Education Commons^™

The Impact Of A Common Approach To Instruction Within A Nebraska Rural School District, Bret Allan Schroder

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the instructional understanding and effectiveness of a district wide implementation of a Common Approach to Instruction. This research study provided a greater understanding of the affects that such an implementation had on certified staff regardless of grade level, experience, subject, or gender.

This explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study was conducted during the summer, spring, and fall of 2014-2015. The study initially gathered data using an online survey, based on Marzano’s 41 instructional elements, in a single class-B school district in Nebraska. All certified staff members within this school district were …

A Fiscal Model Program Theory Proposal For Training Reentry Citizen Ex-Convicts To Remodel Abandoned Houses, James A. Hanson

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a fiscal program theory model and proposal for training reentry citizen ex-convicts to remodel abandoned houses. A sustainable program theory model describes ways that training and employing these citizens to remodel abandoned houses may be expected to have benefits to a community. The recently released ex-convicts will learn a construction trade, earn a sustainable wage, and the once-abandoned houses will be returned to the city tax rolls. Vocational education and workforce training are key to this program. The literature indicates that national jobless rates for recently released inmates is well …

Lest I Forget: Case Studies In Listening To High School Students Struggling With Academic Literacy, Lois M. Todd-Meyer

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adolescents who struggle with the academic literacy demands of high school have often experienced years of frustration and even failure with literacy learning. School districts are now accountable for making sure all students achieve a prescribed level of proficiency as measured by standardized and performance assessments. How can educators best help adolescents who struggle with literacy reach a level of proficiency that will facilitate their success not only on standardized tests, but will also help them become engaged citizens of our democracy? The purpose of this study was to listen closely to high school students who were identified as struggling …

From Literacy To Literacies: Negotiating Multiple Literacies In The English Classroom, Breanne S. Campbell

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

This dissertation is a narrative description of my teaching moves as I attempted to negotiate within my classroom both traditional print literacy and new literacies afforded by emerging technology. In this study, I sought to reconcile my rhetoric with my reality (Zeichner, 1999) by teaching students how to read and design multimodal compositions within the traditional framework and curriculum required by my school district. Students composed traditional memoirs and then participated in the synaesthesia process by remediating their memoirs using technology. Students were also asked to write a Statement of Goals and Choices (Shipka, 2011), reflecting on their own rhetorical …

Teacher Perspectives On Professional Development Needs For Better Serving Nebraska's Spanish Heritage Language Learners, Janet Marie Eckerson

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

A growing number of heritage language speakers of Spanish are enrolling in Spanish language courses during secondary school. Current scholarship has suggested that these heritage language learners (HLLs) have very different instructional needs than learners of second or foreign languages. Because Spanish language instruction in Nebraska secondary schools has been traditionally conceptualized only as foreign language instruction, classroom teachers may not be adequately prepared to meet the needs of HLLs. This dissertation examined the experiences of Nebraska secondary Spanish teachers who worked with HLLs in order to inform the creation of relevant professional learning experiences for pre- and in-service teachers. …

The Power Of Nature: Developing Prosocial Behavior Toward Nature And Peers Through Nature-Based Activities, Ibrahim H. Acar, Julia C. Torquati

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

An early childhood teacher nurtures children’s perspective taking and respect for another living thing. These interactions happen daily at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (SANC) Preschool in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Experiences like this promote children’s development of prosocial behavior, consistent with the Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence (NAAEE 2010). This article examines the research question, How can teachers nurture the development of prosocial behavior for preschool-aged children through nature-based play and activities? To address this question, five researchers (including the second author) conducted 74 running record observations of children’s behavior and social interactions over the course of two …

Understanding Student Motivation And Strategic Engagement In Computer Science And Stem Courses, Duane F. Shell, Leen-Kiat Soh

DBER Speaker Series

Students’ motivation and strategic engagement have been identified as playing crucial roles in their success in STEM and CS classes. Numerous motivational constructs have been identified including goals, instrumentality of the course, mindsets, emotional/affective reactions, and self-efficacy. These are thought to motivate students’ to achieve and to drive the self-regulation and engagement necessary for student-centered learning. Despite sometimes lengthy histories of research in these constructs and behaviors, there are still many questions about how students are motivated in their courses and how they can become effective self-directed, engaged learners. This talk will discuss research findings from five years of classroom …

Blogging With Students Across The Curriculum, Laurie A. Friedrich, Guy Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This infographic helps explore the role of blogs in writing across the curriculum.

