Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Intersection Of Teachers' Expectations, African American Males, And Equitable Strategies, Adell Cothorne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Elementary African American males achieve proficiency at a lower rate than their peers in both reading and math. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how elementary school teachers described their use of equitable strategies in teaching elementary African American male students, how these teachers described the experience of teaching African American male students, and how they used equitable strategies to shape the classroom environment to engage African American male students. Two theories provided the conceptual framework for this study-human development theory and critical race theory in education. Seven participants were selected through convenience sampling. Semistructured interviews …

Middle School Teachers' Use And Perceptions Of Digital Game-Based Learning, Spencer Vogt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies have shown that digital media and digital games can enhance students' learning experience. However, few teachers appear to use digital game-based learning (DGBL) regularly. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how middle school teachers use DGBL in the classroom and the factors that positively and negatively influenced their choices to use DGBL. Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory framed the study. Research questions examined how middle school teachers use DGBL in the classroom, what they view as positively and negatively influencing decisions to integrate DGBL, and differences based upon the point in their teaching career when they …

Student Perceptions Of Environmental Quality While Attending Accelerated Medical Technology College Courses, Ralph L. Westbrook

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Regional weather patterns in the southwestern United States frequently test the engineering involved in indoor air handling equipment in college facilities. Although an adequate indoor thermal environment has been found to affect student learning, little is known about students' perceptions of classroom heating and ventilation and impacts on learning. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how students in accelerated medical technology courses perceived the environmental quality in their classrooms and discern whether these conditions affected overall gains in knowledge, persistence, and retention in their learning. Fourteen participants from 2 local community colleges were interviewed using purposeful sampling. …

The Role Of Parents In Literacy Development During Kindergarten, Jason Eugene Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parental involvement contributes to the improvement of student achievement. Although children entered kindergarten with varying levels of literacy development, parents might perceive kindergarten literacy instruction as a panacea for any lacking skills, therefore lessening their involvement in their children's literacy development. Thus, there was a need to understand parents' perceptions of the importance of (a) their involvement in the education of their children, (b) their role in their children's literacy development during kindergarten, and (c) their role in their children's early literacy development as influencing their children's overall literacy development. Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development served as a guide …

Differences In The Use And Perceptions Of Evidence-Based Practice Between Occupational Therapy Students And Practitioners, Alison Nichols, Paige Creighton, Annie Derolf, Shelby Hale, Leann Vandeman, Kersten Laughlin, Kelsie Long

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

This study explored differences in perceptions of evidence-based practice (EBP) between occupational therapy (OT) students and practitioners. Researchers aimed to understand student and practitioner perceptions of barriers, knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in EBP. Occupational therapy students (n=61) and practitioners (n=21) completed an online researcher-created survey and the Evidence-Based Practice Confidence (EPIC) Scale survey. Results indicated practitioners were more confident in utilizing EBP than students, particularly when identifying a gap in knowledge related to a patient (p = <.001) deciding on a course of action for a client (p = <.001), and assessing the efficacy of EBP on client outcomes (p = <.001). This finding was inconsistent with previous research, which may be due to more practitioners receiving formal education on EBP. It is critical for OT education to support student learning and application of clinical reasoning throughout the EBP process in order to increase confidence. This study was limited by the use of a homogenous population from a single university.

The “Americanization” Of Global Education: A Comparative Study Of American And Italian Students At John Cabot University In Rome, Italy, Chiara Evelti

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

With the turn of the century, the rise of globalization has greatly impacted, and continues to impact, the development of nation-states’ economies and native cultures. This international phenomenon generates the idea that countries are now on a similar playing field, whether that be culturally, economically, or politically. While it is hard to defend the latter, globalization has seemingly “flattened” the world by way of bringing individuals of different cultures, ethnicities, races, genders, and nationalities closer together. Moreover, as citizens of this internationalized community, we see a specific type of cultural globalization through increased opportunities in travel, the rise in number …

Governmental Funding Of K-12 Arts Programs, Elizabeth Abbick

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Among the significant political debates of our time is how to dedicate resources to different programs, and what types of ideas will be funded and subsidized by the government. Unfortunately, even the United States is not a nation of unlimited resources. In general, arts programs are one of the first to be cut from schools, as they are not seen to be equal to math, reading, or even sports. However, arts programs could be an integral part of the successes of the elementary, middle, and high school student. In my thesis, I will explore the differences between students who have …

