Education Commons^™

Effects Of Comprehensive Education On Elementary School Student Performance On Standardized Exams, Kenneth Vaughn Higbee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose if this study was to compare math and reading Criterion Reference Test (CRT) scores of 3rd and 5th grade students using two distinct educational models: a comprehensive educational curriculum (CEC) model and a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) curricular model. While the CEC curricular model focuses on a combination of core and non-core curriculum, the NCLB curricular model focused on a combination of intense core remediation and the reduction of some non-core curriculum. Students were from two demographically similar frontier Nevada elementary schools. Test scores were compared in 2004 when both schools used identical curricular approaches, and then …

“You Can Pick Really Good Literature That Will Lead Them There”: Investigating The Instructional Roles Teachers Utilize When Conducting Literature Discussions, Sophie M. Ladd

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this multi-case study was to investigate the instructional roles teachers utilize in whole group and small group discussion. This study highlights the questioning and response strategies two elementary teachers used during read alouds and literature discussions. Data sources included whole group and small group discussions, interviews, teachers' reflection journals, classroom observations, researcher field notes, and Informal correspondence. Data were analyzed using Merriam's (1998) analytic framework for case study. A within-case analysis was conducted for each case, followed by a cross-case analysis. Through with-in case analysis questioning and response categories were developed. These categories included: appealing, prompting, examination, …

Why Would They Try? Motivation And Motivating In Low-Stakes Information Skills Testing, Jeanne M. Brown, Carrie A. Gaxiola

Library Faculty Publications

In 2008 the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries piloted the Educational Testing Service’s standardised test of information, communication, and technology (ICT) skills (iSkills) in spring and autumn 2008. In the course of administering the test we explored motivational strategies, a critical component in low-stakes, low-personal-consequences testing. Motivational strategies included providing feedback on test performance, highlighting the value of the test for the individual student, and appealing to the student’s willingness to improve the overall performance of the institution. We addressed ways to motivate students in order to enhance their level of participation in and performance …

Evaluating And Improving The Quality Of Teacher’S Language Modeling In Early Childhood Classrooms, Lillian White Englund

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The relationship between pre-school teachers and the children in their classrooms directly influences the degree of success the children experience in school and in life. The emphasis on quality pre-K education in the U.S. has resulted in an increased need for highly qualified teachers who are capable of engaging in meaningful interactions with young children. An important component of high-level teacher-child interactions is the teacher's ability to model language for children as they acquire vocabulary and language context.

This mixed-methods study was designed to examine the effectiveness of a professional development intervention designed to improve the quality of language modeling …

Do Students Have Too Much Homework?, Thomas Loveless

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The popular press and best-selling books frequently decry the heavy homework burden of American students. But do students really have too much homework? Has the homework load changed much over the past two decades? Data from several sources are examined to explore the amount of homework assigned to American students and to place that burden in an historical context.

Research-Based Learning From The Start: Developing Undergraduate Researchers, Anne E. Zald, Jennifer L. Fabbi

Library Faculty Presentations

This presentation will:

- Describe the Faculty Institute for Research-Based Learning in High Impact Classes at UNLV –Goals and curriculum –Examples of impact to date

- Rough assessment of need to intentionally integrate research skills into curriculum at your institutions

- Action plan focusing on potential collaborators at your institutions

Unlv Magazine, Tony Allen, Shane Bevell, Donna Mcaleer, Ched Whitney, Cate Weeks

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Interaction And Language Development Of Ell Students In Mainstream Classrooms, Beth A. Ralston

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

English Language Learners make up more than half of the student population in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada ("Nevada Report Card", 2008-09). This is a compelling enough number to motivate teachers, principals, and schools as a whole to reflect on the practices and programs set in place to meet the needs of these students. This study looks specifically at two classrooms in CCSD, observing the teachers' practices and strategies for effectively meeting the needs of their English Language Learners that are a part of their mainstream classrooms. Pervasive strategies that stood out during the course of …

The Live Experience Of Non-Degree Learners From A Time Modified Traditional Baccalaureate In Nursing Program, Stephanie S. Deboor

