Digital Commons Network^™

Adding It Up: The Effects Of Math Curriculum On Third And Fourth Grade Act Aspire Math Scores In Arkansas, Rebecca Cook

Theses and Dissertations from 2020

Over the last 62 years, mathematics reform has occurred due to a political push after results from a major survey or report were released stating that the United States scored lower than other countries. With each reform effort, teaching methods were changed to match the new initiative. Math curriculum was a key point in each of these reform efforts. In 2015, Arkansas adopted ACT Aspire as the statewide assessment, and in 2017 Arkansas adopted Arkansas State Standards. Although Arkansas adopted ACT Aspire and Arkansas State Standards, Arkansas does not require school districts to adopt a curriculum. The purpose of this …

Implementing Writing In Content Areas: Teachers’ Perceptions As Writing Instructors, Matthew Davis Shemwell

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers across content areas have a shared responsibility to incorporate writing instruction into the curriculum; however, analysis of needs assessment survey data collected during Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant application in 2014 revealed that the faculty of the participating high school did not embrace writing instruction responsibility. The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions, confidence, and use of writing instructional strategies throughout content areas at the conclusion of implementation of the five-year grant. The researcher conducted an explanatory sequential mixed methods design that utilized a survey, interviews, and lesson plan document analysis. The survey sample consisted of …

Research Into Practice: Exploring Teacher Practices With Young Gifted Learners, Andrea Lauren Heming

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research study investigates teacher practices with young gifted learners and provides recommendations to increase the effectiveness of the Primary Talent Pool through examination of the program as it is implemented in four Kentucky school districts. Gifted coordinators were interviewed and primary (kindergarten-third grade) teachers were surveyed. Though each school has different methods for meeting the needs of high potential learners, there are commonalities across all seven schools represented. The present findings indicate teachers feel confident in their ability to recognize high potential in academic areas. Teachers are comfortable using differentiation, and often differentiate to support gifted learners.

The Influence Of Environment: A Holistic Approach To Middle And Secondary Art Room Design, Leslie Y. Roberts

Masters Theses

This thesis takes an in-depth look at the elements within the classroom and how they affect students physiological and psychological needs and the impact those elements have on students’ academic success. I offer suggestions based on the research for changes that can be made to your current environment to increase students’ academic success. Additionally, through years of experience and additional research on classroom environments within this thesis I have created a floor plan for an ideal middle and high school art wing. This thesis also covers several different approaches to teaching, and I have used this information plus my experience …

Supporting Twenty-First-Century Students With An Across-The-Curriculum Approach To Undergraduate Research, Patrick Corbett, Jody R. Rosen

Publications and Research

An across-the-curriculum (ATC) approach to undergraduate research (UR) is a productive addition to UR ecosystems at equity-oriented institutions. The ATC approach is differentiated from mentored UR experiences and laboratory course-based UR experiences by its ability to employ experiential, problem-based skills and practices for a broad variety of informal research activities at all levels of curriculum and without special facilities. In doing so, the ATC model encourages faculty to make the application of twenty-first-century student learning outcomes explicit for students who are new to research so that they see how inquiry, knowledge creation, and other aspects of problem-solving are used in …

Inquiry-Based Science And Higher-Order Thinking Skills In Upper Elementary Science Education, Emily Culhane

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project is: How can curriculum design in upper elementary science education enlist students in practice and demonstration of higher-order thinking skills? The purpose for this project was to explore how inquiry-based science can further develop students’ higher-order thinking skills of synthesis and evaluation. Synthesis and evaluation were chosen because they are transferable to other content areas as well as everyday life. In the literature review, many different research studies were examined in order to learn more about inquiry-based science, higher-order thinking skills, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and curriculum design. The project is a …

Three-Dimensional Learning And The Phenomena Based Learning Approach With A Stem Curriculum, Shana Hoglund

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this capstone project is: How do three-dimensional learning and phenomenon-based learning approaches increase the authentic learning experience for students in elementary STEM classes? The focus of this project was to research the new learning approaches being proposed by the Next Generation Science Standards. Three-dimensional and phenomenon-based learning are utilized in the goal to better understand how these new approaches will be best used in an elementary STEM classroom. The research focuses on the importance and need of STEM education in an elementary setting. The project is a nine-lesson STEM unit on energy conservation for first …

Components Necessary To Create A Flipped Model Of Instruction For Accelerating 4th-8th Grade Gifted/Talented Students, Samantha Boyd

