Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Content And Pedagogy : A Step Forward Towards Value Based Teacher’S Professional Development, Sharifullah Baig

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

This paper reviews the contemporary literature of human values and valuation processes, and proposes a re-conceptualized model of a teacher’s professional development. This paper suggests a thorough analysis of the teacher’s personality and devises alternative, well thought-out strategies and approaches to alter self-knowledge, values, valuation processes, and beliefs to imbed the desired impact on their teaching practices. This paper supports the use of deliberate attempts to alter the basic motivation level of teachers and to deliberately expose them to available knowledge to modify their values, attitudes, and actions in their respective professions, organizations, and formal associations. Hence, such professional development …

Manjako Literacy And Issues In Language Of Instruction, Miles Avery Pearson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Students in Caio, Guinea-Bissau cannot read. This is due largely to the mismatch between the language at home and the language of instruction in schools. Students in Caio speak Manjako, but classes are taught in Portuguese, the official language, which students do not understand. This makes it more difficult for students to develop literacy skills and succeed in school. Literature shows that literacy is achieved best when it is taught to students in their mother tongue. This project involved creating and testing Manjako literacy materials and concludes with recommendations for implementing a Manjako literacy program. The materials included flashcards, sample …

The Benefits Of Music: An Exploration Of Music In Core-Curriculum Classrooms, Courtney Froehlich

Honors Projects

Inspired by research that establishes the benefits of using music in the teaching and learning of non-music subjects, this creative honors project provides sample lesson plans for music, math, and English teachers in grades K-8 that use musical activities to teach math and English concepts. Sample lesson plans are grouped by subject and grade levels, and underlying concepts of each plan are identified. Part One includes lesson plans that combine and draw connections between music and math concepts; Part Two includes lesson plans that combine and draw connections between music and English concepts. Within each part, plans are designed for …

Educator Perceptions Of The Importance Of Using Strategies For At-Risk Students In Indiana Elementary Schools, Teresa Gremaux

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine if there are significant differences in perception regarding the importance of strategies and programs for at-risk students according to employment position, geographic location, and percentage of free- and reduced-lunch population within the school. This study also examined intervention strategies and programming currently being implemented in Indiana elementary schools. It sought to investigate alternatives for elementary school leaders to address the concerns of an increasingly challenging group of at-risk students. This study consisted of perceptions gathered from teachers and principals in Indiana urban, suburban, and rural elementary schools consisting of Grades K-6. …

Impact Of The 3-D Model Strategy On Science Learning Of The Solar System, Mohammed Alharbi

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study, quantitative and descriptive, was to determine whether the first-middle grade (seventh grade) students at Saudi schools are able to learn and use the Autodesk Maya software to interact and create their own 3-D models and animations and whether their use of the software influences their study habits and their understanding of the school subject matter. The study revealed that there is value to the science students regarding the use of 3-D software to create 3-D models to complete science assignments. Also, this study aimed to address the middle-school students' ability to learn 3-D …

Literacy Narratives Of African-American Community College Students: Implications For Curriculum Alignment, Instructional Design, And Entry-Level Assessment, Roderick S. Brown

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated potential causes of developmental English placement among recent African-American high school graduates enrolled at a community college. Participants were four men and five women from lower- and lower-middle economic backgrounds who had completed an entry-level writing assessment prior to enrollment. An electronic survey was administered to all participants and included questions about literacy experiences in elementary, middle, and high school. Using an ethnographic approach to thematic narrative analysis, the author compared the literacy narratives of students who had tested into college-level composition with those who had tested into developmental English. Results indicated that participants who had tested …

The People’S Attitude Towards The Language Use In The Local Media Broadcast: A Case Study Of Azerbaijani Language In Tabriz, Asefeh Zeinalabedini

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper aims to describe the barriers of the language development with investigating the influence of an official language on native language that is used in broadcasting media, including television and radio. The data for this study is generated from a local televisionin Tabriz, informal and friendly interviews and communications with audiences. Data analysis is informed by a critical discourse analytic approach. Research’s findings about people’s attitude towards using their native language in the broadcast media suggest that a significat effect of the official language on the native language. The findings are interpreted as the local television and radio are …

