Education Commons^™

Smartphone Apps In Education: Students Create Videos To Teach Smartphone Use As Tool For Learning, Kara E. Clayton, Amanda Murphy

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Smartphones are regular classroom accessories. Educators should work with children to understand the capacity of smartphones for learning and civic engagement, rather than being a classroom distraction. This research supports a collaborative project the authors engaged in with students in two states to discover what the perception of smartphone use was by students and teachers. One element of this project included students producing YouTube style tutorials on the educational use of mobile apps. The authors explored smartphone use in the classroom. Student created products correlated to technology trends in K-12 education and their relationship with state by state demographic data.

Examination Of The Collaboration Between Career Technical Education And Core Teachers In Linked Learning Pathways, Lucia M. Van Scyoc

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine how teachers in Linked Learning Pathways rate the effectiveness and identify the impact of the collaboration strategies of a shared purpose, interdependent team and focus on results as they are used in the integration of career and technical education and core academic courses. This also included identifying and describing the criteria used by teachers to determine positive impact in identifying positive collaboration strategies.

Methodology. A mixed method research design, consisting of quantitative and qualitative data, was used to conduct this study. Specifically, an explanatory sequential design model starting with …

Shared Focus/Collective Responsibility: The Lived Experience Of Educators As Members Of A Data Team In A Connecticut Public High School, Abbie-Jean M. Lareau

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT SHARED FOCUS/COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF EDUCATORS AS MEMBERS OF A DATA TEAM IN A CONNECTICUT PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL This study explores the experiences of five high school English Teachers in a Connecticut public school acting as an Instructional Data Team as prescribed by the Connecticut Accountability for Learning (CALI) model. Data Teams are teams of educators that participate in collaborative, structured, scheduled meetings, which focus on the effectiveness of teaching as determined by student achievement. Data Teams adhere to continuous improvement cycles, analyze trends, and determine strategies to facilitate analysis that results in action. Data Teams can …

Collaborative Consultation For Online And Blended Course Design: Integrating Information Literacy And Fair Use In Instructional Design, Juhong Christie Liu Ph.D., Liz Thompson, Howard Carrier

Libraries

This session presents the diverse aspects in a community-based learning and consultation model for online and blended course design. Collaboratively, a panel of instructional designers and librarians have provided consultations in a multi-phase faculty development program. The customized approach to instructional design, integration of information literacy, and fair use in online teaching and learning will be presented. The audience will take away the setups of the program, and will interactively share insights.

Partnerships That Work: Teaching Research Skills Through Successful Faculty-Librarian Collaborations., Lizah Ismail, Janet S. Ward, Susan N. Moore

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Librarians from the A.J. Eastwood Library at Limestone College have successfully partnered with faculty in their efforts to teach students research skills. Through a variety of formats (including online class webinars, instructor-specific LibGuides, the Embedded Librarian in Blackboard and progressive research instruction sessions) as well as outreach initiatives (such as “Tea & Tidbits,” which is a monthly faculty training session, and Faculty Recognition Day), librarian-faculty collaboration is now at its highest peak. The presenters will share with attendees the evolution of these successful partnerships and also identify initiatives that worked well and those that did not, resulting in a “best …

Meeting Outcomes Assessment: An Opportunity For Partnership, Sheri A. Brown, Susan Slavicz

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

English faculty at Florida State College at Jacksonville were facing increasing frustration in the fight against student plagiarism. The Letters Council began to explore ways to assess student learning outcomes across the college on the topic of plagiarism. It was imperative to reach not only face-to-face students, but also online, and hybrid classes.

In the fall of 2015 the library subscribed to the ProQuest Research Companion database which is a one-stop resource for guiding students through the research process. Through short videos organized into nine learning modules covering finding information, evaluating information, and using information, students complete pre and post …

Collaborating For Success! Building A Digital Learning Object Repository, Shannon L. Dew, Barbara Markham, Sharon Uskokovich, Ronald L. Carr, Ph. D.

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

At the Florida State College at Jacksonville, the Library and the Center for e-Learning collaborated to build a searchable repository of digital learning objects for faculty to easily locate and upload into their courses. In this program, the presenters will address how to create instructional information for online students in a format that is understandable, usable and accessible. Additionally, they will outline the way they developed an authoritative system of tagging and organizing these resources.

