Arts and Humanities Commons^™

In Search Of Effective Second Language Arabic Vocabulary Teaching Strategies: Theory And Implementation, Asmaa Yazidi Alaoui

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the outcome of the author’s studies in the Masters of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU) as well as her experience as a graduate instructor of Arabic at the same university.

This work has two main parts. The first comprises the three major components that present the author’s perspectives as a teacher, such as professional environment, teaching philosophy statement and the teaching observation.

The second part demonstrated the author’s research interest that aligned with her teaching perspective as an Arabic teacher. It was a position paper that called for Arabic vocabulary teaching strategies …

Changing The Narrative: Proofreading At The Writing Center, Claire Atwood

Tutor's Column

Writing Centers have a golden rule against proofreading. It gives student’s the impression that they can send their paper in to a tutor and they’ll correct all the grammar and semantics errors for them. This does not facilitate learning on the part of the student, and diminishes a tutor’s purpose, to tutor on writing. There needs to be a switch in how we approach a proofreading request, so we don’t refuse services to any students. Tutors can find grammatical errors and use them to teach basic principles.

New Perspectives On Promoting Efl Teaching And Learning In Oman, Jihan Sulaiman Al Naabi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is an accumulation of work that the author accomplished during her study in the program of Master of Second Language Teaching at Utah State University. It is an outcome of the author’s personal teaching experiences, insights gained from her master’s study, and several class observations as well.

The portfolio comprises three primary portions: (1) teaching perspectives, (2) research perspectives, and (3) an annotated bibliography. The teaching perspectives revolve around the author’s beliefs on the role of both teachers and students in L2 classrooms, the communicative teaching of grammar, and the value of a positive learning environment. The research …

Racial Conflict In Early Utah: Mormon, Native American And Federal Relations, Raelyn M. Embleton

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This website is for teachers to gain information and sources about Utah history during the early territorial period, specifically relating to conflicts between Mormon settlers, Native Americans, and federal officials. The content and site were designed with the C3 curriculum in mind, as such, at the bottom of this page you can find a downloadable Inquiry Design Model Blueprint. As you teach students this information, the compelling question to have students focus on is: “Does culture and the interaction of cultures shape the development of place?” Each event highlighted on this website is related to the other and demonstrates how …

“Good Enough”: Teaching Confidence Through Revision, Mckayla Freeman

Tutor's Column

This paper explores the relationship between a student’s writing and their response to criticism. Many students respond negatively to revision suggestions when they have already finished their paper. However, revision is a vital part of all writings and must be included in the writing process. Criticizing a student’s essay can often cause the student to feel personally insulted. In order for them to revisit and edit something they’ve written, tutors must encourage them and remind them of the things they did well before pointing out mistakes. This will cause the student to remain self-affirmed, confident, and ready to change their …

“Does That Make Sense?” The Importance Of Clear Assignment Instructions And Rubrics, Carly Schaelling

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Students often struggle to understand the expectations of their teachers when completing writing assignments. Teachers often feel frustrated when students seem to understand what they are asking, only to grade papers and see that the gap between their assignment tasks and students’ performance is larger than expected. As a Writing Center tutor and first year graduate instructor for English 1010, I have had experiences that have helped me appreciate the importance of having clear written assignment instructions as well as detailed rubrics. Having these two elements incorporated with assignments can help students focus more on their writing tasks and less …

Adaption Reaction, Michelle Jones

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Jones identifies adaptability as a fundamental aspect of tutoring and teaching success. Teachers and tutors who are genuinely invested in students find themselves in unconventional discussions. Being adaptable in these off - script situations leads to better listening and understanding.

“Whatever Happened With That Student?”: How To Measure Our Success As A Tutor And Teacher, Rachel Ross

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Through her experience as a peer tutor and teacher, Ross finds success as a tutor and teacher cannot be entirely defined by the student. Ross shares an impactful tutoring session that ultimately led to inaction on the student's part. In reflecting on this tutoring appointment, she chooses to focus on the good that happened during her interaction with the student instead of the end result. Ross ultimately defines success as growth in process.

A Folklorist's Touch, Daisy Ahlstone

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Ahlstone uses folklorist questioning strategies to make the most of her short time with her students and writing center tutees. She suggests asking open-ended, contextualizing, environmental genre, and specific open-ended questions to help students open up and think critically.

Three Powerful Tools For Teaching And Tutoring, Chris Davis

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Though initially perplexed by the writing center tutor requirements for graduate students, Chris Davis found tutoring beneficial to his teaching. He identifies questioning techniques, the inverted triangle of focus, and reading aloud as three of the most beneficial crossovers between peer tutoring and teaching. His essay gives specific examples of how these techniques have helped him in both tutoring and teaching.

Dynamics Of War: Culture, Society, Environment, And Pedagogy, Breanne Jacobsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

War is an ever-present feature of human civilization. Nearly all cultures and societies show accounts of human conflict. This portfolio seeks to provide both a multidimensional analysis of war and a means of instructing students to appreciate its significance as a driving force of history using three different components.

The syllabus project provides a long-term view of how the various wars and conflicts came to be and progressed in Western Civilization in the modern era.