Toward An Early Start For Head Start Children : Evidence From An Academic-Enriched Literacy Initiative, Haiyan Zhang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to address the question of whether it is developmentally appropriate to expose preschool children to a comprehensive instructional program designed to facilitate the acquisition of early literacy skills. The primary means of addressing this question was to assess the development of emergent literacy skills in four-year-old children enrolled in a literacy-enriched Head Start program for a period of one year, as compared with those of four-year-old children who entered at age three and enrolled in the program for two years. Related questions of special interests are to what extent the three and four-year-old children …

Critical Race Theory : A Lens For Viewing Racism In American Education Policy And School Funding, Susan A. Klupchak

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This thesis discusses Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a foundation to understand race and racism in the U.S. and provides a brief introduction to how components of CRT can be used as a conceptual framework to understand how educational inequity undergirds the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race To The Top (RTTT) policies. This thesis also provides a comprehensive review of CRT and uses CRT as a method of analysis to fully understand how race and racism are applied in NCLB policy. CRT is used as a method of analysis to show that race and racism are embedded in …

Graduate Students' Perception Of Curriculum-Based Efficacy Of The Acquisition Of Multicultural Counseling Skills, Demond Ethridge Bledsoe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States is undergoing a period in which the demographics of the population are shifting drastically. The profession of counseling is tasked with providing services to diverse groups of clients, many of whom may have experienced racism, prejudice, and oppression as a result of their cultural or ethnic identity. Literature suggests that cultural and ethnic minority clients have poorer outcomes than their majority counterparts, and a significant factor in gaining positive treatment outcomes is the multicultural skill development in the clinician; however, little research focusing on effective delivery methods for multicultural skill development in counselor trainees has been conducted. …

A Look Into The Latino Experience: The Process Of Identity Formation For Latinos In The United States, Angelica M. Ferreira

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the educational acculturation experience of Latinos in the United States (U.S.) and the processes of identity formation. Through the historical Latino experience in the early 20th century, we can see the remaining influences of historical inequality (e.g. exploitation of labor, de jure segregation) through negative perceptions of Latinos. Negative stereotypes and incorrect assumptions presented in society (e.g. media, educational system, and justice system) perpetuate inferiority in comparison to White Americans. In the context of a school environment, Latino children begin to realize they are different. When non-native English speakers enter the classroom, immediate differences in language, cultural …

Effects Of A Cross-Age Peer Tutoring Intervention On English Language Oral Reading Fluency In A Belizean Grade School, Marcia Ruth Sytsma

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

A cross-age peer tutoring program was implemented in a small rural school in west central Belize, Central America. All students at the school were native Spanish speakers, and all general instruction was conducted in English. The program was devised to supplement existing reading and language arts instruction at all grade levels. Progress of both tutors and tutees was monitored on a weekly basis using DIBELS Next measures. Twenty-nine students started the program, with complete data available for twenty-one students: seven tutee-tutor pairs, and seven matched students who participated as controls. Three main hypotheses were tested with the present study. These …

Spaces Of Nature: Producing Gilgit-Baltistan As The Eco-Body Of The Nation, Nosheen Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

A while ago, when I was studying in Grade 8 at an English-medium school in Lahore, our class was divided up in four groups for a Geography project on Pakistan. The group of which I was a part had to make a sculptural map of Pakistan, demonstrating the diverse physical and social qualities of its landscape. And so we had set about carving our country with materials like styro-foam, cotton, cloth, and cardboard. In the final map that we made, the region of Gilgit-Baltistan - then the “Northern Areas” – had remained unlabeled and unpeopled, marked only with mountains made …

English Language Learners In Nevada, Robin Gonzales

Brookings Mountain West Publications

While leading the rest of the country in population growth, immigration, and increasing ethnic and linguistic diversity, Nevada’s mostly Latin American population experiences high poverty, low educational attainment, and high employment. As a result, Nevada has increasingly high numbers of English Language Learner students (ELLs) – students who speak a language other than English at home – and show low educational attainment compared to their English speaking counterparts. According to a 2013 report from the Lincy Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, if the state wants to reverse its populations’ dismal educational attainment and poor national rankings in …

Corpus Linguistics And English Language Teaching Materials: A Review Of Recent Research, Laleh Khojasteh, Nasrin Shokrpour

