Digital Commons Network^™

Instructional Technology Integration 2.0: Teacher Training And Socially Enabled Help Resources, Diane K. Lafferty

Theses and Dissertations

The shift in technology to user-centric, social, collaborative mediums has effected education in profound ways. However, the amount of technology available for use in the classroom and the quantity of related instructional materials has eclipsed teachers' ability to effectively trouble shoot and integrate 2.0 tools into their students' learning experience. Creating a help 2.0 resource center for a specific body of faculty not only alleviates information management difficulties but provides a model of a socially enabled 2.0 sustained tool to help educate educators.

Nevada English Language Learner's Summary, Sonya D. Horsford, Christina Mokhtar, Carrie Sampson

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

The purpose of this report is to provide the public with an easy‐to‐understand review of the status of education for Nevada’s English Language Learner (ELL) population with a focus on Clark County. Nevada is ranked first in the U.S. for having the highest growth rate of Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals and fifth in the nation for having the largest share of LEP residents, only behind California, Texas, New York, and New Jersey (Migration Policy Institute, 2011). In the case of public education, student enrollment patterns over the last two decades reflect dramatic increases in ELL students in Nevada and …

Nevada's English Language Learner Population: A Review Of Enrollment, Outcomes, And Opportunities, Sonya D. Horsford, Christina Mokhtar, Carrie Sampson

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

The purpose of this report is to provide the public with an easy‐to‐understand review of the status of education for Nevada’s English Language Learner (ELL) population with a focus on Clark County. Nevada is ranked first in the U.S. for having the highest growth rate of Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals and fifth in the nation for having the largest share of LEP residents, only behind California, Texas, New York, and New Jersey (Migration Policy Institute, 2011). In the case of public education, student enrollment patterns over the last two decades reflect dramatic increases in ELL students in Nevada and …

The Effects Of Labeling Hispanic English Language Learners As Learning Disabled, Sandra Irma Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

English language learners (ELLs) are often placed in special education due to lack of knowledge on the part of educators of the language acquisition process and because of the pressures educators face to meet state and federal accountability standards. Once in special education, many students’ experiences lead to negative outcomes for those students including stigmatization, inadequate academic preparation, and few opportunities for a successful professional career potential. The purpose of this cross case study was to investigate the effects of labeling English language learners as learning disabled (LD). Three ELLs with normal intelligence who were labeled as LD and placed …

The Influence Of Culture And Identity On Second Language Acquisition: A Perspective From Egypt, Shirley Barber

Theses and Dissertations

Often, in second language classrooms, little or no attention is given by the teacher or curriculum (including the Educational system) to the identity of the student. A student enters the classroom with his own identity and culture. When acquiring a second language, it is necessary for the student to absorb the culture of the second language, too (Spackman, 2009, p.2). This is where the issue of culture and identity influencing second language acquisition occurs. In general, students represent the identity and culture of their first language and where they come from. The purpose of this study is to examine the …

From Toxic Tours To Growing The Grassroots: Tensions In Critical Pedagogy And Community Development, Celina Su, Isabelle Jagninski

Publications and Research

Structural inequalities in American public education are inextricably tied to deep-seated patterns of racial and economic segregation. Children in poor neighborhoods are less likely to have the household resources, neighborhood institutions, or school amenities necessary for a good, challenging education. In response, a growing number of organizations have launched initiatives to simultaneously revitalize neighborhoods and improve public education, emphasizing youth participation as an essential component in their efforts. We draw upon ethnographic data from two such organizations to examine their practice of place-based critical pedagogy in community development. We focus on how they engage marginalized, “hard-to-reach” youth via (1) experiential …

A Hub Website Of Online German Learning And Teaching: Resources For The Development Of 21st Century Skills, Carrie Christensen

All Graduate Projects

Rapid technological developments and relaxed international trade agreements have created increased global competition in the job market (Committee for Economic, 2006). In this global society and economy, a new set of skills will be required of the United States workforce. These 21st century skills include autonomous learning skills, communication skills, and technological literacy (Partnership, 2008). In order to support the development and instruction of these skills in the high school German classroom, a hub website of online resources for German teachers and students has been created. The resources available on the hub website include teacher resources, reference resources, instructional websites, …

Global-Mindedness And Intercultural Competence: A Quantitative Study Of Pre-Service Teachers, Qi Cui