Investigating The Relationship Between Students’ Digital Literacy And Their Attitude Towards Using Ict, Salma Jan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This study aimed to explore the relationship between secondary school students’ digital literacy and their attitude towards using information and communication technology in a private secondary school in Karachi, Pakistan. For this study, the data were collected through survey questionnaire using google forms. The total sample size for this study was 344 secondary school students having almost equal ratio of male and female. On bivariate correlation analysis, digital literacy was found to be associated with students’ attitude towards using information and communication technology (ICT) and other ICT related demographics. Further analysis using multiple linear regression analysis showed that digital literacy …

To Be Learned Is Good: Essays On Faith And Scholarship In Honor Of Richard Lyman Bushman, Hannah Charlesworth

BYU Studies

J. Spencer Fluhman, Kathleen Flake, and Jed Woodworth, eds., To Be Learned Is Good: Essays on Faith and Scholarship in Honor of Richard Lyman Bushman (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2017)

Educated: A Memoir, Angela Hallstrom

BYU Studies

Educated: A Memoir By Tara Westover

New York: Random House, 2018

Becoming Active Citizens: Motivations To Volunteer Among Undergraduate Students In A Liberal Arts College, Jessica Washington

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Nonprofit organizations exist to meet community needs—often competing against 1.5 million other nonprofits for resources (e.g., money and staff). Consequently, these charitable organizations rely on volunteers to support critical functions, such as fundraising and service provision. Without effective volunteer recruitment strategies, nonprofits may fail to attract the human capital needed for these functions. Furthermore, undergraduate students—conduits of the democratic purpose of higher education—represent a special group of volunteers (who also volunteer at twice the rate of their non-college attending peers). Understanding the volunteer motivations of undergraduate students enrolled in liberal arts colleges provides implications for future research, volunteer recruitment efforts …

The Impact Of Outdoor Education On Health, Tessa A. Leake

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

I studied the effect that outdoor education and experiential learning has on health by interviewing students who participated in the University of Montana’s Patagonia study abroad course during winter-session 2018. I interviewed participants before and after the course and asked them a series of questions about their health. Questions included how they defined health, what the greatest determinants of health are, if they have control over their health, and if they considered themselves to be in good health. Students were also asked to rate their levels of health overall, mentally, and physically in regard to both themselves and in comparison …

High School Blended Learning Courses : Teacher Beliefs, Perceptions Of Experiences, And Recommendations, Pamela Culbertson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Increasingly, more high school teachers are providing instruction using blended learning. This provides benefits to students such as having more time flexibility in their learning as well as the ability to work through assignments at their own pace (Oliver & Kellogg, 2015). However, this also involves student challenges, such as the need for self-motivation and time management.

Aspiration, Attainment, And Assimilation : A Critical Ethnography Of Newcomer Youth In An American High School, Aaron Leo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As immigrants and refugees constitute an increasingly large proportion of public school students across the United States, much scholarly attention has focused on the variables which promote and hamper academic success of these students. Specifically, the high aspirations and optimistic attitudes towards schooling and the effects of assimilation pressures have been identified as two important features contributing to the academic performance of newcomers.

Girlsread! Girls’ Rights: An Empowerment Curriculum, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Nicole Haberland, Barbara Mensch, Pamela Nyirenda, Diana Bulanda-Shalala

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This curriculum guide is designed to help female mentors in the GirlsRead! program in Zambia to directly engage girls in critical thinking about gender inequalities and discrimination, and help them build the assets and confidence needed to act on their own behalf and as progressive voices in their communities. GirlsRead! participants are girls in grade 7—the last year of primary school—when they are at high risk of leaving school. The curriculum includes 19 sessions that cover a range of topics from gender equality to sexuality to rights, in meetings that provide a space and opportunity for girls to regularly interact …

A Study Of Employment Outcomes Among Technical And Vocational Secondary Education Graduates In Egypt [Arabic], Salma Nasser, Ali Rashed

