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An Ethnographic Investigation Of The Process Of Change In Students' Environmental Identity And Pro-Environmental Behavior In An Environmental Science Course, Erica N. Blatt

Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, the Environmental Science course has become increasingly integrated into the high school curriculum as a component of the core curriculum, an AP course, or as an elective (Edelson, 2007); however, little research has been conducted to evaluate the course's effectiveness in developing students' understanding of their relationship with the environment (Zelezny, 1999). Therefore, this ethnographic study at a public high school in the Northeastern United States focuses on the teacher's goals for the Environmental Science course, how students respond to the enactment of these objectives during activities in the classroom, and how the class impacts students' views …

Educator Perceptions Of Policies That May Impact Black Male High School Persistence, L Antonio Henley

Doctoral Dissertations

This study purposed to identify educators' perceptions about the academic state of Black males, explore the influence of policies on Black males' high school persistence, and examine differences in educator perceptions with regards to the impact of education policies on African American males. Findings indicate that educators believe that Black males are doing poorly academically and educators are concerned about the academic progress of Black males. Also, educators do not to believe that the majority of policies identified in this research have any significant impact on the high school persistence of Black males. Further, there are significant differences in educators' …

Navigating The Cultural Gaps: Whiteness And Diversity In Two Elementary School Classrooms, Rachel Parse Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study asked how two white, in-service elementary school teachers within the context of their classrooms navigated the cultural gaps between themselves and students from whom they differed (e.g. racially, ethnically, socio-economically, and/or linguistically). Three sub-questions examined: 1) what life experiences shaped how the teachers understood difference and diversity within their classrooms; 2) what system(s) of beliefs the teachers learned and constructed through those experiences; and 3) what identities the teachers assumed and/or assigned to themselves and their students. The study employed a sociocultural theoretical framework. Ethnographic data collection strategies included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and material collection. Discourse analysis …

From Biosphere To Noosphere: Vladimir Vernadsky's Theoretical System As A Conceptual Framework For Universal Sustainability Education, Irina L. Trubetskova

Doctoral Dissertations

In light of accelerating global warming and climate change, the importance of sustainability education is unquestionable. It is a requirement of our time that sustainability education must become a part of any professional curriculum in higher education because today's college students are tomorrow's decision makers and the key players at local, national, and international levels.

Although the importance of education for a sustainable future has been recognized by the global community and we are now living through the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), a common conceptual approach to teaching sustainability does not exist. We face a …

The Superintendent's Role In Developing Peer Coaching, Barry C. Younghans

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how the behaviors of Indiana School district-level leaders create a culture of instructional, peer coaching in the district. An additional purpose was to discover any similarities between how district level leaders and leaders from different sized corporations behaved to create a climate of peer coaching. The increase in accountability brought about by both federal and state legislation has placed greater emphasis on providing each classroom with highly-trained instructors. One method of professional development that is currently being used to help ensure that students have access to excellent teachers is peer coaching; …

A Doctoral Thesis Examining Change In A Hei In Ireland: Changing Universities And The Response Of Academics To Change In The Dublin Institute Of Technology, Kevin Kelly

Books/Book chapters

This is doctoral thesis undertaken by an experienced academic in the Engineering Faculty of a Higher Education Institute in Ireland. It examines the demand for universities to change in response to a fast changing external environment. This research explores how stakeholders are responding to the demands for change and how a bureaucratic organisation is attempting to become more responsive and innovative.

Impact Of Nutrition Education On Dietary Habits Of Female High School Students, Rae L. Schmidt

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this study was to explore the impact of nutrition education on the nutritional intake of female high school students. Two groups of females from Saline High School (Saline, Michigan) participated in the study. Age, height, weight, and activity level were obtained from each student in the control group (N=5) and the experimental group (N=17). Participants also completed a demographic survey and a 3-day food diary (two weekdays and one weekend day). No significant differences were found between the groups in age, weight, height, or Body Mass Index (BMI). Diet analysis of the three-day food diaries showed significant …