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Motivation for using corpus linguistics in English language teaching is partly related to the inconsistencies found between the use of lexical items and grammatical structures in the corpora and those in traditional language textbooks that are often largely based on the personal judgments of the materials writers. This lack of fit between the language in the textbook and authentic language use has been reported in many studies; yet, an overview of this aspect has not been carried out. The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to discuss the importance of corpus linguistics for the development of English language teaching …

The Concept Of Creativity In Art And In Science: Are Autistic People Creative?, Miguel López Astorga

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Usually, autism is said to be characterized by certain difficulties related to lack of creativity. In this paper, based on the arguments offered by McKenzie and paying attention to the neurodiversity perspective, it is held that the concept of creativity has not been understood correctly, and that, if the artistic field is considered, it can be stated that people with autism can be creative, because creativity can be linked to repetition and details. In this way, it is argued that the repetitive and thorough actions that autistic people often make can have beneficial impacts on art, on the development of …

Integrating Rock Music In Elementary School Education, Andre Firme

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Though music education is declining in schools across the nation, the classrooms that still utilize it to enhance other subject matter have witnessed its benefits. However, when the opportunity arises to integrate music into everyday lessons teaching core subjects, which genres should be focused on? Since educators would not wish to waste time on music that does not appeal to children’s listening preferences and knowing that weaving music in the educational fabric of the day teaches more effectively and efficiently, their preferred genre must be employed when the chance to integrate music, rare as it is, presents itself. Rock music …

Social Justice Issues In The Education Of Aboriginal English Speakers, Ian G. Malcolm

Language as a Social Justice Issue Conference

Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia use a variety of Aboriginal English for communication, at least within their own speech communities. This paper provides an overview of some of the issues of social justice which are entailed in providing for these people, as Australian citizens, a fair and equitable education.

Concerns are raised in four areas:

1. Linguistic myths surrounding Aboriginal English and Standard English (SE). Traditionally, SE has been assumed to be unified, accent-free, inherently superior and unchanging. On the other hand, traditionally Aboriginal English has been ignored or variously described as a non-language, a poor …

Emotional Intelligence And Racial Identity's Impact On Academic Achievement In American Multiracial High School Students, Mary Ann Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

Minorities reached 50.4% of the American population, representing a majority for the first time, and those self-reporting as multiracial grew by a larger percentage than those reporting a single race (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). Millennials born after 1980 are the most racially diverse generation (Pew Research Center, 2014). This study investigated how racial identity and emotional intelligence might impact academic achievement among U.S. Millennial multiracial adolescents of African descent. Research suggests a student's racial identification has a significant impact on academic performance (Herman, 2009) and minority youth struggle academically (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014). The theoretical framework included the construct …

Unconventional Computation And Teaching: Proposal For Music, A Tone-Based Scripting Language For Accessibility, Computation And Education, Aj Kirke, Er Miranda

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Infant/Toddler Professional Preparation And Development Using Blended Practices And Tiered Supports, Adam S. Kennedy, Anna T. Lees

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Entre Familia: Immigrant Parents’ Strategies For Involvement In Children’S Schooling, Luis E. Poza, Maneka Deanna Brooks, Guadalupe Valdés

Faculty Publications

Teachers and administrators in schools with large, working-class Latino populations often complain of parents’ indifference or lack of involvement in children’s schooling because of their low visibility at school events and relatively little face-to-face communication with teachers and school administration. In a series of semi-structured interviews with Latino immigrant parents, this study finds that, despite different educational experiences than those of their children in the United States, these parents engage in many of the parent involvement strategies observed by previous research to be most beneficial, though often through avenues bypassing the school itself. This finding presses schools and districts to …

Outline Of A Subversive Technopoetic: For A Libertarian Pedartgogy, Francesco Monico

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The thesis explores the relationships between knowledge and knowing in contemporary 21st century information society, using the foundation of the Faculty of Media Design & New Media Art at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milano as a research apparatus. This Faculty was established between 2003 and 2012, in Milano, Italy. The starting point of the research was established in the hypothesis that technics have tertiarised memory (Stiegler B., 1994), that knowledge is always founded on an ontological pessimism (Queneau R., 1933, Lyotard F., 1979) and on a perpetual process of the generation of meaning (Gadda C., 1923-29, Foucault …

