theory and practice from a number of fields, I share these findings, collect my own time-lapse data, and pose new queries into the use of time-lapse data collection for qualitative and …

English Education 2.0: An Analysis Of Websites That Contain Videos Of English Teaching, Michael Sherry, Robert Tremmel

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

In this article, we address how websites intended for ELA teachers encourage user participation and what kinds of English education these sites promote or exclude. We selected sites based on assumptions drawn from interactional sociolinguistics as well as additional criteria that developed during our search. Our analysis focuseson the George Lucas Foundation’s Edutopia.org as a central example, as well as five other sites with various similar features. Together, these sites promote a progressive, situated, project-based vision of English teaching, and they may serve as both venues and models for how English teacher educators who share that vision can reach a …

Studying The Strawberry Farm: Investigation And Representation In A Standards-Based Kindergarten, Charlene Wheeler, Jolyn Blank

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This article documents a first project undertaken by kindergarten children and their teacher in a public school in the southeastern United States. Images, work samples, records of children’s comments, and the teacher’s description tell the story of the project as it unfolds. The authors provide interpretation of the project events documented in terms of situating the Project Approach in a standards-based school context.

Counseling Gifted Students: A Web-Based Course, Grandon Gill, Elizabeth Shaunessy

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.