The chapter-length paper shows the ravaging effects that war and conflict can have on a physical landscape and the environment in which the conflict takes …

Teaching Social Studies Through Drama, Colin Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Educators and researchers have long discussed methods for improving student achievement in the social studies and history. Research on student attitudes reveals that the social studies suffers from a lack of interest among students. Common complaints among students are that the subject is tedious, does not relate to their lives, is not particularly useful for their future careers, is repetitive, or that it is simply boring (Schug et al., 1982). Even when students recognize the utilitarian value of skills they learn from social studies / history, they rarely express an interest in the subject (Chiodo, 2004). After reviewing the body …

Skeptically Optimistic, Moira Hammons

Writing Center Analysis Papers

While many "soft" writing tutoring skills have helped Hammons in her classroom, she finds that not all tutoring skills transfer well to teaching. Hammons is complimentary of peer tutoring's emphasis on wait time, silence, and adapting to individual needs. However, she finds she does not need these skills as often in teaching because of the long-term relationship she has with her students. Hammons asserts that better student and tutor education on the purpose of writing centers--along with students visiting the same tutor repeatedly-- will help tutors and students make the most of their brief time together.

Learning To Write By Teaching Writing, Richard A. Blake

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Blake asserts that English teachers and writing tutors both strive to answer students' problems by addressing language skills, grammar, assignment requirements, and brainstorming. He warns that students' concerns must come first, even if teachers and tutors find alternative concerns in the students' writing. After helping students address their concerns more thoroughly, students can take advantage of writing center tutors to make more universal changes.

Teaching Social Influence: Resources And Exercises From The Field Of Communication, John S. Seiter, R. H. Gass

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Effective teachers know that when students are engaged in active learning, they learn more, retain it longer, apply it better, and continue to learn (Weimer, 1993). One way to promote such learning is through the use of innovative classroom activities that lead students to understand, interpret, and/or apply information. In that spirit, educators in the field of communication have developed an array of activities and demonstrations for promoting active learning in students of social influence. To facilitate the use of such activities, this article uses an annotated bibliography format to review over 30 published articles designed by communication teachers to …

Teaching Students How To Analyze And Adapt To Audiences, John S. Seiter, R. H. Gass

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Not long ago, one of the author's students told him, “I won't be able to make it to your class today. I have to study for a test in another course. Will I miss anything important?” The author, of course, had heard this excuse before, as many of us probably have. What made this interaction more amusing was what, by coincidence, the student was going to miss that day: a discussion on analyzing and adapting to audiences. Had she attended the class, we wonder if she would understand the negative ways in which her excuse might be interpreted by a …

A Navajo Legacy: The Life And Teachings Of John Holiday, H. Bert Jenson

English Faculty Publications

WITHOUT A DOUBT, Robert McPherson is one of the most prolific and conscientious writers on the Navajo people in this generation, and an advocate of their life ways, history, and place in American society. He is consummately careful not to breech the right of literary sovereignty native peoples everywhere are exerting over their own culture and heritage. In this latest work one perceives certain humility about his approach to such things, and one enters into the dialogue on that same premise. As co-author/editor, he is gracious in his acknowledgement of those who helped him bring the work to print: Baxter …

"Drive-By English": Teaching College English To High School Students Via Interactive Tv, Alan Blackstock, Virginia Norris Exton

English Faculty Publications

This paper outlines challenges in and essential criteria for the success of dual-credit or concurrent-enrollment writing and literature courses delivered via interactive video technology and suggests specific strategies for administrators, instructors, and classroom facilitators regarding student selection, appropriate technology, and classroom management.

Teaching Thinking And Reasoning Skills More Effectively, Marcus R. Mumford

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Political pundits whine that the world would be a better place if only more people thought like them. A clever engineer once told me that the world needs (his arms come together in a weight lifting pose, hands rounded together) more circles! Me? I want a world full of wise, thinking individuals. This is a world of minds that have an "inner balance wheel"; minds that protect themselves from extremes and under-use. Rudyard Kipling set up the model of a well-trained mind, "If you can keep your head while all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you... …

A Comparison Of Three Teaching Procedures Used In The Development Of Improving Intonation In Clarinet Performance, K. Earl Ericksen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study assessed the relative efficiency of three teaching procedures used in the development of improving intonation in clarinet performance. The three treatment procedures used included the Beat Method, the C. G. Conn Stroboscope and Johnson Intonation Trainer. During the six weeks study, all Ss participated in two forty-five minute lessons per week. Intonation procedures were studied for fifteen minutes each lesson while other playing problems were discussed for the remaining time. Instruction time totaled nine hours per group. All Ss continued class work with their school music teacher. The experimental design also included a No Contact Control …

The Teaching Of Performance Techniques For Cornet And Trumpet, Sterling J. Morris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study of the basic performance techniques used by cornet and trumpet specialists and the common problems encountered by cornet and trumpet players was made through reference to personal experience, personal interviews, and articles in journals, magazines, bulletins, and books.

Three areas of performance were studied: (1) tone production, (2) intonation, and (3) technical development.

It was found that there is usually more than one solution to a problem, and that each solution given must be individualized to meet each player's needs. Most of the problems players encounter can be prevented if one uses correct playing procedures while playing a …