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

By the year 2016, it is projected that a million new and replacement nurses will be needed throughout the United States. The traditional 4-year baccalaureate program alone cannot adequately sustain this demand. The immediacy of the current nursing shortage demands our educational systems respond by building and maintaining a workforce that is sufficient to support the health care needs of our society. In an attempt to meet this challenge, nursing schools around the country began exploring the option of creating accelerated programs for those who already possess a bachelor's degree in another field without compromising the integrity and quality of …

The Greenprint: Nevada’S Environmental Literacy Plan, Part 1, Education About The Environment

Education about the Environment

President Obama’s “Blueprint for Reform” includes environmental education in part because research has demonstrated significant benefits from environmental education, including impacting student test scores in science, reading, math, and social studies. Additionally, studies have shown that environmental education can reduce discipline problems, increase attendance, and develop leadership and other social skills. Other important benefits include increased engagement, motivation, and enthusiasm for learning. The National Science Board of the National Science Foundation recognizes the importance of environmental education to student learning in their 2000 report, Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century.

The need for environmental literacy arises from the …

Mapping Information Literacy Outcomes And Other Intellectual Skills Into Students' Educational Experiences, Patricia A. Iannuzzi, L Dee Fink

Library Faculty Presentations

The 2007 report, College Learning for the New Global Century, outlines a cluster of intellectual and practical skills that are critical components of a liberal education: inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; quantitative literacy; information literacy; and teamwork and problem solving. The learning outcomes associated with information literacy relate to and incorporate many of the learning outcomes in all of these skill clusters. Participants in this session will address how these information literacy and related learning outcomes can be mapped into student learning experiences at three levels: in an individual course, in an academic sequence …

Building Faculty Capacity For Better Teaching And Learning, L Dee Fink, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

Enhancing faculty capacity for teaching in ways that promote greater levels of student engagement and significant learning is an essential part of all other institutional changes designed to advance higher quality student learning. In this session, participants will lay out a general strategy for campus leaders to cultivate that faculty capability and then identify specific actions needed to implement such a strategy. Participants will also identify key elements of effective teaching and learning centers and brainstorm ways to build a teaching- and learning-centered institutional culture.

Delta Project On Postsecondary Costs, Productivity, And Accountability: A Campus Perspective – University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

I will start by pointing out that I don’t completely agree with Director Wellman’s conclusions that it’s a horrible state of affairs when investments from tuition and state sources are misdirected to support non‐instruction infrastructure. As a research university with aspirations of enhancing its research agenda, in a state that desperately needs that research UNLV expects to grow those support services in order to grow its research initiatives, and thereby contribute in meaningful ways to the reinvention of the Nevada economy – one sorely hampered by its single industry focus. The Delta Project data calls into question the relationship of …

Graduate Programming For Working Professionals: What Makes A Difference?, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Presentations

Education: A Graduate Degree Designed for New and Working Professionals

Mission: To provide a well-rounded graduate learning experience to current and future crisis and emergency management leaders for effectively addressing natural, intentional and technical disasters

Female North African-French Students In France: Narratives Of Educational Experiences, Donna L. Murray

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The study focused on the narratives of educational experiences of female students of North African heritage in France, and on their success as they see it in the French school system, which states that it is committed to diversity and promoting equal chances among students for academic success in the universities. The study will help to contribute to the growing research on students of immigrant origins and their successes (or lack thereof) in French school systems, asserting a vow to social diversity. I examined the current social educational issues that affect female ethnic minority students in France, as well as …

Negotiating The Integration Of New Literacies In Math And Science Content: The Lived Experience Of Classroom Teachers, Jennifer Joy Wimmer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experience of integrating new literacies in math and science content by upper elementary and middle school teachers. This study highlights the lived experience of six teachers including two elementary math teachers, two middle school math teachers, and two middle school science teachers. Data sources included five in-depth interviews, teachers' weekly reflection journals, weekly classroom observations, and one principal interview at each of the three high-needs schools. Data were analyzed through an analytic and thematic approach. A reconstructed story was created for each teacher which provides insight into the teacher …

