Education Commons^™

Music, Community, And Cooperation In A Lower Elementary Classroom, Heidi S. James

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The following research assesses how daily singing and music in an elementary classroom impacted the sense of community, care of materials and cooperation during clean up time. This study involved daily singing of a set of songs with lyrical themes of cooperation and unity, and then playing of recorded versions of the same songs during clean up time. The eight-week study involved 16 participants between the ages of 6 and 9 at a private school in Minnesota. Each individual completed a pre and post-survey. During clean up time, observations of helpful behaviors were recorded, and any relevant quotations noted. Results …

Cooperative Activities To Reduce Aggression In Young Children, Kristin R. Beardsly Schoenherr

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

I investigated the effect of introducing cooperative games during recess to reduce aggressive behaviors in preschool-age children. The action research was done at an intentionally culturally and socio-economically diverse Montessori school in St. Paul, Minnesota. The 23 children involved were all children from the three to six age group who take daily naps. I recorded every aggressive incident I saw before, during, and after the intervention. I also recorded what cooperative activities I introduced for the intervention. Once before and after the intervention I asked the children if they enjoyed recess. I recorded observational notes such as weather conditions, and …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Practices And Activities On Student Attention And Work Engagement In A Multi-Age 4th To 6th Grade Montessori Classroom, Jamie L. Schaub

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to test whether the implementation of mindfulness exercises would increase focus and work engagement of students. This study incorporated breathing and visualization exercises three times a week. The 5-week study involved 44 children between the ages of 9 and 12 years in a private Montessori school in Northern Michigan. Data collection included daily tallies of on and off task behavior, daily observations of work engagement, pre and post questionnaires about mindfulness completed by each child, and oneon- one discussions with each participant. Results showed an increase in the number of students on task and …

Communication And Conflict Resolution In Early Childhood, Alyssa K. Ringgenberg

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The importance of teaching communication and conflict resolution skills in early childhood is explored in this action research. Previous research suggests that young children are capable of learning conflict resolution skills from an early age. After observing that conflict resolution was not successfully addressed in many different classroom environments, the need to research and model clear, compassionate language was apparent. This study was conducted in a Montessori classroom of 21 children, ages three to six. Within the framework of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), the children learned to voice their feelings, hear others, and have their personal needs met. I recorded reports …

Paper Conferences As Meaningful Feedback To Student Writing, Jessica N. Betz

All NMU Master's Theses

This case study is designed to examine a potentially effective way to evaluate and provide feedback on student writing, and through meaningful evaluation, the writing process for secondary students could be more holistic, could better prepare students for college writing. This case study took place in a small eighth grade Language Arts/social studies classroom, located in a town of approximately thirty thousand residents, and the case is the classroom of 22 students, six of which were purposefully chosen for observation during their Paper Conference session and fourteen of which chose to participate in a survey. Paper Conferences are regular practice …

Cross-Cultural Confidence: A Program Design For Accessible Intercultural Competence On Campus, Erika Clement

Capstone Collection

Internationalization is currently one of the greatest issues facing higher education today. Colleges and universities have sought to produce graduates who are globally ready and capable of effectively navigating intercultural situations due to increasing diversity in the workplace and globalization; however, it has become apparent that efforts towards this end have not paid off as well as it was assumed they would. Now that US universities are admitting greater numbers of international students, intercultural competence and programs which build connections across cultural groups have become increasingly important on campus.

This capstone seeks to fashion an accessible, effective, on-campus program for …

Preparing Students For The Future Workforce: An Experiential Learning Approach To Deliver An Accounting Analytics Course, Gary Pan, Venky Shankararaman, Poh Sun Seow, Gan Hup Tan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper describes an undergraduate accounting analytics course which was delivered based on an experiential learning approach. This accounting analytics course is timely as, with the proliferation of Big Data, several accounting professional bodies have highlighted the importance of developing analytical skills among accounting graduates. The experiential learning approach was adopted because there is a need to equip students with future work skills so as to tackle increasingly complex problems. The professors collaborate with external partners to design a course which combines theory with experiential learning through heavy use of projects involving real world problems. Students rated the course favourably. …

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. …

Interpreting Differences Of Self-Efficacy Of Gifted Or Talented Students With Grouping Practices In Middle School Mathematics, Amanda G. Waits

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in total scores on the Mathematical Self-Efficacy Scale, the mathematics task self-efficacy portion of the scale, and the math-related school subjects self-efficacy portion of the scale for middle school students between students assigned to a homogeneously grouped accelerated math class and students assigned to a heterogeneously grouped math class.