Common Core State Standards : Elementary Teacher Perceptions Of Administrator Supports With A Focus On Professional Learning Communities And Walk Throughs., Kara Joan Ammerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2009, there was a major instructional shift in the state of Kentucky. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted and funding was provided to the state by Race to the Top in order to facilitate implementation of the CCSS (Kentucky Department Education, 2014c). Within this framework, teachers and administrators have had to re-examine the education of students and, specifically, administrators have had to rethink their approach to supporting teachers. To address these new standards, teachers and administrators had to restructure how students were taught. Implementing CCSS requires teachers to teach students differently than they did before. Two widely implemented …

Co-Teaching: How Do Teachers Rate Barriers To Effective Co-Teaching?, Christopher Ratcliff

All Capstone Projects

Students with disabilities are increasingly more present in high school general education class due to the pressures from federal legislation and disability advocates. In response, co-teaching model are being implemented by many school districts within the United States. The purpose of the study was to examine how teachers rate the effectiveness of co-teaching and the barriers to success. The study reflected a quantitative, descriptive approach using a survey design. A 20 item questionnaire was used to collect data on the perceptions of the participants. The participants for this study included professionals in the field of education, specifically teachers from both …

Adaptive Schools : Investigating Impact, Continuity, And Change In One School District., Winn Crenshaw Wheeler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an examination of the work of Adaptive Schools in Smith County Schools. It begins by explaining how the work of Adaptive Schools is relevant in the larger context of school reform. To explore this relevance, a qualitative analysis of Smith County was conducted. Smith County was selected based on systematic implementation of the work of Adaptive Schools. Analysis of interview data focused on: the impact of the work of Adaptive Schools within Smith County and the degree to which Adaptive Schools intersected with themes of continuity and change. Further analysis explores emergent questions about: (a) the function …

Development And Validation Of A Classroom Observation Instrument For Implementation Of Co-Teaching Practices, Amy Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to develop and field test the Co-Teaching Observation Instrument (CTOI) to determine its validity and reliability as an instrument for the observation of general and special education teacher practices in co-taught classrooms across kindergarten through twelfth grade levels. Face and content validity were established through a review by 10 experts in the field of special education. The experts were asked to pilot the instrument and then rate the composite instrument on a three point Likert-type scale in terms of whether it measures co-teaching practices including the dimensions of collaboration/teacher parity, teacher to student interaction, …

A Collaborative Integrated Stem Teaching: Examination Of A Science And Math Teacher Collaboration On An Integrated Stem Unit, Drew C. Ayres

Open Access Theses

The integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum in middle school science and math classrooms is a reform effort currently taking place. The teachers are being encouraged to teach integrated content through national and state standards. The teachers have not been trained to do this form of teaching, which has led to feelings of discomfort or incompetence to fulfill those standards. This has led to a need for professional developments to train these teachers. Those developing the professional developments are seeking to identify ways to encourage teachers to continue to implement integrated units.

The purpose of this study was …

Towards Collaboration Between Lawyers And Social Workers: A Content Analysis Of Joint Degree Programs, Ifem E. Orji

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Collaboration is a central issue in the interdisciplinary education of social work and law students. Joint JD/MSW degrees have the potential to promote collaboration between practitioners of law and social work in areas where their practices converge. The 1969 recommendations by the National Conference of Lawyers and Social Workers (NCLSW) to establish these joint degree programs assumed that collaborative learning would occur within them. However, prior research has not investigated whether or not this occurs. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine whether evidence of the intent to promote collaboration was present in written materials associated with joint degree …

Emergent Student Practices: Unintended Consequences In A Dialogic, Collaborative Classroom, Anne E. Crampton

Journal of Educational Controversy

It’s a commonplace to decry the folly of “best practices” in education. They make many practitioners and researchers twitch, fearing that the good-- or even just decent--practice will soon be setting the tempo in the steady march toward standardization. The argument against best practices, then, is the argument against one-size-fits-all pedagogy. Instructional practices must come with a necessary humility, based on situating students within the picture, with particular attention to with histories of institutional and societal othering and marginalization. Good practices cannot be delivered or imposed, and therefore, if successful, they become suggestions or starting points carried out with greater …

A Case Study Of A Professional Development School In Rural West Virginia, Cheryl Ann Terry Jeffers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The focus of this qualitative research study is the Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between a university and an elementary school in Central Appalachia. Data were collected through participant observation, individual and focus group interviews, and document analysis. The research focused on the participants’ experiences and perceptions of the Professional Development School and any enabling and/or constraining factors related to its effectiveness. Participants included school-based individuals ─ students, teachers, and administrators of Dolen Elementary (pseudonym) ─ as well as university-based participants. The most significant finding was a genuine willingness to learn that was exhibited by participants, both school-based and those …

Instructionally Dense Literacy Practice In The Middle Grades: A Qualitative Study, Marissa A. Jorgenson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative, practitioner inquiry examined how a group of novice and experienced middle-grade reading teachers integrated facets of instructional density (Pressley, Wharton-McDonald, & Mistretta-Hampston, 1997) into their practice. Instructional density is a descriptor of effective teaching whereby practitioners layer their instruction in individual lessons with other elements of the curriculum. This occurs in the planning of instruction as well as during dialogic exchanges with students that are the natural outcrop of instruction. The researcher’s role was to conduct a series of observations and post-observation reflections and provide coaching that helped participants generate understanding of instructional density and how it could …

What If I Can't Plc?, Lindsay Lee, Audrey Moore, Angela Szakasits, Cynthia Wortham

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this learning module is to provide information for teachers and administrators to learn ways to overcome barriers to participate in PLCs. The goal of this learning module is to provide teachers and administrators with resources to employ facilitation skills, create trust among colleagues, develop collective wisdom, build ownership, and take action to support student learning.

