Digital Commons Network^™

Learning And Understanding In Abstract Algebra, Bradford Reed Findell

Doctoral Dissertations

Students' learning and understanding in an undergraduate abstract algebra class were described using Tall and Vinner's notion of a concept image, which is the entire cognitive structure associated with a concept, including examples, nonexamples, definitions, representations, and results. Prominent features and components of students' concept images were identified for concepts of elementary group theory, including group, subgroup, isomorphism, coset, and quotient group.

Analysis of interviews and written work from five students provided insight into their concept images, revealing ways they understood the concepts. Because many issues were related to students' uses of language and notation, the analysis was essentially semiotic, …

Transforming Education: The Lesson From Argentina, Anne Dupre

Scholarly Works

This Article traces education reforms in Argentina from the colonial period to the present. Specifically, the Article focuses on La Ley Federal de Educacion, passed in 1993, which sought to reform primary and secondary education throughout Argentina by promoting educational equity through a just distribution of educational services and opportunity.

The Article begins with a description of the current Argentine federal republic and the relationship of the federal government and the provinces. Next, Article describes the development of the Argentine education system.

It continues by explaining the backdrop of the adoption of Ley Federal. The Author describes the act's twenty-three …

Common Schools And The Common Good: Reflections On The School-Choice Debate, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

Thank you very much for this timely and important discussion on school choice, religious faith, and the public good.

First things first—Steven Green is right: The Cleveland school-voucher case is headed for the Supreme Court. And I am afraid that Mr. Green is also correct when he observes that the question whether the First Amendment permits States to experiment with meaningful choice-based education reform will likely turn on Justice O'Connor's fine-tuned aesthetic reactions to the minutiae of Ohio's school-choice experiment.

Putting aside for now the particulars of the Cleveland case, though, I would like to propose for your consideration a …

Transforming Education: The Lesson From Argentina, Anne P. Dupre

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article traces education reforms in Argentina from the colonial period to the present. Specifically, the Article focuses on La Ley Federal de Educacion, passed in 1993, which sought to reform primary and secondary education throughout Argentina by promoting educational equity through a just distribution of educational services and opportunity.

The Article begins with a description of the current Argentine federal republic and the relationship of the federal government and the provinces. Next, the Article describes the development of the Argentine education system.

It continues by explaining the backdrop of the adoption of Ley Federal. The Author describes the act's …

The Story Of Henry Adams' Soul: Education And The Expression Of Associations, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

In several decisions handed down during its 1999 Term, the United States Supreme Court focused on the freedom of expressive association. Generally speaking, expressive association is regarded by courts and commentators as just another form of individual self-expression, and voluntary associations as facilitators for such self-expression.
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/="/">In this Essay, Professor Garnett suggests that a shift in focus, from individual self-expression-through-association to the expression of voluntary associations themselves. It is suggested that, in several recent decisions ­including Dale, Mitchell, and California Democratic Party - the Court has indicated an appreciation of the role played by mediating institutions in shaping …

International Graduate Student Expectations At Rit, Zeneida Granados

Theses

Information is a key to seeing problems and experiences encountered by international graduate students while studying abroad. Consequent adaptations to new surroundings have been suggested from several perspectives. Services offered on-campus could help international graduate students to achieve their main goal: to be successful in their professional and social life. Success could commence from the initial contemplation or decision of studying abroad and might continue throughout their prolonged stay if continuous support was available from the staff and customized services in the college or university selected. Conducting sixteen face-to-face interviews (using open-ended questions) and two focus groups of four students …

Peer Education And Its Effects On The Beliefs Of Rape Myths, Allison Marmer

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Research has found that there is a relationship between men's acceptance of rape myths and violence against women (Malamuth, 1989). These stereotypical ideas about rape, rape victims, and rapists, perpetuate rape. Peer education may play a beneficial part in teaching students about rape, and is the primary focus of this study. The hypothesis of this study was that the rape myth prevention intervention would reduce the beliefs in myths about rape. The intervention, or informative lecture that was given to the experimental group was a derivative of material geared towards high school students. In summary, this research study succeeded to …

The Curriculum Implications Of Liberation Theology As A Theory For Social Change., Alvaro Basista Alcazar

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

From the perspective of those in the underside of history, contemporary education has so stagnated that it has lost its capacity to be a force for social change in a world plagued by social cruelties and injustice. Liberation theologians have shown considerable success in redirecting tightly institutionalized and intellectualized religious communities from their weddedness to imperial notions and practices of faith into one solidly aligned with the struggle of the poor and the marginalized. These theologians of the poor make a distinction between Christianity and Christendom---the former being the vision of a Jewish religious reformer named Yeshua and the latter …

Middle School Students' Understanding Of The Natural History Of The Earth And Life On Earth As A Function Of Deep Time., Azalie Cecile Pulling