The instrument used to gather information for thus study on student self-efficacy was the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES). The MSES measures 2 domains of mathematics-related behaviors and capabilities. The Mathematics Task Self-Efficacy scale is designed to …

Mathematics Learning Support Models And Student Success At A Tennessee Community College, Bobby Allen Dixon Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every year thousands of students make preparations to pursue a college degree. Many are high school seniors, but a large percentage of the population are nontraditional age students who are years removed from a formal classroom setting. Included in the list of preparations is an examination whose results will be used to determine each individual’s readiness to be academically successful at the collegiate level. These examinations assess student’s abilities in the areas of reading, English composition, and mathematics. The results of these examinations show that at the community college level more than half of these students will need remediation in …

High School Teachers’ Perceived Self-Efficacy In Teaching Literacy Across The Curriculum In Tennessee First Core Region 1 High Schools, Ashley N. Keys

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At the high school level teachers are often departmentalized by their content area and do not teach subjects outside of their specialties. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) introduced literacy standards across the curriculum requiring reading and writing instruction in all courses. The adoption not only affected traditional literacy teachers but also science, math, social studies, and career and technical education teachers who may have had little or no training or experience in teaching literacy to adolescents. These teachers, because of little training or experience in teaching literacy, may feel unprepared for the CCSS literacy shifts or inadequate in delivering literacy …

Exploring Gesturing As A Natural Approach To Impact Stages Of Second Language Development: A Multiple Baseline, Single Case Study Of A Head Start Child, Guillermo I. Mendoza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an increase in Hispanic English Language Learners (ELL). Poverty levels and lack of teacher training can also be stacked against the ELL population. Gesturing is a teaching technique that is used in successful methods such as The Natural Approach (NA) and Total Physical Response (TPR) in helping ELL students in English comprehension and output. This study examined the effects that increased teacher gestures have on the number of words spoken by the child in multiple settings. Data were collected in the context of a multiple baseline design across three settings. The results indicate that there was an effect …

Math Emporium Model: Preparing Developmental Students For College Algebra, Stephanie Patton Williams

Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of the Emporium Model in reducing math anxiety and in preparing developmental math students at a community college to be successful in College Algebra. The study involved 59 students enrolled in Intermediate Algebra at a community college and compared those in the Emporium class format to those in the Traditional class format. Participants completed a pre-post math anxiety rating scale questionnaire and a pre-post algebra readiness test to address the research questions of the study. Two mixed model ANOVAs were done and the findings showed that there was a significant difference in math anxiety level …

Teacher Beliefs Regarding Positive Behavior Support Programs In Mississippi Middle Schools, Chad Joseph Davis

Dissertations

In today’s educational environment of continued and high-stakes accountability, school administrators are constantly looking for effective techniques to improve the academic performance and behavior of their students. In an effort to attain improvement by their pupils, many educational leaders are choosing to implement positive behavior support (PBS) programs in their schools. This study examined the differences between teachers’ beliefs about PBS programs and their impact on reported student attendance, standardized test scores, engagement, and behavior. It also examined the differences in reported changes in these variables between teachers at schools with PBS programs and teachers at schools without the behavior …

Administrators', Counselors', And Teachers' Opinions Regarding The Impact Of Freshman Academies, Schools-Within-Schools, And Ninth Grade Schools As It Relates To Effective Transitioning, Robyn Suzanne Killebrew

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether administrators, counselors, and teachers believe that implementing freshman academies, schools-within-schools, and ninth grade schools is an effective way to transition ninth graders into high school. This study included an introduction and a review of literature that discussed the following: adolescent years, transition from 8^th to 9^th grade, drop-out prevention, school reform in secondary education, professional learning communities, the freshman academy, and a conclusion. This study was also comprised with a methodology section, research results, conclusions, recommendations for policy makers and practitioners, and recommendations for future research.

The questionnaire for …

Learning From Science Lectures : Students Remember More And Make Better Inferences When They Complete Skeletal Outlines Compared To Other Guided Notes., David Bradley Bellinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is common for students to take notes during lectures, but the accuracy and completeness of these notes is highly questionable. Therefore, instructors must make an important decision – should they provide their students with lecture notes? If so, how complete should the notes be and in what format? The present experiments examined how note format and degree of support impacted the encoding benefit of note-taking. In Experiment 1, undergraduate students listened to brief audio-recorded science lectures (Human blood, N = 42; Human ear, N = 36) and completed skeletal outlines (requiring students to conceptually organize the information using the …

Academic Vocabulary Instruction And Adult English Language Learners In The Arabian Gulf: A Phenomenological Study Of Instructor Perspectives, Indrani Ibrahim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe 11 ESL instructors’ experiences and perceptions of why some adult learners in their college level ESL programs in the Gulf States of the Middle East have challenges to academic reading comprehension success. The theories that guided this study were epistemological and axiological ones whereby participants’ descriptions of perceptions regarding academic vocabulary instruction, instructional self-efficacy, and experiences were explored. Adult learning theory of Malcolm Knowles’ coupled with the social cognitive theory espoused by Albert Bandura are the frameworks that underscore the adult learner context and their social learning and instructional environments within …