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research demonstrates that gifted students need to have the option for content acceleration for their intellectual needs, this is especially true for mathematics. The curriculum designed for this project uses the Understanding by Design curriculum planning model, in order to help gifted/talented students accelerate through the pre-algebra (7th grade MN math standards) using a compacting and flipped model of instruction. Gifted and talented students can be identified through many facets, and be identified with a variety of different areas for giftedness. These students who are gifted may need acceleration in order to best meet their academic needs as a …

Best Methods For Meeting The Goals Of Environmental And Place-Based Education In Short-Term And Immersive Undergraduate Settings, Henry Whitehead

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone sought to answer the following question: what are the best instructional methods for meeting the goals of place-based and environmental education in a short-term, immersive undergraduate setting? While place-based education and environmental education have been exhaustively studied for younger learners, a dearth of research exists in their application for college students. Through a review of the literature and the execution of the project, a January interim course for college students studying the Driftless Region, it was determined that several factors influence successful and meaningful learning for college students. Most notably, discussion, experiential learning, and engagement with community members …

How Culturally Responsive Teaching Can Support Small Group Math Instruction, Ryan Moran

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

For this project, the author studied culturally responsive teaching methods and mathematics instruction strategies applicable to teaching fractions to third grade English Learners (ELs) in a small group. Throughout his career as an educator, the author consistently observed the need for additional EL math support . Therefore, the guiding question addressed by the author’s capstone project is How can culturally responsive mathematics strategies be implemented in a small-group EL setting? The research conducted in this project was used to create a 10-day, small-group fraction curriculum designed for third grade ELs.

Implementing Project-Based Learning Within A Standards-Based Grading System, Hannah Yokom

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how can teachers implement interdisciplinary, project-based learning to teach and assess multiple standards in a standards-based grading system? Teachers need to shift their role from being the keeper of information for students to being a guide that helps as they ask questions, lead their own learning, and carry the cognitive load. Standards-based grading is a research-based best practice, but it requires that each standard be taught and assessed individually. This project integrates research in the areas of developing and implementing project-based learning in the classroom, and standards-based grading. It presents a fully-developed, …

Using Digital Communication Technologies To Record A Student’S Thinking During The Solving Of Physics Problems, John Gaalaas

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The question addressed in this project aims to develop strategies to record student thinking while solving physics problems. Literature pointed to the benefits of conversation as a form of assessment and strategies for developing good physics problems. The project demonstrates two different ways to implement the recording strategy and develops ways to assess these recordings. A slide presentation is developed for use in workshops with other physics teachers demonstrating how to put the strategies into place. Future research might involve quantitative measurement of the effects of these strategies in physics classrooms.

Sel In The High School Social Studies Classroom, John Gonzalez

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Educational research suggests that the development of social-emotional skills for elementary aged students positively impacts academic progress. The social-emotional skills include self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, ability to build and maintain healthy relationships, and responsible decision-making. Yet, less research exists around the positive impacts of social-emotional learning (SEL) in the high school setting. The goal of this project was to identify ways to increase high schoolers’ social and emotional skills in order to help students manage the barriers that negatively impact engagement and achievement. This project reviewed the following research-based methods for improving students’ social-emotional skills: Zones of Regulation, Second Step, Responsive …

Seventh-Grade Students' Use Of Heat Transfer Conceptions During An Engineering Design-Based Stem Integration Curriculum, Emilie A. Siverling, Tamara J. Moore

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

As the integration of STEM becomes increasingly important in pre-college education, it is important to study models of STEM integration. One model, engineering design-based STEM integration, has shown promising results in terms of student science content learning. This study’s purpose was to explore one student team’s use of heat transfer conceptions as they participated in an engineering design-based STEM integration curriculum. A case study research design, along with procedures from qualitative content analysis, were used to identify scientific and alternative conceptions that the seventh-grade students communicated during the unit. The main result is that the students spoke and wrote about …

Reconsidering Undergraduate Anatomy And Physiology Curriculum, Eric Michael Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

In the past 50 years several convergent factors have spurred unprecedented change in anatomy and physiology (A&P) instruction. An explosion of biomedical knowledge, an increased demand for students well-versed in A&P, and decreased resources for the course has provoked a vast array of research. However, most studies employ one of three strategies to enact change: testing the effectiveness of new pedagogies, exploring the utility of new technologies, or documenting learning in new contexts. By comparison, a much smaller body of research focuses on changing the A&P curriculum to improve student learning. To address this gap, the musculoskeletal curriculum for an …

