Education Commons^™

Implementing A Reggio Emilia Inspired Approach In A Mainstream Western Australian Context: The Impact On Early Childhood Teachers' Professional Role, Claire Hall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Reggio Emilia, an approach to early childhood that was developed in a Northern Italian city of the same name, is highly regarded as acknowledged by educators and researchers world-wide (Gandini, 1993). The Reggio Emilia philosophy is distinguished by the presentation of an image of children as being strong, rich and powerful learners (Hendricks, 2004; Millikan, 2003). This approach is marked as being adopted and adapted to suit particular cultural and educational settings. These situation sensitive approaches are noted as being Reggio Emilia inspired.

This qualitative case study investigated how the professional role of four early childhood teachers was impacted by …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Gordon Allport's Contact Hypothesis Ability To Increase Cultural Openness In First Year College Students, David Alan Kahn

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to test Gordon Allport's theory of Contact Hypothesis about cultural attitude change in college students. Participants were college First year students participating in First year seminar classes in a small southeastern liberal arts university. The treatment group of randomly selected First year seminar classes was exposed to a one-week seminar designed to address the issue of cultural diversity. A non-treatment group received the standard instruction on this issue. The content of the seminar included exposure to multicultural issues that include Allport's most important tenants for changing prejudicial attitudes. For this study components of Allport's …

School Counselors' Perceptions Of Their Role In Assisting Students With College Preparedness, Tabatha Mcallister

Theses and Dissertations

Access to quality precollege counseling is a crucial component of students' post-secondary educational planning. High school counselors provide educational planning and guidance to students which make them a valuable commodity to obtain information for students contemplating their postsecondary options (Hoyt, 2001). School counselors are situated as the focal point for students and their parents to obtain the information needed for academic and financial college preparedness. The research problem was ascertaining a descriptive definition of the elements that comprise the roles of the school counselor in student post-secondary preparedness. As well as determining if there are factors that enhance or inhibit …

An Examination Of Middle School Counselors' Comfort With Technology, Patricia Christina Roddy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the differences in comfort with technology in middle school counselors in South Carolina. The researcher’s goal was to determine the effects of years of experience, technology training, gender, and age on middle school counselors’ comfort with technology.

After a review of literature, it was determined that this study was warranted to determine middle school counselors’ comfort with technology. As technology progresses, it is critical that school counselors are appropriately trained to utilize technology in their work. Their comfort levels with technology should be as strong as their ability to use a …

The Influence Of University Personnel Upon Students' Spirituality At Selected Adventist Universities In West Africa, Isaiah Ola Abolarin

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a deep concern for youth and young adults' spirituality. Hence the church established institutions of higher learning with the aim of restoring in youth and young adults the image of God in which they were created. There are programs and activities in these institutions to accomplish the aim, but there is still concern among church leaders and parents that young people will abandon their faith and exit the church. This study explored the influence of interactions between students and university personnel in selected Adventist universities in West Africa that, apart from programs …

Using Field Studies To Meet The Next Generation Science Standards, Amy Brown

Masters Theses

New science standards, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), recently have been released which require students to use modeling and other process skills and cross-cutting concepts to show understanding of core concepts. Understanding by design approach was used to develop an ecology curriculum in line with the NGSS framework, using field studies to involve students in real science. A schoolyard habitat area on Neoga School District property was used for the field studies. Students were assessed with pre- and post-tests, traditional classroom grades on labs and projects and the Modified ATSI and Children's Science Curiosity Scale. All students showed significant …

Teachers' Perceptions And Satisfaction With Pbis In A Southeast Georgia School District, Deidra C. Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s educational system, an important concern is student behavior. Problem behaviors can affect students’ academic learning as well as teachers’ instructional time. Many programs and approaches are available to improve student behavior in schools. One school-wide program known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is designed to help schools create and sustain effective behavioral supports for students. PBIS is a national framework schools can use to help them design and implement behavioral practices for students. It involves all the faculty, staff, and students in a school system. Teachers are important stakeholders in implementing PBIS. If they do not …

An Examination Of The Predictive Relationship Between Mode Of Instruction And Student Success In Introductory Biology, Lynette Kathleen Hauser

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges continue to increase online course offerings as these institutions strive to offer open access, cost effective education to a growing student population. With an increased student demand for online learning, community colleges should explore the possibility of offering all courses in the online environment, including science courses. The purpose of this quantitative research was to investigate the success of non-science major students in biology 102 on campus comparing students who completed biology 101 online to students who completed biology 101 on campus within Virginia community colleges. This was the first multi institutional, multi semester study of community college …

In Search For Instructional Techniques To Maximize The Use Of Germane Cognitive Resources: A Case Of Teaching Complex Tasks In Physics, Yekaterina Sliva

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to introduce an instructional technique for teaching complex tasks in physics, test its effectiveness and efficiency, and understand cognitive processes taking place in learners' minds while they are exposed to this technique. The study was based primarily on cognitive load theory (CLT). CLT determines the amount of total cognitive load imposed on a learner by a learning task as combined intrinsic (invested in comprehending task complexity) and extraneous (wasteful) cognitive load. Working memory resources associated with intrinsic cognitive load are defined as germane resources caused by element interactivity that lead to learning, in contrast …

The Effects Of Group Size On Student Learning, Student Contributions, \Mental Effort, And Group Outcomes For Middle-Aged Adults Working In An Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Environment, Gary Lee Roemmich

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Group work has become increasingly important within adult education as educators strive to present students with problems and processes that they encounter in their professional lives. In many work environments, individuals are expected to function as a part of a team to solve complex problems. Consequently, there has been a shift towards teaching students how to solve problems as part of a group rather than individually. An important question becomes "What size group maximizes students learning?" This study compared student learning, student participation levels, and mental effort for middle-aged, professional students in large (six students) and small groups (three students) …