Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparison Of Teacher-Directed Versus Self-Directed Learning Preferences Of Students At Five Selected Community Colleges: Exploring The Relationships Among Age, Gender, And Academic Majors, Huiming Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the major priorities for community colleges is to focus on the pedagogical tools that will allow students to achieve excellence and quality in curriculum and instruction to meet the changing societal needs (Shearon & Tollefson, 1989). Rapid demographic, social, and technological changes demand that community colleges produce self-directed lifelong learners (Closson, 1996). The study of student learning preferences for more teacher-directed or more self-directed learning is one of the concepts that is important in enhancing teaching and learning practices. The purpose of this study was to examine students' teacher-directed versus self-directed learning preferences in specific courses. The possible …

Perceptions Of Competencies For Americorps Supervisors Within The Texas Agricultural Extension Service: An Exploratory Study, Ruben Javier Saldana

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

As a special project of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the AmeriCorps program requires special supervisional and management competencies on the part of supervising agents at the local level. This study tested 131 variables as indicators of high performance and surveyed all fourteen agent supervisors. Management areas were divided into structure, performance management, office management, and competencies. Exemplary supervisors were identified in a triangulation model that involved nominations by peers, immediate supervisors, and the AmeriCorps project director.

Findings were that the use of the plan of work and incorporation of project goals were highly related to high performance. Coaching behavior …

The Attitudes And Experiences Encountered In Developing A Minority Student Program At Concordia University Wisconsin, Kermit Ratcliffe

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

The question which this Major Applied Project seeks to answer is this: "What can a Minority Director do to encourage the university he serves to become aware of the barriers blocking minority students' persistence?" I intend to identify the growing needs that minority students have by (1) presenting a purpose and design for this project; (2) presenting a historical background on African American life, their difficulties on American colleges and LC-MS colleges; (3) focusing theologically and culturally on the barriers; (4) planning and implementing a minority support program on CUW campus that will create identity, meaning, and security in the …

Education Policy Analysis Archives 06/08 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

"The art of punishing" : the research assessment exercise and the ritualisation of power in higher education / Lee-Anne Broadhead [and] Sean Howard.

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Chess Instruction On The Mathematics Achievement Of Southern, Rural, Black Secondary Students, James Paul Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the effects of chess instruction on the mathematics achievement of a group of southern, rural, black, secondary students. Instruments used included the mathematics section of the CAT (Level 20), Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), Matrix Analogies Test-Short Form (MAT-SF), Guilford-Zimmerman Spatial Visualization Test (SV), and Guilford Zimmerman Spatial Orientation Test (SO). The treatment group, which received 18 weeks of chess instruction, consisted of 11 females and 8 males. The control group was comprised of 10 females and 10 males. All participants were high school juniors or seniors. Analysis of variance of the pre-tests found no significant differences …

Broadly Speaking - April, 1998, Nova Southeastern University

Broadly Speaking

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Calculator Usage On The Mathematics Achievement Of Seventh- And Eighth-Grade Students And On Attitudes Of Students And Teachers, Tracie Bidwell Ellerman

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of calculator usage on the mathematics achievement of seventh and eighth grade students as measured by the Mathematics Concepts and Applications sections of the California Achievement Test. The study also investigated the attitudes of students and teachers toward calculator usage. Student attitudes were measured through responses to the Student Calculator Survey. Teacher attitudes were measured through responses to the Attitude Instrument for Mathematics and Applied Technology-Version II.

Intact classes from two north central Louisiana school systems were assigned randomly to treatment and control groups. The sample consisted of 1070 students …

Administrator And Teacher Perceptions Of The Inclusion Of Students With Learning Disabilities In Regular Education Classrooms In Nebraska, Linda S. Wanzenried

Student Work

This study investigates the perceptions of principals, and regular and special education teachers working in public elementary schools in Nebraska relative to the inclusion of students with learning disabilities in regular education classrooms. An Inclusion Perceptions Survey, developed for this research, was mailed to 50 principals, 75 special educators, and 546 regular educators, a randomly selected sample representing approximately 5% of the Nebraska populations of these professional groups. The overall response rate was 47%, yielding 318 surveys for analysis. Results demonstrated statistically significant differences in the perceptions of principals and regular educators and of special educators and regular educators with …

Broadly Speaking - March 30, 1998, Nova Southeastern University

Broadly Speaking

No abstract provided.

Broadly Speaking - February 17, 1998, Nova Southeastern University

Broadly Speaking

No abstract provided.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 06/03 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Planting land mines in common ground : a review of Charles Glenn's review of Short route to chaos.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 06/01 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Political legacy of school accountability systems / Sherman Dorn.

Taylor: A Magazine For Taylor University Alumni And Friends (Winter 1998), Taylor University

The Taylor Magazine (1963-Present)

The Winter 1998 edition of Taylor Magazine, published by Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.

If Teacher Assessment Is The Answer, What Is The Question?, Michael W. Apple

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Throughout the United States, it is almost impossible not to hear the din of criticism of our educational system. It is supposedly a failure. It does not prepare our children for the rigors of international competition. It is too responsive to "minority" interests and not responsive to "our" common culture. It is inefficient and wasteful. And it has been captured by " producer" (teacher) not "consumer" (parents and the business community) interests.

A number of quite contradictory proposals to "fix" the schools are currently enjoying their place in the limelight. The first is organized around a vision of the weak …

Tinjauan Tentang Tahap Kefahaman Bacaan Di Kalangan Murid-Murid Tahun Tiga Di Sebuah Sekolah Rendah / Normah Binti Mohamad, Normah Mohamad

Pre-2000 Student Works

No abstract provided.

