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Spatial Visualization Of High School Geometry Students, Jennifer Crissey

Dissertations

Spatial ability has been defined as “the innate ability to visualize that a person has before any formal training has occurred, i.e., a person is born with ability” (Sorby, 1999, p. 21) and is comprised of spatial orientation and spatial skills.Each of these facets are used in everyday life. High school students can enhance their spatial visualization skills through experiences and instruction. The purpose of this study was to test an intervention with the aim of increasing high school geometry students’ spatial visualization skills. The participants in this study were high school geometry students who were randomly placed in either …

Simple But Not Easy: An Examination Of The Test-Retest Reliability Of The Perceived Stress Scale (Pss-10) And Exploration Of A Meditation App For Stress Management With High School Students, Eileen Kaskons

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Stress can have a negative effect on overall well-being, trigger physical disease, and contribute to mental health disorders. The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is frequently used in research. However, there are limited studies on the test-retest reliability of the PSS-10 with adults, and no studies could be identified that tested this issue with adolescents. Meditation apps are often recommended for stress reduction, but they have not been widely studied for use in high school. This study investigated the test-retest reliability of the PSS-10 and examined the feasibility of using a meditation app with high school students. First, a comprehensive …

Helping High School Students Succeed Academically By Meeting Their More Basic Needs, Karen Eyler Martin

Theses and Dissertations

In this action research, I seek to show the connection between breakfast consumption and student academic achievement. Students skip breakfast for a variety of reasons, including not allowing enough time and not having enough resources for it. Others eat what they can obtain, including snack foods that are highly processed. In addition, school districts have gotten away from making their meals from scratch, and instead, use a third-party catering service that often serves food that is cheap and easy to heat up, which often means it is highly processed and does not have the same nutritional content as whole foods. …

Teaching The Engineering Design Process To High School Students By Implementing A Non-Traditional Engineering Capstone Course, Joseph Woodard

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

This plan B project is to showcase the implementation of an engineering design capstone course at a remote, rural public high school, in a non-traditional (after-school) format with a small group of students. The project documents successful strategies along with challenges that were learned from such an implementation of this course. Three high school students were supported in learning to solve an extended design challenge, in this case creating an augmented reality (AR) sandbox. The project shows how a capstone course can be utilized in teaching students to solve complex, ill-structured problems.

In this project, a manuscript was prepared for …

Technology Use In The Classroom, Danny Mooers

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated students’ perceptions about the use the use of technology in the classroom. The participants were English Language Arts students at a high school in Iowa. The participants included 33 freshman, 28 juniors and 15 seniors. Students were given a survey to gauge their perceptions of how the use of technology in the classroom impacted their engagement and allowed them to meet learning targets. Additionally, the survey examined students’ perceptions regarding the benefits and limitations of technology in the classroom. The results of this study suggest that students perceived the use of technology to be more …

Enhancing Writer's Voice In Argumentative And Expository Essay Writing Using The Embedded Voice Technique, Jonathan K. Fowler

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to examine the impact that the Embedded Voice Technique of writing instruction had on one’s writer’s voice. The teacher-researcher posits that voice is not an individual component of writing, but rather a culmination of multiple components of writing; it is the sum of parts rather than a part in and of itself. The study took place in an English 3-Honors class with nine randomly chosen participants over an eight-week period. Data were collected using a variety of data collection instruments. Pre and post-treatment Likert scale surveys determinee participants’ dispositions regarding writing. Pre …

The Impact Of Poetry Annotations On The Critical Thinking Skills Of High School Juniors And Seniors At A School In A Southeastern State, Stefanie J. Fowler

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of poetry annotations on students’ critical thinking skills. This action research study took place in the spring of 2019 with eight high school participants. Participants were enrolled in an English IV-Honors class that was a combination of juniors and seniors. The setting was a public high school in a southeastern state. A mixed methods design was used; however, the study was more dominantly a qualitative study, and data was collected from participant pre and post-surveys and interviews, student-participant work, teacher-researcher observation notes, journal entries, and rubrics for annotations and responses …

Examining The Development Of Career Identity Within A College Preparatory School: A Case Study, Michele R. Margavio