Nursing Students’ Perceptions Of How Working As Nursing Assistants Impacts Their Education, Jerry Harvey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to develop an understanding of how working as a nursing assistant impacts the ability of nursing students to meet the high demands of school during their junior year of a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN) pre-licensure program. Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory, Situated Learning Theory, and the Johari Window Communication Model each suggested that immersing oneself in the culture of nursing would have positive outcomes for the student working as a nursing assistant. A qualitative phenomenological design was used to explore the following research questions: (a) What are the unique experiences of …

Special Education Teachers' Beliefs And Perceptions Of Evidence-Based Reading Instruction, Loretta Jackson Tatum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to identify and uncover themes that emerged from special education teachers’ experiences, beliefs, and perceptions of evidence-based reading instruction. The theoretical framework that guided this study consisted of the epistemological theory of knowledge and Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Data collection methods included semistructured in-depth interviews, documentation analysis, and classroom observations. Data analyses involved reflecting on 13 special education teachers’ collective comments, dialogues, written documentation, and interview transcripts. Three themes emerged regarding the phenomenon of teaching reading to children with disabilities (a) Knowledge sources, (b) Environmental diversity, and (c) Organizational constraints. These essential …

Ireach Blended Learning Model And Reading Lexile Growth Of Freshmen In Maryville City Schools, Whitney Ann Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Maryville City School system has implemented the first year of the iReach blended learning model for which all students in the school district have access to either a laptop or an iPad to support their learning every day. The availability of research on the impact of iReach is limited because the blended learning instructional model is relatively new and has not yet been subjected to numerous research studies. The purpose of this ex post facto quasi-experimental quantitative study was to compare student reading Lexile growth data collected through the use of the Reading Comprehension Assessment before and after iReach …

Traditional Vs. Project-Based Learning: The Effects On Student Performance And Motivation In Honors Level Mathematics Courses, Sunletha Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since the charge by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) to move away from the traditional learning (TL) method of instruction to more learner-controlled techniques, project-based learning (PBL) has been on the rise. This quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design study compared the academic achievement of 122 eleventh and twelfth grade students who were instructed using PBL techniques, with a control group of their counterparts who were instructed using TL techniques, in honors level mathematics courses. Pretest and Posttest data collected from both groups of students were statistically analyzed using independent t-tests, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), respectively, since …

Stop Ruining Math! Reasons And Remedies For The Maladies Of Mathematics Education, Rachel M. Steinig

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Did you love math as a kid? Or was it ruined for you? Sadly, many people have had math ruined for them for various reasons. Some might say that it was because of not understanding what was going on, being bored in class, parental or societal pressure to achieve in math, not seeing a point in learning math, wrong amount of homework, grades, curriculum, physical concerns, mean teachers, or any number of things. This article delves into the many common reasons why math is ruined for so many kids, and offers solutions so that math can be enjoyable for everyone. …

Commentary, Marjorie Siegel

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Commentary, Susan Freeman

Occasional Paper Series

Commentary, Martha Foote

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Toward Meaningful Assessment: Lessons From Five First-Grade Classrooms, Laura Kates

Occasional Paper Series

A case study of six first grade teachers' responses to a performance assessment mandated in New York City Public Schools from 1998 to 2003.

The New Orleans Reformed Public School System: National Model?, Raynard Sanders

Occasional Paper Series

The author describes what happened to the New Orleans Public Schools after Hurricane Katrina.

Racing To The Top: Who’S Accounting For The Children?, Celia Genishi, Anne Haas Dyson

Occasional Paper Series

The authors argue that teachers are accountable not to some narrow “top” but to the rhythms and rhymes of their developing students.

Accountability And The Contemporary Intellectual, Greg Dimitriadis, Marc Lamont Hill

Occasional Paper Series

Analyzes the language and values that have framed the accountability movement.

All They Want To Do Is Dance: A Study Of Dance Education In K-12 Public Schools, Kelsey Jean-Baptiste

Dance Summer Fellows

This project involves investigating the value of dance within a student’s life. The research has included a variety of facets of dance - how it is related to brain/neuroscience research and motor skills; how it is fun and an opportunity to learn in a different way; and how it enhances academics, mental stability, and social interactions. The bulk of the study included examining past and current national studies that investigated the effects of dance education within the K-12 school setting. Also included were two on-site visits pertinent to the study: one was a visit to a Philadelphia dance classroom, in …