Education Commons^™

Resisting Disciplinarity: Curriculum Mapping And Transdisciplinarity, Megan Snider Bailey

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

American higher education relies on a taxonomy of knowledge stemming from Puritan ways of thinking and knowing—a disciplinary classification system that sorts “questions asked” and “answers possible” into epistemic categories. This paper interrogates the notion of disciplinarity to better understand the arbitrariness of epistemic divisions and the harm that these decisions cause. The author explores transdisciplinarity as an emerging concept in honors education, one which rejects boundaries and explores problems through multiple, competing perspectives. Transdisciplinary pedagogical approaches offer honors educators a mechanism for pivoting teaching and learning away from outdated assumptions of honors as elitist, giving honors students a liberating …

Honors Flourishing In The Midst Of Change, Hao Hong, Robert Glover, Mimi Killinger, Jordan Labouff

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In the wake of formidable institutional change, and in response to administrative concerns about honors’ place within the university, authors describe the development of a pilot course that led to a program’s critical self-study and course transformations that were long overdue. Citizen Scholarship and Human Flourishing incorporates specific practices such as peer instruction and “ungrading” to align with new institutional learning objectives and broadly defined undergraduate research experiences across disciplines. The experimental course presents honors as a model for progressive curricular change in the midst of shifting administrative landscapes.

Ready For Business: Developing An Online Business Honors Course For Quality, Engagement, And Inclusivity, Kayla N. Sapkota

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This essay presents the creation process for an online honors course in the field of business. Highlighting engagement, critical thinking, and inclusivity as central themes, the author describes the course’s inception, structure, outcomes, and post-teaching reflection. The pedagogical framework includes integrative current event assignments and team activities. Noting student responses as generally positive, the author suggests how future versions might expand on remote teamwork opportunities.

A Student Led Assessment Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Environmental Science And Management Department At Portland State University, Aneesha Gharpurey

University Honors Theses

In the summer of 2020, the world watched as Black communities and allies responded to the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. An intensification of social and racial justice awareness provoked many entities like higher education institutions (HEI) to evaluate how they support marginalized people and update their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans. In an attempt to maintain excellence, many HEIs implement DEI plans through top-down methods where high-level administrators target recruitment and retention, campus climate, community engagement, and curriculum. These plans rarely incorporate students as co-collaborators and administer DEI changes that have little effect on students' self-belonging, …

Is Critical Thinking Really Critical? A Research Study Of The Intentional Planning For The Teaching Of Critical Thinking In The Middle Grades, Michelle Smith

Dissertations

Critical thinking is an integral part of human life. However, it is not intentionally planned for and implemented in most public educational institutions. Due to this lack of planning, not everyone thinks critically. Critical thinking is a skill that must be fostered and developed over a period for it to be applied consistently. Individuals who exhibit critical thinking are increasingly likely to be successful in life.

This study focused on the teaching of critical thinking and was conducted at Wildcat Middle School, located in a suburb of Chicago, IL. The research examined the extent to which teachers intentionally planned for …

Sharing Our Stories: A Personal Narrative Literacy Curriculum For Grades 3-5, Casey Adler

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis began out of my curiosity about the ways to set up a classroom to best support growing readers and writers. As my exploration into literacy continued, I decided to create a personal narrative unit with several foundational literacy skills, strategies, and practices for students to develop. With variety, authenticity, and modeling as the key pillars in planning, alignment to skills and standards will be embedded in genuine literacy experiences. The choice to engage in a genre study of personal narrative was due to its developmental appropriateness, potential for community building, and opportunity to share a range of stories. …

Facilitating A Block Program In Kindergarten And First Grade: A Manual For Kindergarten And First Grade Teachers, Hannah Rau

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Many preschool classroom have unit blocks. Unfortunately, not as many early primary classrooms incorporate blocks into their programs. This paper discusses the power of using unit blocks in a Kindergarten and first grade. The first three sections of the thesis focus on the importance of a unit block curriculum in early primary classrooms by discussing the developmentally-appropriate ways blocks invite problem solving and mathematical and scientific thinking. The final section is a teacher’s manual designed as a guidebook to support teachers who are starting a block program in their Kindergarten and first grade classroom. In this manual, critical components of …