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Recent college graduates are clearly facing significant labor market challenges and statistics show that college graduates will more likely find themselves unemployed or underemployed rather than gainfully employed in the current job market. The purpose of this study was to examine the career identity development of non-public high school seniors taking a career preparation program involving internships within all career pathways, not just those requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher. Individual interviews were conducted with ten students, the program director, and four site coordinators to gain the insight from their experiences with the career development course. Results from this study …

Smartphones And Schoolwork: Determining The Relationship Between Students’ Beliefs And Habits Regarding Phones, Luke Breems

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research project investigated the relationship between students’ beliefs about the effects of using phones concurrently with schoolwork and the extent to which they engage in that behavior. Forty-five students from an independent school in southwestern Ontario participated in a study to determine their beliefs about phones’ effects on their schoolwork, and their responses were compared to observational data regarding how frequently they checked their phones during class. The results of the study indicate that, on average, students believe phones have little effect on their schoolwork, in contrast to current academic literature, which suggests an overall negative effect. This …

The Impact Of Faith-Based Programs On Christian High School Students In A Rural Christian Independent School, Mike Cumiskey

Master of Education Program Theses

Christian schools have a long history of offering programs that contribute to the spiritual nurturing of adolescents. Many students participate in Bible classes, morning devotions, prayer groups, mission trips, service projects and chapels during their time in a Christian school. Yet, there is very little research on the effect that these faith-based programs have on a student’s spiritual maturity. Despite this lack of research, Christian schools continue to work tirelessly to create, manage, maintain and sustain faith-based programs. To determine whether faith-based programs have a lasting impact on an individual’s spiritual maturity, the researcher conducted a survey with youth and …

Effect Of Extra-Curricular Activities On Students' Spiritual Growth, Alexa Groen

Master of Education Program Theses

The primary purpose of Christian schooling is to teach Biblical principles to our youth as we prepare them to live and serve in God’s kingdom. Even though over three quarters of our youth in America participate in extra-curricular activities, little to no research has been done on the effect of extra-curricular activities on a child’s spiritual development. Yet, Christian schools continue to put time, money, and energy into extra-curricular programing. To determine whether academic, personal, and athletic extra-curricular activities have kingdom implication, this study collected qualitative data from twelve students, 8th Grade to junior year of high school. Coding the …

Visual Formative Assessment And Learning Styles, Julie Pickard

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the impact of visual formative assessments on the achievement levels of students with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. The study was conducted in four classes of freshmen at Southwest Christian High School in Chaska, MN, with a total of eighty-four participants. Two pairs were created for the study with control and treatment groups in each pair. Students were classified according to learning style, and a unit pre-test was administered to identify growth. Treatment groups were instructed using daily visual formative assessments for the duration of the unit. Students were assessed again at the end …

Math Anxiety And Assessment Strategies, Ronald Vis

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the connection between student choice and the levels of math anxiety exhibited in Geometry students at a Christian high school in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The participants were 38 ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade students separated in three sections of Geometry. This study was conducted to see if providing choice would effectively combat the perceived stress and anxiety associated with math classes. Students were offered a choice of review projects that would be used to prepare them for an upcoming test. No other changes were made in the classroom. Class presentations, discussions, and assessments …

Revolutionizing Reading: Discovering The Power Of A Reading Workshop Model In The High School English Classroom, Kaitlyn De Wild

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the effects of a Reading Workshop model in a high school English classroom in a private school in the Midwest. The participants were sixty-six juniors in a general education classroom. Students in the study took a pre-survey at the beginning of the year and a post-survey at the end of February to determine any changes in independent reading habits. Throughout the course of the study, students had choice in independent reading, which they kept track of and reflected on. In addition to analyzing these reflections, the researcher also interviewed eight of the students on their …

Exploration Of Mathematics: Investigating The Continuum Of Mathematics From The Middle Years Program To The Diploma Program At International Baccalaureate Schools, Stela Irene Tampubolon

Master of Education Program Theses

The purpose of this action research was to study the continuum of the mathematics curriculum from the Middle Years Program (MYP) to the Diploma Program (DP) at an IB School in Jakarta, Indonesia. To investigate the continuum of the mathematics curriculum from MYP to DP, data from the assessments of each program was collected from 2014-2016. The participants in this research were 44 grade 12 students who had already taken the DP Mathematics external examination. Their final mathematics scores were compared to their level of achievements in MYP Mathematics in grade 10. The results of the study were mixed, indicating …