Teaching For Educated Children, Jane Ericson

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Considering the question, "What are the qualities of an educated child?" has been both a personal and professional journey for me. That question was what I sought to answer nearly a year ago and have been thinking about ever since. Through this paper I intend, not just to share any conclusions I have reached, but also describe the thinking process I went through to get there. Actually, the process may have been more significant than the end. I believe that it has been a worthwhile topic to investigate, helping me to grow as I complete my own formal education and …

A Study To Determine Factors Used By Teachers And Parents In Classroom Placement Of Children In Grades 1-4, Janilyn Bartlett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Thematic Instruction And Cooperative Learning: Valuable Strategies For Urban At-Risk Students, Sherri L. Lewis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Summer Calendar Of Activities For Use By Parents Of Kindergarten Students Going Into First Grade, Debra S. Tauber

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Parental Involvement In America 1950-1998, Tamara C. Ganter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Educational And Training Programs And Outcomes Among At-Risk Adolescents, Richard Gates

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

In Pursuit Of "A Good Healthy Chat": The Roles Of Organization And Rapport-Building In Effective Middle School Literacy Instruction, Douglas Kingsley Kaufman

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study I explore what classroom conditions a master eighth-grade language arts teacher created in order to become a more effective listener. I defined effective listening as a deep receptivity that leads the listener to create responses that satisfy the other's needs. Responses must help students move their ideas and work progressively forward. Conditions that promote effective listening, then, serve two purposes: they (1) enhance teacher receptivity and (2) help students better articulate their interests, knowledge, and needs.

During the 1996-1997 school year I conducted a qualitative study that drew heavily upon ethnographic methodologies. As a participant-observer I took …

Issues Of Engendered Entitlement: Who Owns The Classroom? Who Owns Knowledge?, Dorothy Radius Kasik

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the ways in which first year female college students have been prepared by educational systems in our culture to handle knowledge and the acquisition of knowledge during the first year of college experience. It is the contention of the author that women are not actively encouraged in our culture to take ownership of educational concepts in the same way as men. This happens for two reasons, first that because women's methods of interaction in the classroom might differ from men's those methods might not be perceived as acceptable or taken seriously; and second that a woman's discomfort …

Examining Student Conceptions Of The Nature Of Science From Two Project-Based Classrooms, David M. Moss

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop descriptive accounts of precollege students' conceptions of the nature of science from two project-based classrooms, and track those conceptions over the course of an academic year. A model of the nature of science was developed and served as the criterion by which students' beliefs were evaluated. The model distinguishes between two major categories of science, the nature of the scientific enterprise and the nature of scientific knowledge. Five students were selected from each class and interviewed individually for 30-45 minutes each, six times over the year. Data from semi-structured, formal interviewing consisted …

Constructive Texts: Theory, Practice, And The "Self" In Composition, Deborah Lynne Hodgkins

Doctoral Dissertations

The influence of postmodern theory on studies in composition and rhetoric has led to important questions for the teaching of writing: In light of/after postmodernism, what role does/should theory play in classroom practice and how can it best inform pedagogy? In writing and in the world at large, how do we define and where do we locate agency?

I argue that the goal of composition courses should be to help students learn to use discourse to represent the interests of themselves and others and effect change in a postmodern world--to become active citizens by becoming better rhetoricians. In order to …

The Role Of Shame In Writing: How Lived Experience Affects The Writing Process, Carol Kountz

Doctoral Dissertations

Writing fluently without disabling apprehension requires an ability to control ideas despite the occurrence of censoring thoughts or shameful sensations. Such ability is characteristically lacking in apprehensive or blocking writers, who, therefore, have difficulty in composing. To understand the psychological and social factors that impede the writing process, and to give writers and compositionists insight into the features of writing that result in "writer's block," I held conversational interviews with twenty-four people who designate themselves as apprehensive writers about their literacy experiences and writing behavior. Analysis of these interviews shows that these people, in anticipation of a real or inward, …

The Teaching Portfolio As A Vehicle For Professional Growth, John James Freeman

Doctoral Dissertations

This study considered the utility of the teaching portfolio as a structure which might enhance the professional growth of public school teachers. The study was guided by the question: Does the development of individual teaching portfolios support reflection, self-assessment, and professional development on the part of teachers who develop portfolios? Other issues considered were reasons for developing portfolios, the nature of artifacts included in portfolios, structures which support teachers in the development of their portfolios, changes in classroom practice which may result from portfolio development, plans for future portfolio use, and suggestions which portfolio developers might have for others considering …

Promoting Self-Efficacy In Postsecondary At-Risk Readers: A View Of The Effects Of Using An Instructional Model Based On Cooperative, Active, Critical Thinking Unified Strategies (C*A*C*T*U*S)., Phyllis L. Simpson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Nationwide, between one-third and one-half of all students who enter colleges and universities today are identified as needing some remediation. Many developmental freshmen do not have a realistic perception of their learning skills, their ability to activate their prior knowledge, nor a high degree of self-confidence in either their self-image or their inferencing ability to learn in today's college classroom. The review of the literature served as a basis for designing a cooperative, active, critical thinking unified strategy model (named by acronym C*A*C*T*U*S) for educating "at-risk" readers in developmental education. Furthermore, the literature review on self-efficacy and empowerment action-oriented teacher …

Director's Update, University School

University School Directors Update

No abstract provided.

Beliefs And Practices Of Middle School Language Arts Teachers., Suzan Anderson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the instructional beliefs and practices of middle school language arts teachers as they relate to developmental appropriate/inappropriate instruction. Developmentally appropriate instruction is defined as matching the curricula to the level of children's emerging mental abilities. If the learner is seen as a growing individual with developing abilities, then the aim of education should be to facilitate this development. This in turn means that the curricula must be studied and analyzed to determine that level of mental ability that is required to comprehend curriculum materials (Elkind, 1970). There is some concern that what …