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to use deep time, that is geologic time as a mechanism to explore middle school students' understanding of the natural history of the earth and the evolution of life on earth. Geologic time is a logical precursor to middle school students' understanding of biological evolution. This exploratory, mixed model study used qualitative and quantitative methods in each stage of the research to explore sixth grade students, understanding of geologic time, their worldviews (e.g., conceptual ecology), and conceptual change. The study included fifty-nine students in the large group study and four case studies. The primary …

School Culture, Teacher Efficacy, And Decision -Making In Demonstrably Effective And Ineffective Schools., Jacquline Jeanine Bobbett

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose for this study was fourfold. First, a conceptual model was developed to help understand teacher perceptions of the schools' professional culture, teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, participation in decision making and linkages to school effectiveness. Second, an original measure of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about their own teaching effectiveness was developed and tested. Third, characteristics of the measures (quantitative and qualitative) were reported. Fourth differences in the mediating variables related to school effectiveness were examined. A stratified sample made up of 1,057 total school faculty in 41 elementary schools representing the uppermost and lower most quartiles of poverty in a southern …

Teacher Personal And School Culture Characteristics In Effective Schools: Toward A Model Of A Professional Learning Community., Dianne Fuselier Olivier

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore personal and organizational factors within schools operating as professional learning communities and the relationships of these variables with intent to stay in teaching and organizational effectiveness. A conceptual framework, a Professional Learning Community Model, was developed to organize and conceptualize linkages among school culture, teacher self-efficacy, collective efficacy, human caring, intent to stay, and organizational effectiveness. Original measures were developed to assess teacher self-efficacy and collective efficacy and revisions/modifications of measures were used for school culture, human caring, and intent to stay. The study used a large sample and quantitative data analysis …

The Psychological And Social Characteristics Among College Students Who Binge Drink, Mary Elizabeth Grigar

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether personality type and social variables predict: (a) binge drinking behavior, and (b) alcohol related consequences. Two hundred thirty-seven first year students from a private, Midwest, engineering college were administered the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, a Student Information Questionnaire, a Drinking Questionnaire, and the Young Adult Alcohol Problems Screening Test. Binge drinking was defined as the successive consumption of four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men in one sitting. Logistical and multiple regression analyses were performed. The judgment-perception personality type predicted binge drinking behavior. The social variables which predicted binge drinkers …

Pages, Volume 8, No. 3, December 2000, Frank Oldfield, Keith Alverson

PAGES

Contents: Ecosystem Processes and Past Human Impacts -- Past Variability and Future Management -- Past Human Impacts -- Historical Ecology -- Program News -- LUCIFS -- LIMPACS -- HITE -- Workshop Reports -- Technical Reports -- Last Page

Women’S Ways Of Leading? A Qualitative Content Analysis To Determine Leadership Messages Contained In Literature Of National Panhellenic Conference Groups, Andrea M. Fechner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study documented the leadership messages sent to women in 16 of the National Panhellenic Conference groups' official literature. The purpose of the study was to provide detailed descriptive analysis using excerpts from the official literature to show both traditional and non-traditional (women's ways of leading) theoretical themes as well as to determine the use of followership versus leadership messages to women. The approach to this study was the use of qualitative content analysis whereby messages were collapsed into larger theme categories. Datum from content analysis was represented in excerpts and quotes from the official literature of the 16 groups …

Education Policy Analysis Archives 08/52 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Apoyo a la participación de padres en las escuelas primarias : un estudio etnográfico sobre un grupo latinoamericano en Canadá / Judith K. Bernhard, Marlinda Freire, [and] Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw.

Abstracts Of Papers Presented At The Seventy-Eight Annual Meeting, Virginia Academy Of Science, May 23-26, 2000, Radford University, Radford, Va

Virginia Journal of Science

This document is a list of the abstracts of papers presented at the seventy-eighth meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science that took place at Radford University on May 23 through the 26th, 2000.

Assets, Race, And Educational Choices, Tom Shapiro, Heather Beth Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

Assets, Race, and Educational Choices

Assessing The Racial Awareness Of Majority Group Member Students At East Tennessee State University And The Factors Related To Racial Awareness, Lavern Terrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the racial awareness of majority group member students at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and factors related to racial awareness. Seven research questions and five hypotheses were examined. The Oklahoma Racial Attitudes Survey-Preliminary Form (ORAS-P) was used to identify the racial awareness of White students enrolled at ETSU during the fall of 1999. Forty-six classes were surveyed obtaining a sample totaling 395 students. In addition to completing the ORAS-P, students in the sample were asked the following demographic questions: gender, age, city and state of birth, name and location of high school …

Underpinnings Of Public Administration Education In The United States: Implications For Public Administration Pedagogical Discourse In Africa, Berhanu Mengistu

African Social Science Review

Public administration is a dynamic and context-driven field of application. Similarly, educational programs devoted to the subject must reflect that flexibility. The article begins by addressing the history. evolution, and current status of the field of public administration education and its pedagogical underpinnings in America. The analysis leads to an examination of the pedagogical questions necessary in curriculum development and design in public administration education in African historical context. Also. it delineates some problems often associated with and responsible for inappropriate adaptation of public administration design processes. It concludes with a brief discussion of the pedagogical questions raised that are …

Education Policy Analysis Archives 08/04 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Technology and school reform : a view from both sides of the tracks / Mark Warschauer.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 08/03 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Social science research findings and educational policy dilemmas : some additional distinctions / Steven I. Miller [and] Marcel Fredericks.