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed pre-service teachers levels of global-mindedness and intercultural competence using the Global-Mindedness Scale (GMS) and the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and investigated the correlation between the two. The study examined whether the individual scale factors such as gender, perceived competence in non-native language or culture, frequency of interaction with people of diverse backgrounds, and teaching experience were good predictors of pre-service teachers global-mindedness and intercultural competence. The survey was conducted through Qualtrics with privacy protection. The Statistical Package of the Social Science (SPSS) was used and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), multiple regression, and Pearson product-moment correlation tests …

An Application Of The Theory Of Multiple Intelligence To Improve Academic Performance And Achievement Goals In The Early School Years, Marilyn Victoria Garcia-Mata

Theses Digitization Project

The present research project applied Howard Gardner's MI theory to the social studies curriculum of a third grade classroom. This intervention seeks to increase student's academic grade scores and learning goal orientation in the social studies chapter of Old and New Communities. The participants for this research project were third grade students enrolled at Assumption Catholic School in Los Angeles, California. The sample consisted of 11 third grade children.

Culture In Successful Title I Middle Schools, Bruce C. Lautenschlager

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the culture of successful Indiana public Title I middle schools. This study examined differences in similar schools of poverty achieving adequate yearly progress as defined by No Child Left Behind. The study explored the cultural differences that allow for student success using middle schools with student populations from urban and rural areas. Schools at the middle level showing student success and growth as defined by adequate yearly progress should exhibit a school culture with a high degree of collaboration among the school staff. Schools showing little student growth or no student …

Bringing Out The Dead: Curriculum History As Memory, Ann G. Winfield

Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Values, Sources Of The Values, And Its Influence On Student Personality Development: A Case Study From Pakistan, Sharifullah Baig, Zeenat Shah

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

This study explores the perceptions and level of awareness of teachers’ personal values and their influence on the valuation processes of their students in the specific social and cultural context of Pakistan. Within the qualitative paradigm, this study employed the deeplystructured, self-reflection process involving six teachers from three different school sites. The research participants highlighted the morality and ethics, role-modeling, affection and empathy, nation-building, and professional competency as their articulated values. Among these values, almost all of the participants regarded morality and ethics as the most prominent of the teachers. Alternatively, the more experienced teachers in this study were more …

The Future Of Legal Education: Three Visions And A Prediction, Harry W. Arthurs

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

I’m going to present three quite different views of what law schools ought to be and ought to do. The first holds that their primary, if not their sole, function should be to produce "practice-ready lawyers" for today’s profession. The second is that they should produce "tomorrow’s lawyers", lawyers with the capacity to adapt to the rapidly and radically changing circumstances of legal practice. And the third is that law schools should play a leading role in the creation and transformation of legal knowledge, legal practice, and the legal system — a role that requires them to provide their students …

The Metalogicon Of John Of Salisbury: Medieval Rhetoric As Educational Praxis, Brian Gilchrist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the following question: what are the implications of John of Salisbury's rhetorical theory for his approach to education? The Metalogicon, John's defense of the trivium, represents the primary text analyzed throughout the project. John's medieval rhetorical theory explicated the reciprocal relationship between rhetoric and education. The art of rhetoric acquired educational elements by providing ethical-theoretical frameworks to inform the practices of students and teachers. Experiences from the practices of students and teachers influenced the art of rhetoric. John called for an approach to medieval rhetorical education that could be placed into the service of all people living …

Components Of Family Engagement Programs In Evansville, Indiana, Middle Schools That Impact Parent Participation And Student Success, Elizabeth S. Wells

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Department ofEducation requires public schools to include strategies for increasing family involvement in their school improvement plans. However, a major problem exists for middle and high school principals: identifying these best practices. Therefore, school leaders at the middle and high school levels need to know how to increase and maintain interest in family engagement activities, as a means of enhancing student success and complying with federal policy. The purpose of this two-phase, sequential mixed methods study was to explore the parent responses to a district-wide building-level climate and engagement survey and to identify components implemented by successful urban …

Enhancing Memory Access For Less-Skilled Readers, Emily R. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

Ericcson and Kintch (1995) suggested that less-skilled readers often have an impoverished representation of text. The results of five experiments demonstrated that the addition of causality enhanced the text representation of less-skilled readers. Experiments 1-3 showed that the addition of causal information enhanced less-skilled readers' ability to detect global inconsistencies. Experiments 4 and 5 showed that the addition of causal information to updating information resulted in less-skilled readers updating to the same extent as skilled readers.

