Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Active Learning Technology On Instructors’ Practices And Students’ Engagement And Grades: A Mixed Methods Study, Jeremy C. Van Hof

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

Partly in response to university teachers’ changing pedagogies marked by flipping instruction, lecture capture technologies are evolving into active learning systems. Little published research exists on the effects of active learning technology on either teachers or students. This two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study details the effects that active learning systems have on instructor practices and on student grades and engagement. Phase one combined quantitative data collection with instructor interviews. Phase one findings show higher student engagement levels correlate with the use of the active learning system only in the presence of very specific, flipped classroom practices. Phase two, a …

The Relationship Of Formative Assessment To The Professional Development And Perspective Transformation Of Teachers, Kimberly K. Snyder

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

This study uses practitioner research to explore teacher perspectives about formative assessment. The researcher engaged in a four-month-long series of professional development sessions with one middle school and two high school English-Language Arts teachers from the Capital View School District. Understanding formative assessment as a process to monitor student learning and then customizing instruction based on the data gathered from the formative assessment is a complex skill in which teachers need practice and even coaching to become adroit. The sessions were intended to help early-career teachers better understand formative assessment and incorporate it as a strategy in their teaching praxis. …

Linguafolio® Implementation At The Classroom Level: A Collective Case Study Of North Carolina Teachers, Amanda Romjue

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

LinguaFolio® is a language learning portfolio with a rich history rooted in educational research. This study explores the evolution of LinguaFolio®, a learning and self-assessment tool whose origins can be traced back to the European Language Portfolio (ELP). LinguaFolio® is a learning tool designed to promote self-regulated language learning through goal-setting, task-based language learning, and self-assessment and reflection. This study examined the implementation of LinguaFolio® by five experienced, exemplary teachers in order to better understand how LinguaFolio® can best be integrated into the language classroom.

LinguaFolio® is a highly customizable language learning portfolio that teachers are encouraged to adapt to …

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 …