Bedouin Women In The Naqab, Israel: Ongoing Transformation, Marcy M. Wells

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Since its inception in 1948, the state of Israel has based development plans on an agenda of nation-building that has systematically excluded Palestinian Arab citizens such as the indigenous Bedouin. Policies of relocation, resettlement, and restructuring have been imposed on the Bedouin, forcing them from their ancestral lands and lifestyle in the Naqab (or Negev, as it is called in Hebrew) desert of southern Israel. The rapid and involuntary transition from self-sufficient, semi-nomadic, pastoral life to sedentarization and modernization has resulted in dependency on a state that treats the Bedouin as minority outsiders through unjust social, political, and economic structures. …

President's Report, 2010, University Of Montana (Missoula, Mont.). Office Of The President

University of Montana President’s Report, 1993-2016

The President’s Report of the University of Montana, produced by University Relations on behalf of the President’s Office.

Examining The Relationship Between Early College Credit And Higher Education Achievement Of First-Time Undergraduate Students In South Texas, Carl A. Saltarelli Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between early college credit and the success of first-time undergraduate students in South Texas. Many high school graduates are entering college with credits earned while they were enrolled in high school. Researchers have examined the value of early college credit in easing students’ transition from high school to college. Additionally, researchers have investigated the value of early college credit in enhancing students’ early college persistence rates. This researcher focused on the relationships between early college credit and college student achievement of first-time undergraduate students. In the study, student achievement was …

Geographilia In Children's Urban Spaces: Investigating How Children Explore Outdoor Places And Connect With Natural Objects., Jeanine Sandra Garella

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

ABSTRACT Garella, Jeanine Sandra, M.A., Autumn 2010 Geography Geographilia in Children’s Urban Spaces: Investigating How Children Explore Outdoor Places and Connect With Natural Objects Chairperson: Jeffrey A. Gritzner The benefits children receive from outdoor play time are well documented by scholars across many disciplines. Interacting within an unstructured natural setting can foster physical, social, emotional, and spiritual growth. The lessons learned in such an environment not only help children reach developmental milestones; they also play an important role in the formation of beliefs and attitudes used in decision-making processes later in life. This is a significant point to make when …

The Pipeline Project: Trajectories Of Classroom Behaviour And Academic Progress : A Study Of Student Engagement With Learning, Max Angus, Tim Mcdonald, Chris Ormond, Rudy Rybarcyk, Anthea Taylor, Anne Winterton

Research outputs pre 2011

The Pipeline Project addresses three questions concerning the relationship between the classroom behaviour of students and their academic performance. First, to what extent does classroom behaviour explain why students fall behind and fail to meet acceptable standards in literacy and numeracy; second, if student classroom behaviour does influence academic performance, what forms of classroom behaviour are of most significance; and third, are the students whose behaviour has contributed to their underperformance in literacy and numeracy likely to ever catch up?

Democratic Or Gendered Domain: Communication And Learning Styles In The Online Classroom, Jennifer Ann Bruns

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) within cyberspace has become a recent pedagogical phenomenon. Cyberspace creates a domain for new learning environments. Using the online classroom has the potential to break down gender barriers and erect a more democratic space for students. Even with this limitless potential, there are competing conceptions regarding these new and promising classrooms--will online education conform to the same standards that shape a gendered society, or will these classrooms create a more equitable environment for both male and female students? Because of the rising numbers of online female students, gender bias becomes an increasingly important research topic. Yet the …

Losing The Competition : A Multi-Level Analysis Of Over-Education In The United States, 1971-2006, China Layne

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Since 1970, the U.S. labor market has seen a dramatic increase in the occurrence of over-education, where a worker has more education than what is common for their occupation. Although there has been considerable research on the subject, most study has focused on the consequences of over-qualification rather than the causes of or demographic differences in over-education. Additionally, little research on over-qualification has been conducted in the U.S. since 1990. This study extends the data and analysis on over-qualification beyond the 1980s and considers four previously unexamined questions. First, to what extent do workers' log odds of over-education depend on …

"We Do Not See Things As They Are. We See Things As We Are." : Capturing The Transformation Of Career Changing Women From Stem Fields To Teaching, Catherine Snyder