Factors Influencing Honors College Recruitment, Persistence, And Satisfaction At An Upper-Midwest Land Grant University, Timothy J. Nichols, Kuo-Liang Matt Chang

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Student success and the “completion agenda” are important issues in higher education today (Complete College America). For honors programs and colleges, understanding and advancing these issues requires data-driven approaches tailored to the unique honors student population and broader institutional contexts. Honors faculty and administrators hoping to succeed in their recruitment, retention, and graduation efforts need an accurate understanding of why students decide to enroll and persist as well as their satisfaction with honors experiences. Our research data provide particular insight into the student experience at South Dakota State University (SDSU) but may also be instructive to a broader audience of …

John Boswell: Posting Historical Landmarks At The Leading Edge Of The Culture Wars, Jeffery Cisneros

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

One of the most enduring and controversial figures in the field of history is John E. Boswell. His work on homosexuality and the history of the Christian Church was published at a key time during the Stonewall Riots in the late 1960s and the removal of homosexuality from the list of diagnostic mental disorders in the mid 1970s. This social upheaval created a dynamic that not only influenced Boswell personally but contributed to the vehement reaction to his book Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. …

Disability History: Humanity Worth Defending, Darren W. Minarik, Timothy Lintner

Faculty Publications

The authors consider the potential impact of teaching disability history and awareness in social studies classrooms. Social studies educators are encouraged to use disability history to move the concept of disability beyond Individualized Education Program (IEP) labels and medical pathology, allowing students to study and better understand the evolving social and cultural context of disability. An examination of disability “models” and the historical evolution of disability language is followed by strategies and resources for incorporating disability history and awareness in the social studies classroom. Ohio social studies educators are encouraged to support a Disability History and Awareness week or month …

Admission Crisis In Nigerian Universities : The Challenges Youth And Parents Face In Seeking Admission, Bakwaph Peter Kanyip

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The need for access to university education has recently become vital in Nigeria as a result of an increase in the college-age population and an awareness of the role of university education in the development of the individual as well as the nation. Recent admission policies of Nigerian universities have been dissatisfactory to the Nigerian public as many applicants and parents go through difficulties while seeking admission for limited available spaces in the universities. Universities take the task of admission of students into the academic system seriously, using the guidelines set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Joint …

Youth Development And Education In Pakistan : Exploring The Relationship, Dilshad Ashraf, Takbir Ali, Anya Hosain

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper provides a critical examination of the inter-linkages between youth education, development, empowerment, and engagement in Pakistan. Currently, the majority of the population falls within the youth age bracket of 15-24 years. The country stands at a critical juncture, where it can capitalize on this demographic dividend for transformational and sustainable socioeconomic growth. However, this paper argues that there is inadequate intersection and convergence between Pakistan’s national and provincial Education and Youth policy frameworks. An indepth overview of current trends in terms of quality of education and access to and participation in various forms of education programmes indicates that …

Role Of Nursing Professional Development In Helping Meet Institute Of Medicine's Future Of Nursing Recommendations, Association For Nursing Professional Development Public Policy Committee

General Submissions: Organizations - Position Statements, White and Resource Papers

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Initiative on The Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (Committee, 2011) was formed with the goal of identifying ways to transform the nursing profession to meet the challenges of a complex and rapidly changing health care system. The report on their findings was released in 2010. The committee made several recommendations regarding the education and training of both pre-licensure and established nurses throughout their career.

Preschool Language And Phonological Proficiencies In Predicting Stuttering Recovery Or Persistence, Caroline E. Spencer

Open Access Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between expressive and receptive language, phonological, and verbal working memory proficiencies in the preschool years and eventual recovery from or persistence in stuttering. Participants included 40 children who stutter (CWS). At ages 3-5 years, participants were administered the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language, 3rd edition (TACL-3), the Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test, 3rd edition (SPELT-3), Bankson-Bernthal Test of Phonology--Consonant Inventory subtest (BBTOP--CI), Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills--Revised (TAPS--R) auditory number memory and auditory word memory subtests, and the Dollaghan & Campbell Nonword Repetition Test (NRT). Stuttering behaviors were tracked …

A Response To Professor Wu Zongjie’S ‘Interpretation, Autonomy, And Transformation: Chinese Pedagogic Discourse In A Cross-Cultural Perspective', Thomas D. Curran