Perceptions Of International High School Students Regarding Flipped Classroom Strategies In The Humanities Classroom, Nathanael Gibson

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research project sought to gauge student perceptions of the use of flipped classroom strategies in an eleventh grade class at a Christian international school in Japan. The participants were twenty-two eleventh graders in a Humanities class--a two-period blend of U.S. History and American Literature. Students wrote a Document-Based Question essay (DBQ) on the causes of the Civil War, having received most of the historical content through the use of short teacher-made lecture videos, which they watched outside of class. Class time was used to do a variety of activities to build on or apply the content from the …

Comparison Of Online Student Vs. Public Student Performance On The Act, Sarah Schultz

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study compared the ACT scores of students from an online high school and a public high school in Sioux Center, Iowa. ACT scores in Reading, Math and the Composite score were collected for both groups and then the mean was taken for each group. A t-test was performed to evaluate if there is a significant difference in student performance between online delivery and face to face educational delivery. The result shows that online students outperform public school students in the reading portion of the exam; while the public school students out-perform on the math portion showing no …

Response To Intervention At The Secondary Level: The Effectiveness Of A Tier One Model, Kimberly A. Berliner

Master of Education Program Theses

Research on the effectiveness of Response to Intervention (RtI) models used at the secondary level is limited. Most studies focus primarily on elementary settings. In addition to this, states vary in their progression through RtI implementation process. This study seeks to look at one model implemented at a high school with the purpose of increasing literacy for freshman and sophomore students. The study seeks to determine what are the most effective methods for implementing RtI and who should be tasked with the various roles within implementation.

This Is God’S World: A Study Of Student Worldview In A Small Rural Christian High School, Rachel Elizabeth Bootsma

Master of Education Program Theses

This qualitative phenomenological study examined a small rural Midwest Christian high school and its influence on the biblical worldview of its students. The author surveyed and interviewed current seniors and former students from this Christian high school to better understand the biblical worldview of the students from their perspective. The study also attempted to identify the influence of the school and the school’s strengths and weaknesses on its students' biblical worldviews. This phenomenological study demonstrates how the practices, programs, procedures, curriculum, and relationships at a small Christian high school lead to a foundational biblical worldview in its students.

Best Practices In The Foreign Language Classroom, Allison Kleinsasser

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research project attempted to determine the best practices in teaching a foreign language to high school students. In order to determine these best practices, the researcher read literature and studies that had been previously conducted with foreign language students. This study attempted to determine if students would learn better in the context of real-life communication rather than overt grammatical lectures. Students were given a pre- and post-test to determine whether or not their levels of language acquisition and grammatical understanding improved over the course of the study. The results of the study revealed that more time is needed …

Motivating English Language Learners: An Indonesian Case Study, Rebekah Nichols

Master of Education Program Theses

Motivation is a complex issue, especially when considered in the Asian context, where passive learning and teacher-centered lessons dominate. This study attempted to identify student-preferred motivational strategies that would correlate to increased attention and engagement among and increased levels of intrinsic motivation in Chinese Indonesian students in a Year 12 English classroom. Student surveys indicated preferences for the use of audiovisual material and the use of collaborative reading quizzes. The implementation of these strategies resulted in positive levels of attention and engagement in the classroom, but no increase in levels of intrinsic motivation were observed.

Examining The Effects Of A High School Healthcare Summer Immersion Program, Jenny M. Holcombe Curry

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to assess the effectiveness of the DREAMWork (Diversity Recruitment and Education to Advance Minorities in the nursing Workforce) summer high school program within the context of the substantial current and anticipated nursing shortage in the United States (Buerhaus, 2002). Previous research has shown that creating positive perceptions of nursing through programs like DREAMWork can lead to an increase in student desire to pursue a career in nursing (Cohen, Palumbo, Rambur, & Mongeon, 2004; Tomey, Schwier, Marticke, & May, 1996). More specifically, this study was interested in …

Understanding Adolescent Perceptions Of Science Education, Ellen Kress Ebert

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study used the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey (Sjoberg & Schreiner, 2004) to examine topics of interest and perspectives of secondary science students in a large school district in the southwestern U.S. A situated learning perspective was used to frame the project. The research questions of this study focused on (a) perceptions students have about themselves and their science classroom and how these beliefs may influence their participation in the community of practice of science; (b) consideration of how a future science classroom where the curriculum is framed by the Next Generation Science Standards might foster students' beliefs …