Empirical Testing Of The Neuman Systems Nursing Education Model: Exploring The Created Environment Of Registered Nursing Students In Nevada’S Colleges And Universities, Diane H. Elmore

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purposes of this paper are to: (a) present the strategies and rationale for creation of a middle range nursing theory that is specific to nursing education, (b) to determine if propositions of the model are valid and appropriate to support further research based on the student-centered education model, and (c) to conduct initial research on the created environment of nursing students, which is one of two the primary constructs of the nursing education model. Use of the Neumans Systems Nursing Education Model (NSNEM), a student centered educational model, which is consistent with the Neumans System Model (NSM) provided the …

An Investigation Of Exemplary Teaching Practices Of Teachers Of Native American Students, William M. Young

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation traces the historical roots of indigenous education from the violation of treaty rights of the late 1800's to the staggering rates of non-persistency facing Native American students today. While many factors are outside of the classroom teacher's scope of influence, teacher candidates should be trained in culturally responsive methods to address factors that are within their control and which can be addressed in the classroom.

The study was conducted using a mixed-methods design employing Creswell's (2008a) sequential transformative strategy. STS is a multi-phase study with an implicit theoretical lens. In this study the researcher is situated at an …

Unlv Magazine, Cate Weeks, Tony Allen, Shane Bevell, Diane Russell, Brendan Buhler, Afsha Bawany, Erin O'Donnell

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Effect Of Simulation Models On Systems Learning In An Introductory Environmental Science Course, Heather J. Skaza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence within the systems dynamics community supporting the use of systems simulations in the classroom to improve student understanding, there is little published, controlled, experimental research. This paper describes the results of a paired experiment testing the effect of using system dynamics simulations to increase systems understanding in an introductory environmental science course. We believed that the students using the systems simulations would demonstrate a greater systemic understanding of environmental issues than those who did not.

We conducted an experiment during the fall semester of 2009, with 304 students enrolled in four sections of …

Team-Based Learning: Engagement And Accountability With Psychometric Analysis Of A New Instrument, Heidi Ann Mennenga

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With calls for transformation, innovation, and excellence in nursing education from national bodies of nursing, nurse educators must determine the best possible teaching strategies to meet educational standards. Team-based learning, an innovative teaching strategy, offers educators a structured, student-centered learning environment and may be more effective than current teaching pedagogies in meeting the needs of nurse educators.

The purpose of this study was to (a) examine differences in student engagement between baccalaureate nursing students taught using team-based learning and those taught using traditional lecture, (b) examine how levels of engagement affected examination scores, (c) examine potential differences in student examination …

Research Poster: Clark County School District Involvement In The Nsf Epscor Program, Education Component, Aubrey M. Shirk, Larry Rudd, Paul Buck

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

Research poster

Research Poster: Trends In Climate Change Education In Nevada's System Of Higher Education, Amy Northrup

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

Research poster

Climate Change Education For Nevada, David M. Hassenzahl, Michael Collopy, John W. Farley, Paul Buck, Jacque Ewing-Taylor, Shama Perveen

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

42 PowerPoint slides Session 1: Education Convener: David Hassenzahl, UNLV Abstract: -Five Year Strategic Plan -Goal 6 - Create a scholarly environment to promote research skills and intellectual development for Nevada educators and students (K-12, undergraduate undergraduate, and graduate) -Primary Strategy - Develop educational infrastructure to train students at all levels and provide public outreach in climate change issues

Assessment Of Forever Earth Curriculum 2009-2010: Final Report, Lori Olafson, Gregory Schraw, Michelle L. Weibel

Reports (FE)

Forever Earth is a floating environmental laboratory and learning center at Lake Mead National Recreation Area that provides hands-on science experiences for students in the Clark County School District. The Forever Earth program was brought about through the efforts of numerous partners including Forever Resorts, a division of Forever Learning LLC, the National Park Service, Lake Mead National Recreation Area; Outside Las Vegas Foundation; and UNLV’s Public Lands Institute. In 2005, a formal written agreement was reached between Fun Country Marine Industries and UNLV’s Public Lands Institute to operate and manage the Forever Earth houseboat for the purpose of enhancing …