History Faculty Publications

In response to an essay by Prof Wu Zongjie that was published in the Journal of Curriculum studies [43(5), (2011), 569–590], I argue that, despite dramatic changes that have taken place in the language of Chinese academic discourse and pedagogy, evidence derived from the fields of psychology and the history of Chinese educational reform suggest that patterns of Chinese thought and culture have proven resistant to change. Not only have deeply rooted tendencies to perceive the world in ways that may be distinguished from Western analogues persisted but, not unlike contemporary school reformers, educators in the early twentieth century typically …

Foreign Language Anxiety In The Classroom And In An Online Environment, Monica Baez-Holley

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the levels of anxiety that students experienced when taking a foreign language in the classroom with those taking a foreign language at a distance. It also aimed to determine if the student's academic performance in the course could be predicted by his or her foreign language anxiety level. The sample consisted of 107 undergraduate students (57 traditional classroom students and 50 online students) enrolled in SPAN 101 at Indiana State University in the spring of 2012. Participants were asked to complete the L120 Questionnaire 2 developed by Hurd (2003). The original version of the instrument was used …

“Languages Of The Peoples Of Kazakhstan And Their Interaction” By Bakhytzhan Khassanov, And “Languages Of The Peoples Of Kazakhstan” By Eleonora Suleimenova, Nursulu Shaimerdenova, Dana Akanova, Aidyn Aldaberdikyzy

Russian Language Journal

A rich vein of articles and books has recently addressed some critical issues in the field of sociolinguistics in Kazakhstan, both in terms of theoretical perspectives and of their implications in the context of education and policy. A wide range of theoretical and practical questions of Kazakhstani sociolinguistics are addressed, including:

• Defining de jure and de facto status of languages;

• Content and stages of status and corpus language planning;

• Ethnic and linguistic identification of individuals, ethnic groups and the population altogether;

• Ethnic and linguistic consciousness and self-consciousness;

• Possibility and prevention of language conflicts;

• Defining …

English Language Learners: The Impact Of Language And Socio-Cultural Factors On Learning, Lori Navarrete, Silvana M. R. Watson

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Our daily educational experiences can be enriched by learning in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms because we learn from others whose experiences and beliefs are different than ours. We learn to communicate effectively and respectfully with individuals of varied backgroundsand then may then think twice about stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory behaviors because we grow as individuals, as stewards of knowledge, and as change agents. We become good citizens in a pluralistic society.

The Dilemma Of Response Among Early Childhood Educators To Rough-And Tumble Play In Educational Settings: Moving Beyond Expectations And Rediscovering Play, Carrie L. Smart

Master's Theses and Capstones

Early childhood educators often may struggle to find appropriate responses to rough-and-tumble play due to its unpredictable and risky nature. This case study examines the challenge of how two early childhood special educators in two inclusive public preschool classrooms make decisions about rough-and-tumble play for 4-year-old children. The stories presented are descriptive and based in an ecological context. Through the triangulation of interview, anecdotal observations, and frequency counts, three major themes of Teacher Beliefs, Context, and Teacher Reflection and Awareness emerged, illustrating the complex phenomenon of teacher response to rough-and-tumble play in inclusive settings. Analysis of the data revealed that …

The Effect Of A Speech-Generating Ipad Application On The Communication Outcomes Of Students Who Have Complex Communication Needs In Educational Settings: Three Case Studies, Amber Szilagyi

Master's Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the efficacy of the use of a speech-generating application on the Apple iPad as a speech-generating device (SGD) by measuring three students' progress towards individual communication goals using the Speak for Yourself! (SFY) speech-generating app. The proposed speech-generating device was implemented into regularly scheduled speech-language therapy sessions with 3 students with complex communication needs (CCNs) over a 12-week period. Data measured at three different points were collected by students' speech-language pathologists using Goal Attainment Scaling. Results were positive. All student participants made progress towards, reached, or exceeded communication goals during the …

Toward A Theory Of Interdisciplinarity: An Example Of Conceptual Integration/Blending In Teaching And Learning In Russian And East European Language-Based Area Studies, Anna Pleshakova, Kathleen M. Quinlan

Russian Language Journal

Most of problems in everyday and professional life are interdisciplinary, though most of our academic scholarship is contained within disciplines. To understand and solve such interdisciplinary problems, we must cross disciplinary boundaries. Yet, “the need to identify a method or/and logic of interdisciplinarity has, however, proven to be much easier to proclaim than to meet.”