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Egypt, some 450,000 students graduate from technical and vocational schools each year. Yet just over 50 percent are employed immediately following their graduation. This brief explores the kinds of jobs that are available to these graduates, and the factors that affect the remaining 50 percent who do not join the work force. The report aims to understand the types of training that best prepare students for the available jobs, differences in opportunities for male and female graduates, and connections between work and the home and/or community circumstances that may hinder employment. The report offers recommendations for improving the education …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Health, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) intervention was conducted over two years to support more than 11,000 vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. It was led by the Population Council in partnership with the Young Women’s Christian Association of Zambia (YWCA), the National Savings and Credit Bank of Zambia (Natsave), and the Government of Zambia. To assess the impact of AGEP on mediating and longer-term demographic, reproductive, and health outcomes, Population Council researchers designed and implemented a longitudinal, cluster randomized controlled trial across all program areas. This brief presents the final AGEP findings, highlighting, in the Zambian context, what can be …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Programme: Endline Technical Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Paul C. Hewett, Natalie Jackson Hachonda, Jere R. Behrman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The theory of change behind the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) posited that adolescent girls are empowered by building social, health, and economic assets that they can then draw on to reduce vulnerabilities and expand opportunities. In the long term, they will then increase their likelihood of completing school, delaying sexual debut, and reducing risks of early marriages, unintended pregnancies, acquisition of HIV, and other possibly detrimental outcomes. This endline report indicates that, while there were some changes for the program participants in the medium and long term, they did not translate into longer-term effects on reproductive and demographic outcomes …

Pedaling Toward The Future: Increasing And Maintaining The School Attendance Of Adolescent Girls In Indigenous Communities Of Rural Guatemala, Paola Broll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Population Council Guatemala, with the support of UNFPA and other donors, developed a strategy of expansion and scale up of Abriendo Oportunidades (AO) through geographic conglomerates with an ecological approach. They provided 250 bicycles as an additional component of AO to assess its effectiveness in increasing mobility and school attendance in four municipalities in Guatemala. This brief describes how the project was successful in increasing mobility, reinsertion, and completion of the 2017 school year among its participants. Results show that the provision of bicycles to adolescents participating in the Abriendo Oportunidades program increased school reintegration from the 2016 cycle to …

Skill Retention After School-Leaving: Analysis Of Data From The Malawi Schooling And Adolescent Study, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Barbara Mensch, Stephanie Psaki, Monica J. Grant, Christine A. Kelly, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The skills young people develop in school provide an essential foundation that can either be reinforced or deteriorate depending on the strength of the foundation and opportunities after leaving school. This brief describes findings from an analysis of a longitudinal data set of Malawian adolescents aged 14–17 attending school when first interviewed in 2007. The study investigated whether literacy and numeracy skills at school-leaving—among those who dropped out before completing secondary school—were retained several years after. Results show a significant gender difference in skill level after school-leaving for English skills, even after controlling for initial skill level and grade attainment, …

Girlsread! Zambia: Dreams Innovation Challenge, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

GirlsRead! is an education and empowerment program in Zambia. It includes three interventions: 1) safe space groups for girls, 2) e-readers designed for rural Africa, and 3) community engagement to bolster learning outcomes and reduce the likelihood that girls will leave school early. This brief describes the program, evaluation results, and implications.

Abriendo Oportunidades: Material Didáctico Para Sesiones De Trabajo, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Este documento es parte de los materiales de enseñanza para mentores en el programa Abriendo Oportunidades. La hoja informativa presenta los derechos de las niñas, adolescentes y mujeres indígenas. Incluye un mapa de los 22 departamentos administrativos de Guatemala.

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This document is part of the teaching materials for mentors in the Abriendo Oportunidades program. The fact sheet outlines the rights of indigenous girls, adolescents, and women. It includes a map of Guatemala's 22 administrative departments.

Abriendo Oportunidades A La Incidencia Política En Mi Comunidad: Guía Curricular, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

La propuesta de Abriendo Oportunidades® a la Incidencia Política en Mi Comunidad enfatiza en la condición ciudadana de las niñas y adolescentes, impulsando su interés por comprometerse con mejoras en su comunidad a través de su participación en el diseño y ejecución de acciones de incidencia política a nivel familiar, escolar, comunitario y municipal. Esta guía es un instrumento para las mentoras comunitarias que apoyan a las niñas y adolescentes participantes en el fortalecimiento de sus habilidades para la vida y en el desarrollo de competencias para realizar incidencia política a nivel comunitario. Siguiendo el modelo educativo de Abriendo Oportunidades, …