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This qualitative study tracks the journeys of four career changing women in STEM fields as they pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and transition into teaching positions. Through analysis of archived writing, journaling, photo elicitation, interviews and member-checking, the study analyzes participants' thinking and learning at the beginning of their entrance into graduate school through to their second year of teaching. Using Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory, the study focuses on the challenges faced by the women, the catalysts for change, the durability of lessons learned in the teaching program and their degree of contentment with their decision given …

Hip Hip 101: A University Level Course Curriculum For Examining Hip Hop In The Modern World, David Ma

Master's Theses

Hip Hop 101 is a university level course curriculum intended for use by college level educators. It serves as a primer on hip-hop history and includes daily lesson plans that use multi-media tools to scaffold student learning. It was produced under the belief that hip-hop (its music and culture) deserve the time and examination as other longstanding disciplines.

Border Pedagogy And The Acculturation Of Korean Students In U.S. Institutions Of Highereducation, Randy Green

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed at identifying learning and teaching strategies that can promote the process of acculturation for Korean students in institutions of higherEducation in the United States. In particular, the study attempted to pinpoint ways in which these students and their instructors can become aware of and resistEducational tendencies and approaches that promote hegemony and devalue cultural perspectives and experiences as well as construct meaning within the context of a worldview that is influenced by both Korean and U.S. cultures. It was hoped that the identification of these skills and strategies would aid both students and instructors in developing the …

Professors With Criminal Records: Criminology & Criminal Justice Students Views On Former Convicts As Professors, John Frana

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As America's incarceration binge begins its fourth decade, one unintended consequence of this social policy has been a growing number of criminologists/sociologists who have personal experience with incarceration as many former convicts have been pursuingEducation as an avenue for successful re-entry. Some of these ex-convicts have begun to secure PhD's and have been conducting research as well as teaching various university courses in Sociology and/or Criminology and Criminal Justice. Within this thesis the myths maintained by society surrounding crime and prisoners will be discussed. Using survey research, students majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice ( n = 186) at ISU …

What Educational Initiatives Contribute To Higher Than Expected Achievement In Student Performance For Public Schools In The State Of Indiana?, Thomas Allen Keeley

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the areas of teaching methods, teacher-student relationships, school structure, school-community partnerships or school leadership were significantly embedded in practice and acted as a change agent among school systems that achieve higher than expected results on their state standardized testing while controlling for their socio-economic status. Another area of insight gained from the comparison of the specific practices at the building level that were found in high-achieving schools and may not be present in schools identified as low-achieving. Individual characteristics of students impact the learning environment for all children. Educators can make …

Media And Youth Identity In Pakistan: Global-Local Dynamics And Disjuncture, Al-Karim Datoo

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The paper critically analyzes the engagement of a group of Pakistani urban youth with global cultural flows through media, and their responses to those flows. The discussion mainly centres around an analysis of a re-make of a drama-skit performed by a group of Pakistani urban high school youth during their school’s annual function which could be regarded as a kind of satire providing a cultural critique on the way cultural globalization, through media (especially cultural production through Indian Bollywood film/soap media-industry), is influencing urban Pakistani youth's perception of 'local' values, norms and identities. For the analysis, the paper draws upon …

Multigrade Education, Shereen Abd El Razek Kamel

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The main aim of this review is to provide an overall picture of multigrade education; what it is about, its various forms, when it has emerged, where and why it is applied, and where and why it works best. I will try to explore how far the kind of education should fit the social context, whether we should stick to formal public education even if it is not working in some areas, and how far muligrade schooling can be an alternative developmental strategy to fill in the gaps of the public education system. This was a term paper I submitted …

The Integration Of Information And Communication Technologies In The Content Areas And Adolescent Motivation, Lindsey Diane Blackwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the types of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) integrated into the content area classrooms of two local high schools, and whether the use of these ICTs motivated adolescent students to read and write in the content areas. The investigator created a student survey, student, teacher, and other support faculty interview protocols, and a classroom observation protocol to collect data for the study. The investigator faced several challenges which prevented her from spending adequate time in the schools. Due to these challenges, sufficient data was not obtained to form conclusions about the research questions. This …

Alchemy In Education: Towards A Preschool Model In College Classrooms, Brad Van Alstyne

Collected Faculty Scholarship

Education has long been a necessary, yet standardized procedure with little difference from program to program or school to school. In this paper I argue that more of a creative approach using existing educational models such as preschool education would serve us well in the development of student skills at all levels, including college. I also contend that an alchemical metaphor would be useful in the application and acknowledgement of the value of such an approach.