Integrating A Farm Study Into A Mixed Age Classroom, Rachel Kanegis

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper, Integrating A Farm Study Into A Mixed Age Classroom, explores the impact and benefits of integrating a farm study into a classroom. It reports on the course and the results of how students responded to the farm study over one full school year. In addition, it shows how the integrated farm study could be incorporated into the core academic topics such as reading, writing, math, social studies, and science. In fact, this paper proves how students become more motivated and engaged to learn in the core academic topics through their focus on the farm study. The class that …

From Page To Place: Wordless Picture Books And Field Trips For A 21st Century Curriculum, Margaret Stein

Graduate Student Independent Studies

With the purpose of education being to produce successful world citizens, the educational system must grow with the changing economic and social climate. Operating in a creative and knowledge-based economy, students educated in the 21st Century must be in an environment that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and recognition of complex patterns in order to thrive in the new economic structures. Proposing a curricular sequence using wordless picture books and field trips to develop and strengthen these skills, this paper focuses on the growth of literacy in all forms as the strongest foundation for creating curious and life-long learners. Utilizing the …

Towards The Creation Of The Civil Rights Museum Of New York City, Taylor Koczot

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this study the author explores the many reasons why a museum devoted to the Civil Rights Movement should open in New York City. This work examines and delves into the very early stages and ideas that go into the creation of the museum, which include finding a need and purpose as well as envisioning what the institution has the potential to do and become. Koczot begins with a discussion of her own interests in the subject, including her experiences in the South and as an educator in New York City. The author moves on to discuss the city’s connection …

Cultivating An Inclusive Mindset In Your Jewish Community: Turning Good Intentions Into Tangible Outcomes, Tali Cohen Carrus

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum provides training and resources to Jewish day schools, synagogues, summer camps, and other organizations seeking to better embrace all members of their community and foster full and meaningful integration and participation. Focused primarily on youth with developmental and learning disabilities, though with definite implications for other populations, this curriculum provides a first-step for a community seeking to become more inclusive. Beginning with developing a commitment to inclusion and a common mindset among the staff that will be charged with implementing the programming, the curriculum strives to ensure collaboration from every stakeholder and community member. The second section is …

"See, Two Yellows Make A Rectangle!": Constructing Meaningful, Emergent Learning Moments In A Structured Special Education Program, Lucy Bayer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper explores the relationship between emergent, child-driven learning and the structured curricula of a special education program. Relying on current research and theory as driving forces, the author designed and implemented a series of math lessons with a small group of kindergarten students in a self-contained, special-education setting. The paper begins in narrative form, detailing the author’s journey to her current line of inquiry. Empirical research and educational theory about both emergent, child-driven learning and math instruction are then summarized. The following two chapters chronicle the author’s work with her students. These chapters are presented as both narrative documentation …

Reaching All The Students In Your Classroom, Kathleen Vantol

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This presentation discusses scaffolding: distinct instructional techniques which provide the supports that struggling learners may need to learn challenging lesson content. Planning for inclusion of appropriate scaffolding requires that teachers know both their students and their content well.

Thinking Through Early Childhood, Jonathan Silin

Occasional Paper Series

Working against the grain of history and contemporary assumptions about the nature of the field, the author makes a counterintuitive argument that decenters the child and brings forward the adult in early childhood education (ECE).

History Through Literature: The American Revolution In New York City 1775-1777, Brittany Lester

Graduate Student Independent Studies

History Through Literature is a homeschooling history curriculum for ages 10-12, or grades five and six, designed specifically with the needs of New York City's homeschooling community in mind. Using the historical novel Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson as a framework, the curriculum covers a variety of themes and topics within the context of the American Revolution in New York City from 1775 to 1777. Following a chronologically linear path through six learning units, the History Through Literature makes connections between true historical events and the fictional story of Anderson's heroine, Isabel, an enslaved girl determined to claim her freedom.

Farming And Education : An Interview Project Advocating For Farm-Based Education, Rebekah Mindel

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis is meant to inspire educators to value farm-based education in which farming and education come together in experiential, inquiry-based learning.

Senioritis -- Or An Opportunity For Growth?, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Walking into the kitchen, she spots the community college acceptance letter on top of a stack of mail. Early in December, the Marine Corps notifies him that basic training starts in six months. She's dreamed about attending her mom's alma mater for the last few years, and admissions has responded positively. The auto shop where he's had an afterschool job since junior year has just promised full-time employment beginning two weeks after graduation.