Restructuring A General College Chemistry Sequence Using The Acs Anchoring Concepts Content Map, Scott A. Reid

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Many STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines require a two-semester sequence of introductory college chemistry, which are thus critical gateway courses to a variety of majors. Recognizing the benefit to educators of a structure of content learning across the chemistry curriculum, in 2012, the American Chemical Society (ACS) developed the Anchoring Concepts Content Map, or ACCM. The development and subsequent revision of the general chemistry ACCM inspired the restructuring of our first-year chemistry sequence. Thus our CHEM 1001 and 1002 courses, taught in an atoms-first framework, were reorganized into a set of nine modules, each intentionally linked to one …

How Can Students Use Art To Learn Problem Solving?, Fei-Ya Su

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how art instruction can be used to help students engage with important problems that matter to them and thereby adding personal value within a holistic education experience. Through a two-week-long curriculum composed of eight two-hour classes, the researcher deeply examined the journeys of growth that three students underwent as they were exposed to new art-making techniques and ideas, with an emphasis on the meaning behind individual art creation. The researcher found that all three students showed growth that extended beyond art-making itself to help them develop as independent problem solvers. As an action research study, this study …

A Narrative Inquiry To Explore The Connection Between Gender And Discipline In Grades Pre-K–8, Nicole Salazar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Because behavioral discipline can impact children’s development, it is important to ensure that educators work in fair and unbiased ways with all children, across gender, race, and other groups. Biased disciplining of children’s behavior in classrooms can occur as micro-aggressions (McCabe, 2009), sometimes counter to what educators may believe about their own behavior. As a means of raising awareness of gender-biased treatment in classrooms, this thesis involved narrating – a dynamic activity that elicits accounts of events – and thus as a means of reflecting on behavior in everyday practices. Educators anonymously completed a questionnaire requesting narratives of various disciplinary …

A Study On The Transformation Of South East Nigerian’S Academic Society Through Library And Information Science Education, Emmanuel Chidiadi Onwubiko

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This is an empirical study on the transformation of South-East Nigeria’s academic society through library and information science education (LISE). The main objective of this study is to find out current library and information science educational procedure in SE Nigeria as to determining how it holistically prepare potential librarians towards the changes that are taking place in our academic environment and the world as a whole. The research employed a descriptive survey design with a sampled population of 980 LIS students derived through total enumerative sampling technique from four accredited universities- Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU); Imo State University, Owerri …

Imperatives Of Entrepreneurship Education Amongst Library And Information Science Undergraduate In Nigeria: The Case Study Of Lis Undergraduates In South-East And South-South Geopolitical Zones Of Nigeria, Nneka C. Agim

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Entrepreneurship education and its training is an important skill oriented education with prospects of creating self employment amongst students upon graduation and national development.

Specifically, to be examined in this study are the available entrepreneurial courses in the curricular of library and information schools in both South-East and South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, to determine the benefit of entrepreneurial courses for undergrad uates in library schools in South-East and South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria and to examine the factors affecting entrepreneurship education in library schools in South-East and South-South Geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Therebydiscussing the imperatives of entrepreneurship education among …

Early Childhood Educator Knowledge: An Exploratory Study Regarding Giftedness And Students Of Color, Stephanie A. Peralta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine general early childhood educator knowledge and perceptions of curricula relevant for early childhood gifted students of color. The research questions that guided the study were the following: How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede academic success for gifted students of color? How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede social emotional learning for gifted students of color? What are the perspectives of educators regarding inclusive practices including Critical Race Theory, within a preschool through second grade gifted curricula?

In reviewing the literature and national data concerning representation …

Prekindergarten Practitioners’ Perspectives Of The Creative Curriculum For At-Risk Students, Navine Fortune

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Investigators have addressed elementary practitioners’ perspectives concerning the concept of curriculum development and children’s learning; however, much less information is available on prekindergarten practitioners’ perspectives of curriculum for at-risk prekindergarten students. This basic qualitative study explored prekindergarten practitioners’ perspectives of self-efficacy, competence, and motivation in the implementation of The Creative Curriculum for Preschool Program with at-risk students in a southeastern state. The theories of constructivism and self-efficacy guided the conceptual framework for this study. The research questions focused on prekindergarten practitioners’ perspectives of self-efficacy, competency, and motivation during implementation of the curriculum. Data were collected using in-depth semistructured interviews with …