Christian Seminary Students' Attitudes Toward Psychology: Effects Of An Introductory Course On The Integration Of Psychology And Theology , Scott Woods

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

Tensions In A Nepali Telecenter: An Ethnographic Look At Progress Using Activity Theory, Jeffrey Chih-Yih Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Developing countries such as Nepal struggle to keep up technologically. While advances make it possible for average Nepalis to access mobile phones, computers, and digital cameras, barriers impede access. As with other governments (Huerta & Rodrigo, 2007; Mokhtarian & Meenakshisun, 2002), Nepal responded in 2004 with telecenters to push sustainable technology. Most telecenters still struggle to accomplish their purpose (M. K. Bhattarai, personal communication, June 29, 2009). Developing countries struggle to meet communities' technological demands (Colle & Raul, 2003). Issues other than technology limit telecenters from fully providing services and meeting the needs of the local community. These issues, which …

Understanding Teen Pregnancy Amongst Latinas: An Investigation Of The Cultural Values And Societal Factors That Contribute To Adolescent Motherhood, Mary Bateman Krom

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis presents an investigation into the various cultural and societal factors that contribute to the Latina teen pregnancy rate. According to the PEW Hispanic Center, Latinas account for more instances of adolescent motherhood than any other ethnic or ethnic demographic in the country. Although much research has been done in the area of teen pregnancy, so far little has been completed with the specified focus on the Latina population. This study therefore offers a unique perspective of the phenomenon in its consideration of various literary and sociological works, by both Latina and non-Latina authors, that underscore the prevalence of …

Teaching News Literacy In The Age Of New Media: Why Secondary School Students Should Be Taught To Judge The Credibility Of The News They Consume, Elia Powers

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This paper involves two of the oldest institutions in America -- schools and the press -- and the preparation of informed citizens in the age of new media. I examine the manner and ways in which news literacy, the use of critical thinking skills to judge the reliability of news reports and news sources, is taught to secondary school students in the United States. It is axiomatic that a vigorous and independent press is critical to our democracy. Yet news literacy has not historically been included in the public school curriculum and continues to be widely absent, despite states vowing …

The Significance Of Learning Style With Respect To Achievement In First Year Programming Students, Vivian Campbell, Michael Johnstone

Research outputs pre 2011

Study investigates the relationship between the Kolb learning style of first-year programming students and their level of achievement. The method of data collection is described and the process of hypothesis testing is explained. The students in this study were predominately converger and accommodator learning styles. Statistical tests indicated no overall difference between the results of students with different learning styles but a difference was found along Kolb's concrete-abstract axis. A number of possible impacts on teaching are discussed and suggestions made for future research.

Playing In A New Key, In A New World: Virtual Worlds, Millennial Writers, And 3d Composition, Joe Essid

English Faculty Publications

In the author’s courses, students have been augmentationist, not immersionist, in their approaches to using technology. In a virtual world, however, they are born with new skins into strange settings, doing things that might be impossible in the world of matter. Their frequent discomfort at this rebirth corroborates findings in two studies (Mosier, 2009; Howe & Strauss, 2000) that American "Millennials" distrust activities that seem to have no direct bearing on their educational outcomes, established social circles, or professional desires. The chapter describes assignments for such students, in the context of Rouzie s (2005) "serio-ludic "pedagogy. Several touchstones for educators …

Using Knowledge Of Student Cognition To Differentiate Instruction, Silvana M.R. Watson, Robert A. Gable

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

By all accounts, learning is a complex task that requires a student to use and apply a range of cognitive skills. A student's ability to retain information while performing concurrent processing, often referred to as working memory (WM), is critical to the acquisition of increasingly more complex knowledge and skills. Not surprisingly, WM is often linked to successful learning and student academic achievement. According to the academic literature, WM is a very useful measure of a student's capability to acquire new information². Most students are able to successfully respond to classroom instruction that requires them to rely on their WM …