Learning From Shamanic Cultures: Returning The Spirit To Education Through The Arts, John Dwight Fisher

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Models Of Professional Development For Teachers: Factors Influencing Technology Implementation In Elementary Schools., Marilyn Hill Catchings

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative multiple case study explored factors which contribute to the implementation of technology in elementary schools. This research had a phenomenological focus because there was a concentration on the structure and essence of the experiences of the teachers and leaders in the phenomenon, the implementation of technology in the school. The four schools chosen for the study were judged to have outstanding technology implementation by state technology leaders and a researcher screening process. They were selected because the researcher determined that these cases were the ones from which the most could be learned. These particular schools had ample technology …

Sociomathematical Norms Of Elementary School Classrooms: Crossnational Perspectives On The *Reform Of Mathematics Teaching., Jeongsuk Pang

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Mathematics education reform in the United States has marshaled large-scale support for instructional innovation, and enlisted the participation and allegiance of large numbers of mathematics teachers. However, there is concern that many teachers have not grasped the full implications of the reform ideals. This study explored the breakdown that may occur between teachers' adoption of reform objectives and their successful incorporation of reform ideals by comparing and contrasting two reform-oriented classrooms. This study was an exploratory, qualitative, comparative case study using constant comparative analysis. Seven mathematics lessons were video-taped from each class, and intensive interviews conducted with the two teachers. …

Children's Identity Construction In A Multicultural Setting., Edith Taylor Richardson Powers

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The study of cultural identity has thus far been rather unidimensional, portraying a child as a member of a single cultural group that has a homogeneous culture. Over the past twenty-five years, much of the research on the relationship between culture and education has looked at children's educational processes through the lens of group membership. This study examined six children from different cultures as they constructed their own identities within the multicultural classroom environment over the period of a year. It was designed to examine how individual children take on cultural "ways" that are associated with other cultural groups and …

Cultural Adjustment Of Foreign Students In An Institution Of Higher Education., Bridget Oscar Udoh

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Foreign students frequently encounter problems in adjusting to their new social environment when studying at institutions of higher education. The purpose of this study was to describe the level of social difficulty experienced by foreign students from different regions of the world while studying in the United States. The target population for this study consisted of 748 undergraduate foreign students enrolled at Louisiana. State University (LSU) in the spring of 2000. The accessible population was all students enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL). The sample consisted of the 178 undergraduate students enrolled in English 1004 and 1005 (ESL) …

Telling Stories In School: Using Case Studies And Stories To Teach Legal Ethics, Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Fordham Law Review

"We tell ourselves stories in order to live." -Joan Didion, The White Album (1970) "Their story, yours, mine - it's what we carry with us on this trip we take, and we owe it to each other to respect our stories and learn from them." -William Carlos Williams in Robert Coles, The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination 30 (1989)

"Awakenings" On Relational Ways Of Knowing: An Ecological Perspective On Curriculum., Elaine Kent Riley

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The human species and all nonhuman forms on the planet, have co-evolved over a 14 billion-year process, yet many people operate as if planetary life existed to support and sustain human well-being alone. Separation, dualism, and power-over ways of knowing fuel a human-centered attitude which exalts our own species above the rest of the natural world. How humans will live with the earth in the next millennium (Hogan, 1996) is one of the most fundamental questions arising at the onset of the year 2000. The planet cannot sustain continued degradation of ecological systems stemming from depletion of natural resources and …

School Life On The Mississippi: An Inquiry Into The Impact Of The Louisiana Reform Movement Related To Standards In World History Instruction In Three Secondary School Settings., Michael Joseph Schramm

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of standards on the instruction of world history in three secondary school settings. Contact with the Department of Education of the State of Louisiana found that the implementation of standards had only begun in 1997. After a grace period for implementation, the inaugural testing of the accountability system for these standards occurred in the spring of 2000. Therefore, this study became an exploratory investigation into the use of standards as they impact world history instruction. The first research question was designed to assist the researcher in exploring the influence that …

Conceptions Of Learning Identified By Indigenous Students Entering A University Preparation Course, Alison M. Bunker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The increase in Indigenous participation in university courses in recent years has not been matched by an increase in graduation. In the mainstream university population, student success has been linked to approaches to learning, which are linked to conceptions of learning. This study investigates what conceptions of learning Indigenous students identify at the beginning of their university career. Thirty six students completed a 'Reflections on Learning Inventory' developed by Meyer (1995). Nine of these students were interviewed in depth about what they thought learning was and how they would go about it. The interview analysis for each of the nine …