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/8635464-blogging-with-students-across-the-curriculum

Amanda understands the developmental needs of young children. She knows that each child learns differently and that students need structure and creativity in the classroom. I know she will always do what is best for students.

Measurement Of Faculty’S Fidelity Of Implementation Of Peer Instruction Following An Intensive Professional Development Workshop, Trisha Vickrey, Kaitlyn Rosploch, Marilyne Stains

DBER Speaker Series

Peer Instruction is an evidence-based instructional strategy that has been empirically shown to improve students’ learning and attitude in a variety of STEM disciplines. Peer Instruction involves students individually voting on a multiple choice question using a clicker or flashcards. If the majority of students answer incorrectly, students engage in peer discussion and vote again, which is followed by instructor explanation. Research investigating faculty’s implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies indicates that faculty often adapt practices as opposed to adopting them fully. Unfortunately, low fidelity of implementation often reduces the efficacy of an instructional strategy. Physics education researchers have previously demonstrated …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 16, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2015 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

50th Anniversary Issue

Forum on the Value of Honors

with essays by James Herbert and by 39 college and university presidents:

Paul W. Ferguson, President of Ball State University; Honors Dean: James S. Ruebel

J. David Armstrong, Jr., President of Broward College; Honors Director: Sheila Jones

Soraya M. Coley, President of Cal Poly Pomona; Honors Director: Suketu P. Bhavsar

Elizabeth A. Dinndorf, President of Columbia College; Honors Director: John Zubizarreta

Quintin B. Bullock, President of Community College of Allegheny County; Honors Director: Julia Fennell

Michael T. Benson, President of Eastern Kentucky University; Interim Honors Director: David Coleman

Jake B. Schrum, …

The Ed.D. As Investment In Professional Development: Cultivating Practitioner Knowledge, Margaret A. Macintyre Latta, Edmund T. Hamann, Susan Wunder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

As teacher educators and participants in the US-based Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED) initiative to differentiate the Ed.D/Ph.D., we have programmatic commitments to the centrality of practitioner knowledge for shaping professional development. Through CPED, we structure opportunities for local educators to develop their professional practices within their graduate studies toward an Ed.D, while maintaining full-time educational work commitments. Concurrently, we examine and document how CPED creates room, alongside concrete practice, to cultivate, promote, and value the voices, sensibilities, and capacities of practitioners engaged in advanced practices. In doing so, we confront marginalization of practitioners’ perspectives in the field …

The Use Of Journaling To Assess Student Learning And Acceptance Of Evolutionary Science, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Wilbert Butler Jr.

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Journal writing was introduced as a means to assess student learning and acceptance of evolutionary science in a nonmajors’ biology course taught at a community college. Fourteen weeks of instruction were performed, each initiated by student-centered, in-class activities and culminated by a discussion, to elucidate tentative conclusions based on evidence from in-class activities. Students (N = 31) engaged in explicit and reflective writing (i.e., journaling) at four points during the semester, providing responses to the following questions: (a) what influence did the recent inclass activities and discussion have on your understanding of evolution (b) has your view (of evolution) changed …

Redeeming The Information Overload: A Case Study On Doon University , Dehradun, Manoj Kumar Pant Mr., Udita Negi Mrs

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Higher education in India is in a process of transition, from traditional, colonial and static system to a more competitive system based on global market philosophy. The present survey provides an insight to the status of information awareness and literacy among the students of Doon University. Thus, there is a pressing need for empirical analyses to identify the extent to which university students are information-literate.

Inviting Children Into Project Work., Carolyn P. Edwards, Kay Springate

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This brief article describes the approach to long-term projects used with young children in the city-run preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. In particular, it explains how the learning environment and the guidance of the teacher invite them into a project, then help them sustain and conclude it.