Christian Approach To Secondary Classroom Management, Alysia A. Haveman

Master of Education Program Theses

Teachers at all levels of experience and education find that classroom management is one of the most difficult aspects of the job. This seems especially true for teachers in the secondary classroom where the student’s physical and psychological development seems to be mismatched, and where an attitude of student disillusionment prevails. Since all educators manage their classrooms with some sort of belief system motivating their actions and decisions, it is important for the Christian classroom teacher to closely examine the belief systems which influence current classroom management theories to determine if these belief systems are congruent with a Biblical view …

Effect Of Geometer’S Sketchpad On Student Knowledge And Attitude, David J. Dekker

Master of Education Program Theses

This study examines the effects of Geometer’s Sketchpad on student achievement and attitudes in algebra classrooms. It has a quasi-experimental design. The sample included 93 students enrolled in Advanced Algebra courses at Calvin Christian High School in Grandville, MI. Four classes participated in a five-day unit that explored graphs of equalities and inequalities. Two classes used traditional graphing calculators and two classes used Geometer’s Sketchpad. One class of each type took a pretest to measure prior knowledge. All classes took a posttest and attitude survey at the end of the study. A t-test was used to compare class averages. There …

The Use Of Picture Books In The High School Classroom: A Qualitative Case Study, Melissa Reiker

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Picture books (stories in which the both the text and illustrations contribute to meaning) have long been thought of as appropriate only at primary grade levels because of their short length, simple plots, and minimal number of characters. When used at the secondary level, their principal function has been as remediation for struggling readers or English language learners (ELLs). However, anecdotal evidence and an exhaustive literature review strongly suggest that the supplemental use of picture books increases engagement and learning among high school students at all instructional levels. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of picture …

Correlations Between High School Athletic Participation And Academic Performance, Tim Klein

Master of Education Program Theses

This research study examines the correlation between high school students‘ school-sponsored athletic participation and their academic performance. Previous studies show students who participate in school-sponsored athletic activities will have an academic advantage (Eccles, Barber, Stone, & Hunt, 2003; Hartmann, 2008). This study expands previous studies by examining whether the amount of participation has an impact on students‘ academic achievement. The research study included a sample of students from a small midwestern Christian school in the ninth and eleventh grades. This study found a negative correlation between school-sponsored athletic participation and students‘ academic performance. This study concludes that as students‘ school-sponsored …

Are Teens Able To Articulate A Biblical Understanding Of Christianity?, Sheila L. Bruns

Master of Education Program Theses

The following study uses previous research about the religious and spiritual lives of American adolescents and their beliefs about the Christian faith to survey teenagers at a mid-western, Christian high school. The survey is given to find out what our young people know to be true about Christianity and if they can accurately articulate their beliefs based on Scripture and reinforced in the Heidelberg Catechism.

According to the research, the students surveyed are receiving the information they need to articulate a biblical definition of Christianity. They do, however, have their strengths and weaknesses. The weakest areas would be in the …

Encouraging Reflective Thinking In The High School Classroom: Effective Use Of Questioning And Wait Time Strategies, Jolyn M. Van Es

Master of Education Program Theses

Effective questioning techniques and the use of effective wait time can create a learning environment where all students are encouraged to process information and feel comfortable sharing their opinion. The root of reflective thinking lies in asking good questions and knowing how to ask them and when to ask them. Good questions create classroom interaction which has been found to promote student achievement. However, in our fast-paced classrooms, teachers tend to dominate discussions and often answer their own questions. This is where the effective use of wait time can be so crucial in establishing an atmosphere of inquiry – not …

Secondary School Choral Curriculum Based On The Wisconsin Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance Project, David P. Van Brugge

Master of Education Program Theses

This thesis is a two-part paper dealing with the concept of comprehensive musicianship for an elective high school choral course in a small Christian school. Part I surveys relevant literature, considers the background of comprehensive musicianship and research related to it, and defines the Wisconsin Comprehensive Musicianship Project (WCMP). Part II applies the Wisconsin Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance model by outlining a curriculum for a choral music course in a small Christian secondary school.