New Innovation In The Flipped Chemistry Classroom

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Curricular Change In Institutional Context: A Profile Of The Summit-P Institutions, Mary D.R. Beisiegel, Suzanne I. Dorée

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

There is a national call to improve the mathematics curricula in the first two undergraduate years to improve student success and engagement. But curricular change happens in an institutional context: Who are the students, and what do they need to succeed? What is the climate for change? Does the department regularly revise its courses and curriculum? Is it common for different departments to collaborate on curricular change? What supports or obstacles does the department, college, or university have for changing the curriculum? Who are the institutional stakeholders, and what practices build their buy-in? In the SUMMIT-P project, nine different institutions …

Creating Project-Based Math Curricula: A Narrative Inquiry, Marcie Hull

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study is a narrative inquiry about the participant’s experiences, in three individual case studies, involving teachers of high school mathematics engaged in the creation of a project-based learning curriculum, in a one-to-one laptop school. The researcher analyzed data from field notes, digital artifacts, and teacher interviews to document how math teachers are creating curriculum in an inquiry-driven, project-based, technology-infused instructional model. Findings from restorying and the analysis of three-dimensional space —regarding teacher lore —reveal themes about math teacher curriculum conflicts in skill-building, application of iterative design thinking, and structures inherent to project-based learning. Rich, thick description of the cases, …

Teaching Introductory Statistics With Datacamp, Benjamin Baumer, Andrew P. Bray, Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, Johanna S. Hardin

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Publications

We designed a sequence of courses for the DataCamp online learning platform that approximates the content of a typical introductory statistics course. We discuss the design and implementation of these courses and illustrate how they can be successfully integrated into a brick-and-mortar class. We reflect on the process of creating content for online consumers, ruminate on the pedagogical considerations we faced, and describe an R package for statistical inference that became a by-product of this development process. We discuss the pros and cons of creating the course sequence and express our view that some aspects were particularly problematic. The issues …

Conceptions And Practices Of Divergent Thinking Among Form Two Science Teachers, Krishnan Kutty Lakshmi Nair

Student Works (2020-2029)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the conceptions and practices of Divergent Thinking among Form Two Science Teachers. Divergent thinking is integral to creativity which comprises four components, namely Fluency, Flexibility, Originality and Elaboration. Divergent thinking is important because it is the thought process that allows students to think outside the norm and to create many, original solutions for new problems. In our education system, it is the teachers’ responsibility to foster divergent thinking in classroom as teachers are the main mediators between the curriculum and classroom practices. If the teachers lack conceptions on divergent thinking, they might …

How Teachers And Counselors Collaborate Formally And Informally To Improve The Precollege Curriculum, Amanda Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers and counselors in a large suburban district in the Southeastern United States strive to collaborate to equip students with key skills needed to succeed in their first year of college. The problem is that little was known about the collaborative challenges teachers and counselors faced as they implemented the precollege curriculum in secondary schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how teachers and counselors collaborate formally and informally to improve the precollege curriculum as recommended by the guidelines of the American School Counselor Association and adopted by the local district. Knowles’s theory of andragogy provided …

Inquiry-Based Emergent Curriculum Using A Transdisciplinaryapproach To The Visual Arts In Early Childhood Education And Care:Implications For Policy, Education And Practice, Evelyn Mary Egan

Theses

This research aims to investigate current approaches used by practitioners in the design and delivery of visual arts curricula for children availing of the Irish Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme (DCYA, 2019). The study rationale is borne out of an interest in establishing what constitutes good practice in this domain. The focus of the study is to provide an extensive review of national and international literature debating approaches to visual arts curricula for young children and to establish how this translates into practice through a field study methodology within the Irish ECCE context. Underpinning the research is the …

The Ghost In The Machine: Artificial Intelligence In Law Schools, Emily M. Janoski-Haehlen, Sarah Starnes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article addresses the different topics law schools are teaching and how each either succeeds or fails at teaching students to be technologically competent. This article provides a small guide to some of the proven-successful classes and technologies taught and how they can be incorporated into a law school's current curriculum. This article aims to assist in creating a bright line and uniform standard to assist all law schools in producing "tech-savvy" lawyers. A big part of being technologically competent is the ability to understand and utilize, not rely on, artificial intelligence. This article discusses the use of artificial intelligence …