Effect Of Items Direction (Positive Or Negative) On The Factorial Construction And Criterion Related Validity In Likert Scale, Mamun Ali Naji Qasem, Showkeen Bilal Ahmad Gul

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The study was conducted to know the effect of items direction (positive or negative) on the factorial construction and criterion related validity in Likert scale. The descriptive survey research method was used for the study and the sample consisted of 510 undergraduate students selected by used random sampling technique. A scale developed by SobheiHamdan& Mohammed Jehad (2007) was used by the investigator to access attitude of students towards undergraduate study. The finding of the study revealed that: (1) there is effect of items direction (positive or negative) on the factorial construction related validity in Likert scale; and (2) criterion related …

Re-Envisioning The Role Of Universities In Early Childhood Teacher Education: Community Partnerships For 21st-Century Learning, Amy J. Heineke, Adam S. Kennedy

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite contrasting views on the overlap of early childhood education and teacher education, opportunities abound for expanding the role of early childhood educators in broader teacher education discourse. University-based early childhood and Kindergarten-through-grade-12 teacher education share purposes, philosophies, and resources that should be explored to more effectively address the needs of diverse young children and their families. Community partnerships and a shift toward community-based teacher preparation present a context and opportunity for exploring the overlap of these two historically separate fields. In this paper, we present a framework for collaborative, field-based early childhood teacher preparation, situating birth-though-grade-12 teacher education in …

The Effects Of Explicit Story Grammar Instruction On The Narrative Skills Of Preschool Children, Nichole Mulvey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of large-group, explicit, story grammar vocabulary instruction during shared storybook reading on the narrative retell skills of preschoolers. Two preschool classrooms in rural, southeastern Illinois participated in the study. The study examined narrative retell ability via the Test of Narrative Retell-Preschool. Scores were compared for the experimental group, who received instruction from the investigator, to the control group, who received instruction from their regular classroom teacher. The study also explored instructional practices during shared storybook reading through observational checklists of recorded sessions. The results of the study indicated that students …

Seattle Public Schools Educators' Perceptions Of The Efficacy Of Autism Inclusion Programs, Roslyn Clare Hower

Scripps Senior Theses

The number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is on the rise, both in the United States and around the world. The Individuals with Disabilities ACT (IDEA 2004) and No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandate that children with disabilities, including children with ASD, be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). The general education classroom is increasingly identified as the LRE. General education teachers are increasingly responsible for educating students with ASD, often with little or no training on ASD or intervention methods. Few previous studies have explored general education teachers’ experiences and attitude towards inclusion of …

The Success Of Character Education In Relation To Religion In A Public School District, Joseph Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The history of the United States demonstrates a complicated relationship between civil or national religion and the formation of the common schools. This dissertation uses purposive sampling, survey methodology and description research of a local, public school district with noted high scores on character education. The research uses a Likert scale to document educators' perception of success or failure of character education in relation to religion. In the school district, four schools were chosen for their high scores in character education implementation. A purposive sample of 100 participants was provided an email link to a secure, anonymous, online survey. The …

Prescription For Doctors: An Interpretive Analysis Of Messages Portrayed By Websites Targeting Potential Medical Students, Kelly Oehler

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined communication about medical professional career decisions as depicted by 10 popular websites. Qualitative research methods, phenomenology and hermeneutics, were used to investigate these messages. Findings revealed a difference between medical community authors and layperson authors. Authors associated with the medical field shared overall positive messaging while authors not associated with the medical field leaned toward a negative presentation of information. The divide was most prominent when the role of advising was introduced. Topics discussed in the research included making the choice to enter the medical profession, level of intelligence of medical students, personality traits, financial incentive, continuedEducation, …

Education Ain't Black: The Disidentification Of African American Students, Erica Lynette James

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, I will discuss the influence of education on the identity formation of African American students. Based on the scholarly literature in education theory, I will argue in Bourdieuan theory education, formal education, fails to accommodate the specific needs of African American students because education influences African American students to develop constructions of “whiteness" that education reinforces. As education attempts to uphold the “status quo” of American society, education simultaneously forces African American students to question the relevance of education. In questioning the relevance of education through high-achieving African American students’ use of language and pursuit of academic …