Trabajando En Incidencia Política Hacia Una Mejor Vida Para Las Niñas, Jóvenes Y Mujeres En Mi Comunidad, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Las guías de trabajo para la incidencia política comunitaria se hacen con el objetivo de enfatizar la condición ciudadana de las niñas y adolescentes e impulsar su interés por comprometerse a mejoras en su comunidad a través de su participación política. El Population Council ha desarrollado estas herramientas para apoyar el trabajo de jóvenes lideresas en el diseño y ejecución de acciones de incidencia a nivel familiar, escolar, comunitario y municipal. El contenido abordado en este material se enfoca especialmente en temas relativos a la prevención de la violencia y garantía de derechos a mujeres, niñez y juventud, y pueblos …

Program Modalidades Flexibles: Integrated Curriculum Guide—Primer Semestre, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Guatemala ha enfrentado grandes desafíos para garantizar a sus habitantes el acceso a la educación secundaria, especialmente a las mujeres jóvenes que enfrentan mayores retos para continuar su vida escolar. Ante esta realidad, el Population Council se suma a los esfuerzos de la Dirección General de Educación Extraescolar del Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala para acercar el Nivel de Educación Media a las comunidades más vulnerables. Esto se ha logrado al incorporar el programa Modalidades Flexibles para Ciclo Básico como componente clave en la atención a la población joven y más excluida del sistema escolar. Mediante el diseño y elaboración …

Program Modalidades Flexibles: Integrated Curriculum Guide—Segundo Semestre, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

El Population Council se suma a los esfuerzos de la Dirección General de Educación Extraescolar del Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala para acercar el Nivel de Educación Media a las comunidades más vulnerables. Esto se ha logrado al incorporar el programa Modalidades Flexibles para Ciclo Básico como componente clave en la atención a la población joven y más excluida del sistema escolar. Mediante el diseño y elaboración de esta guía de aprendizaje se ofrece un recurso para estudiantes y docentes que están participando en el segundo semestre de la etapa II del Ciclo Básico del programa Modalidades Flexibles. El abordaje …

Pronunciation Instruction Can Improve L2 Learners' Bottom-Up Processing For Listening, Elizabeth M. Kissling

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Listening is widely regarded as an important skill that is difficult and necessary to teach in L2 classrooms. Listening requires both top-down and bottom-up processing, yet pedagogical techniques for the latter are often lacking. This study explores the efficacy of pronunciation instruction (PI) for improving learners’ bottom-up processing. The study recruited 116 relatively novice learners of Spanish as a foreign language and provided the experimental groups with brief lessons in PI emphasizing segmental or suprasegmental features followed by production-focused or perception-focused practice. Learners’ bottom-up processing skill was assessed with a sentence-level dictation task. Learners given PI on suprasegmental features followed …

Experiences That Predict Employment For Students With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In Federally Funded Higher Education Programs, Meg Grigal, Clare Papay, Frank Smith, Debra Hart, Rayna Verbeck

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

The Transition and Postsecondary Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) model demonstration program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education was implemented initially from 2010 to 2015. During this time, 27 institutions of higher education were awarded grants to develop programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to access higher education. TPSID programs were charged with developing model demonstration programs that would lead to gainful employment. In this article, we identify predictors of employment while in the program and at exit for students who completed a TPSID program between 2010 and 2015. Results …

Experiences That Predict Employment For Students With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In Federally Funded Higher Education Programs, Meg Grigal, Clare Papay, Frank Smith, Debra Hart, Rayna Verbeck

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

The Transition and Postsecondary Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) model demonstration program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education was implemented initially from 2010 to 2015. During this time, 27 institutions of higher education were awarded grants to develop programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to access higher education. TPSID programs were charged with developing model demonstration programs that would lead to gainful employment. In this article, we identify predictors of employment while in the program and at exit for students who completed a TPSID program between 2010 and 2015. Results …

Role Of The Commission On Higher Education In Promoting Quality Education, Cecilia F. Malolos, Tereso S. Tullao Jr

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Quality education is seen as an important contributor to the country’s economic development. The role of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in promoting this quality education is embodied in its legal mandate. As a government agency mandated to ensure that the delivery of quality education is observed by schools of higher learning to ultimately attain the national development goals and improve the economic condition of the Philippines, CHED was given enough authorities to perform its bi-focal roles of being regulatory or developmental. Acknowledging the significance of accreditation in promoting quality education, quality assurance activities and the different accrediting bodies …