Visit professional learning module.

Moving Students To The Center Through Collaborative Documents In The Classroom, Maura A. Smale, Stephen Francoeur

Publications and Research

Collaborative document creation allows groups of people to create and edit text in a shared space, and educators across all subject areas have embraced these tools in their classes. Library instructors are no exception—the authors have used collaborative documents with students in multiple instructional settings. We believe that collaborative documents can embody critical pedagogy in the library classroom. Creating and editing collaborative documents can acknowledge students’ prior experiences with research and the library and de-center the library instructor as the sole research expert in the room.

Institutionalizing Faculty Mentoring Within A Community Of Practice Model, Emily R. Smith, Patricia E. Calderwood, Stephanie Burrell Storms, Paula Gill Lopez, Ryan P. Colwell

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In higher education, faculty work is typically enacted—and rewarded—on an individual basis. Efforts to promote collaboration run counter to the individual and competitive reward systems that characterize higher education. Mentoring initiatives that promote faculty collaboration and support also defy the structural and cultural norms of higher education. Collaborative mentoring initiatives, however, support all faculty to be lifelong learners. We analyze a reciprocal model of mentoring—a community of practice for mentoring—that integrates collaborative mentoring into faculty’s daily work. Additionally, we examine the dilemmas, benefits, and costs of institutionalizing a community of practice model for mentoring in higher education. Our analyses indicate …

Good, Fast, Cheap: How Centers Of Teaching And Learning Can Capitalize In Today’S Resource Constrained Context, Michael H. Truong, Stephanie Juillerat, Deborah H. C. Gin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article provides leaders and educational developers of Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) with innovative and practical strategies on how to increase their centers’ capacity and impact by focusing on quality, efficiency, and cost. This “good, fast, cheap” model represents a promising way that CTL can continue to grow, scale, and innovate in the midst of limited resources. By leveraging existing campus resources, external vendor products, and low cost technologies, CTL are able to remain effective and impactful, without compromising quality or requiring abundant resources. This article will include real use case examples from a CTL at a mid …

A Faculty Wellness Workshop Series: Leveraging On Campus Expertise, Thomas M. Brinthaupt, Arielle Neal, Sheila Otto

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) that suffer from funding and staffing issues must rely on outside resources to enhance their effectiveness. Even if funds and staff are adequate, most CTL can improve their reach and effectiveness by the partnerships they establish across their campuses. In this article, we describe a faculty wellness workshop series that illustrates the strategic leveraging we have been able to accomplish on our campus. The series included free standing faculty workshops devoted to stress management (partnering with Counseling Services), work life balance and workplace civility (with members of our faculty learning communities), voice coaching (with …

Improv(Ing) The Academy: Applied Improvisation As A Strategy For Educational Development, Jonathan P. Rossing, Krista Hoffmann Longtin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Improvisational theater training (or “improv”) is a strategy employed by many business leaders and educators to cultivate creativity and collaboration amid change. Drawing on improv principles such as “Yes, And…” and “Make your scene partners look good,” we explore the ways in which educational developers might apply principles of improv in 3 contexts: teaching and building classroom community, organizational development, and research collaboration. Faculty developers who successfully engage the principles of improv have the potential to help colleges and universities respond more effectively to complex problems and to manage the uncertainty of the future. By highlighting successful applications of improvisation …

Closing The Loop: Creating Deliverables That Add Value, Prudence J. Doherty, Daniel L. Desanto

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

As special collections librarians and liaison librarians work together to create in­novative experiences working with primary source material, it is important to remember students have much to offer in the collaborative design process. In this case study, Prudence Doherty, a special collections librarian, and Daniel DeSanto, an instruction librarian, describe a project they initiated and implemented with upper-level education majors at the University of Vermont (UVM). The students were pre-service teachers (student teachers working toward degree and licensure) enrolled in Social Education and Social Studies, a course that focuses on teaching methods, assessment alternatives, and resources used in the elementary …

Journeys Towards Expertise In Technology-Supported Teaching, Lorraine H. Kershaw

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Expertise in technology-supported teaching needs to be understood from multi-dimensional perspectives and influences, if raising teacher quality is a desired goal of education services. This study aimed to uncover the interactive influences of teachers' pedagogical practices, learning experiences and personal characteristics and how their decisions impacted upon their growth in expert technology-supported teaching. A mixed methods approach incorporated case study techniques, use of quantitative and qualitative data and was informed by grounded theory. Five female primary teachers participated in this research which was conducted during one year over two data collection stages in a technology-supportive independent Australian girls' school.

Variations …