Imagination: Active In Teaching And Learning, Christopher Cunningham

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

This autoethnography tells the story of the author’s endeavor to examine my teaching during a sculpture lesson in three 2^nd grade art classes in a mid-western suburban Title I elementary school. I analyze my planning, teaching, reflecting through the lens of Stuart Richmond’s Characteristics of Imaginative Teaching as well as noted educational theorists’ conceptions of imagination and imaginative teaching and learning. These theorists include but are not limited to Maxine Greene, Kieran Egan, John Dewey, and The Lincoln Center Institute’s Capacities for Imaginative Learning. I conclude that imaginative teaching is an intentional act and that there is no …

The Effects Of Expository Text Structure Instruction On The Reading Outcomes Of 4th And 5th Graders Experiencing Reading Difficulties, Janet J. Bohaty

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a standard protocol supplemental expository text structure intervention (i.e., Structures) on 45 4^th and 5^th graders experiencing reading difficulties. Students were enrolled in six K-8 parochial schools located in a Midwestern suburban city. Within classrooms, students were randomly assigned to Structures intervention or a business-as-usual control condition. Students in the Structures condition were taught to identify and discriminate among the five text structures used by authors of expository text (Meyer, 1975, 1985): description, sequence, cause/effect, compare/contrast, and problem/solution. Students in the business-as-usual control condition participated in the …

Classrooms As Creative Learning Communities: A Lived Curricular Expression, Soon Ye Hwang

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

Creativity—the fundamental basis of human experience, expression, and learning in the communal world of the classroom—is the primary concern of this dissertation. While creativity is one of the buzzwords of 21^st century education the world over, its lived understanding as fundamental to being human is understudied. This gap calls attention to the significances for all involved of entering into meaning making as creators. To explore the significances, I draw upon and give expression to my experiences of building such creative learning communities (CLC) in my own Multicultural Education (ME) classrooms as a teacher educator and curriculum theorist. Ways to …

Integrating Ipads In The Kindergarten Classroom: How Does Technology Engage Students In Learning?, Kristine Ray

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

Abstract:

This action research was conducted over the course of a semester with 22 kindergarteners at a public school in Lincoln, Nebraska. The researcher set out to find how technology engaged students in learning using iPads. The students were given a questionnaire to determine prior interactions with technology such as tablets, smartphones, computers or laptops. Majority of students viewed these devices for entertainment and pleasure. After integrating the use of iPads in the classroom for whole group instruction, during guided reading for small group instruction, and during choice time, the students viewed the devices as a learning tool as well …

Honoring Diversity In An Online Classroom: Approaches Used By Instructors Engaging Through An Lms, Jacob Petersen

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

This is an inquiry into how online instructors embrace the diversity of their student body while facing the inherent differences between a traditional face-to-face class and one that is taught online. Current research suggests that diversity in a traditional classroom is an asset if the instructor is sensitive to students’ backgrounds. This paper examines if such philosophies in traditional classrooms translate well into a distance education environment, where the student body may be even more diverse than a face-to-face class, but possibly unrecognizable because of the lack of physical cues. Research on the topic of multiculturalism in an online classroom …

Assessing The Relationship Between Student And Faculty Perceptions Of Student Engagement At Central Mountain College, Brandi R.K. Atnip

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study compared the perceptions of students versus faculty at Central Mountain College with regard to the issue of student engagement. Central Mountain College participated in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement during the spring semesters of 2009, 2011, and 2013. The institution was provided with aggregate results from these survey administrations by the Center for Community College Student Engagement. Prior to this study, the survey results had not been accumulatively evaluated by the institution.

The study aimed to determine areas where there was congruence and incongruence between the students …

The Writing Process: Using Peer Review To Develop Student Writing, Jennifer M. Troester

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The following thesis will explore how peer review through an online writing exchange influences student writers during the writing process. I propose that when students participate in this online writing exchange to peer review, it will assure that they will have a better understanding of the writing process, and more confidence in analyzing their own writing and in themselves as writers. It also makes these students more conscientious of the writing they share with peers because they have a wider audience than just their teacher, and this motivates them to improve their writing. The last part of the document features …

Diffusion Of A Math Intervention Program Within A Secondary Setting: A Mixed Methods Study, Stuart Lenz

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to understand the stages of concern and levels of use for teachers as they integrate a new math intervention program. Teachers within three high schools in a large Mid-western school district all implemented the program at the same time, and were used as the sample during the three-year study. The study searched to discover (a) what or who influences the teachers in their use of the program, (b) how the teachers change in their levels of use and stages of concern, and (c) if the success of the program changes as …

A/R/Tography As A Guide For Curriculum Design, Michelle M. Hrbek

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

A/r/tography is not a method for curriculum development. Rather curriculum designers who see themselves as artist, researcher, and teacher best serve their students by creating lessons and units that encourage the learners to discover the a/r/tographer in themselves. Students who research themes presented in the visual arts classroom, create images that build on their personal experiences and communicate their individual perspective, and then teach others about their process are more likely to have relevant visual arts experiences. This paper explains the idea of a/r/tography and shows how a/r/tography as an overarching guide can inform curriculum whereby student artists construct meaningful …

2014 Journalism Graduate Skills For The Professional Workplace: Expectations From Journalism Professionals And Educators, Bernard R. Mccoy

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

With 2015 graduations approaching, accuracy, ethical principles, and good news judgment were identified as top skills college journalism graduates should possess for the professional workplace, according to a national survey of journalism educators and professionals. There are sharp differences, though, between respondent groups over how well college journalism programs are doing preparing journalism graduates for journalism careers, as well as the perceived importance of social media, mobile, and digital reporting skills. The survey asked journalism professionals and educators to rank skills and experiences journalism graduates need for the professional workplace. Respondents included 665 professional journalism managers, non-managers, and educators. Respondents …

The Effects Of An Early Intervention Mastery Activity In The Mathematics Department, Nathan Wakefield, Joe Champion, Doug Dailey, Jessalyn Bolkema

DBER Speaker Series

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, nearly 1000 students sign up for one of College Algebra, or College Algebra and Trigonometry every fall. Of these students, more than 75% are first time freshman. Finding ways to motivate and encourage these students together with early identification strategy for struggling students is critical to success not just in the math course, but also in a student’s university career. This presentation will discuss the design and outcomes an early intervention mastery activity with the broad goals of helping students recall previously learned mathematics, and identifying students who are at risk for failure, all within …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 16, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2015 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on “Honors and the future of the humanities”

Larry Andrews

Frances McCue

Angela Marie Salas

Andrew Martino

Amaris Ketcham

Annmarie Guzy

Barbra Nightingale

Joe Kraus

Research essay

Naomi Yavneh Klos, Kendall Eskine, and Michael Pashkevich

Portz-prize-winning essay, 2014

Sam Shearer

The Disabled Teacher: A Memoir Of An Interrupted Pedagogical Career, A Life With A Chronic Illness, And An Encounter With Real Barriers To Inclusive Education, Dorothy M. Bossman

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

This dissertation is a narrative exploration of multiple themes relevant to education research: the relationship between the university and school, epistemology, teacher identity, disability studies, researcher subjectivity, and the retention of quality educators. This work of “autoethnography” (Ellis, Bochner, & Adams, 2011) approaches these topics through the tellings of a teaching career, the awakening of an education scholar, and the development of a chronic illness. While the focus of this inquiry often returns to the researcher’s pedagogical identity, the three storylines interact in myriad ways that relate to the larger field. Removal of one of these narrative threads would, metaphorically, …

Characteristics Of An Appropriate Instructor-Student Relationship In Allied Health, Julie K. Morbach

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In most allied health educational programs, the instructors are individuals who are experts in their field, but do not have a certificate in teaching. Furthermore, these individuals may feel a sense of loneliness when transitioning from working in a department with co-workers to being the sole instructor of a discipline-specific program. Because of this sense of isolation and the amount of time spent with the same students, instructors may begin to perceive students more as friends and confidants. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of educators regarding the instructor-student relationship in allied health programs in …

A Case Study: Exploring The Experiences Of Administrators And Teacher Leaders In A Midwestern Turnaround School, Bary Habrock

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Economic conditions too often create disadvantages for students and their achievement in schools (Reeves, 2004). Educators must better understand high poverty and high minority schools that overcome the odds to improve student achievement. Researchers have studied turnaround schools that improve student achievement in chronically low-performing schools in a relatively short time period (Herman, Dawson, Dee, Greene, Maynard, Redding, & Darwin, 2008). Still there is inadequate national research on the actual experiences of principals and teachers in these schools as told through their perspectives.

This study identified themes from participant interviews to add to the research currently available in this area. …

Engaging Teenagers With Science Through Comics, Judy Diamond

DBER Speaker Series

Graphic novels or comics are powerful tools to motivate youth to become interested in science. Embedding science concepts into a story with graphics that appeal to teen culture makes abstract content approachable, stimulates youth interest, and promotes learning. This presentation will discuss the goals of the NIH‐funded World of Viruses and Biology of Human comic series and the research results that support using these approaches.