Now what?

This question concerns me as an educator of K-12 and higher education.

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Designing A High School Or Middle School Course (Or Unit) In Professional Writing, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article offers information on the development of professional writing course in English middle school or high school classroom. It mentions that a good syllabus not only provide answers to basic questions, but also to questions that Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins have pertained to as the essential questions. It notes that students learn from writing activities and assessments including how to write in genres, evaluate the settings of professional tools, and manage their writing processes.

Etymology + Animation = Etymation : The History Of Spelling Via Animations, Gladys Aponte

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Etymation is a series of 4-7 minute long animated cartoons. The seven cartoons provide a child-friendly overview of the history of American English spelling. Each cartoon explains one reason American English spelling often seems so irrational. The Etymation cartoons and accompanying activities are designed to supplement an investigative spelling curriculum. The rationale discusses the importance of such an investigative spelling curriculum, and outlines how Etymation is aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

Script-Based Reading Lessons And Socialized Language Usage, Joseph James Spencer

Theses Digitization Project

This study focuses in particular on the connections students make to their reading as seen through contextualized language usage. Many educators and curriculum developers suggest that using these new script-based curriculum will help teachers systematize and close gaps in teaching and learning. If unwritten teacher questions and statements are used to redirect students' comprehension about texts occur during the reading lesson, these will be described and analyzed for their effects on the lesson goals and objectives.

The Effects Of Brain Compatible Instruction, Social Emotional Development And Classroom Community Structures On Students, Elizabeth Anne Glick

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was designed to gather data on the impact of several classroom structures/strategies on adolescent students. The objective of the study was to identify if an impact from these structures is positive or negative and the extent to which it exists, positively or negatively. The research aimed to answer the following question: to what extent do the practices of compatible teaching, social emotional education, and classroom community building have an impact on student behavior, achievement, and attendance?

Roots Of Farm And Family, Carol Gjenvick

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The current food industry is a vast and confusing system that often generates contradicting information, new jargon and trends on how and what to eat. Most families in urban and suburban regions shop at local grocery stores, supermarkets or chains and are far removed from the origins of their food supply. Even with the growing support of farmers markets and local farmers, the average person no longer has access to an actual farm. Children in particular, are less likely to understand how a farm operates, the essential role of the farmer, the impact of seasonal changes on food supplies and …

Learning Styles: The Key To Learning, Lisa Egan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This Master's thesis contains components and documentation of the reasoning for the creation of a community website entitled, Learning Styles: The Key to Learning in which learners of all ages can explore the topic of learning styles in order to gain personal insights into their unique styles of learning. The website is designed to help individuals including children, adults, and educational professionals to embrace their personal styles, understand the learning styles of others and gain knowledge leading to the creation of optimal learning environments for themselves and their community members. The author suggests that the understanding of learning styles leads …

A Museum-Based Curriculum For Middle School Students In New York City, Nayantara Mhatre

Graduate Student Independent Studies

India Inquiry is a museum-based curriculum designed for middle school students in New York City. The curriculum is organized by the following themes: Geography, Wildlife, Culture and Crafts, and Religion. Within each theme there is one out-of-classroom trip, including three visits to the American Museum of Natural History, and one to the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, Queens. In addition there are seven lessons that compliment and support the organized field trips.

The curriculum was developed to appeal to the social, emotional, and intellectual needs of students emerging from the latency period of late childhood and approaching early adolescence.

India Inquiry …

Teacher Attitude Towards Technology: Usage In K-2 Classrooms, Lilia Reyes Granillo

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis is designed for teachers in early elementary education. It focuses on how and if, these teachers are integrating technology while meeting the many State Standards required by the State of California.

Eureka: A Gold Rush Play Integrating The Performing Arts Into Elementary Social Studies Curriculum, Jean Collins Merrill

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is two-fold. The first purpose is to explore the benefits of incorporating the arts in the education of all students. Incorporating the arts into other curricular areas enhances learning and makes it more meaningful to the student. The second purpose is to develop a performance program that brings the California Gold Rush era and the cultural diversity of that period of history alive.

Zoophonics Keyboards: A Venue For Technology Integration In Kindergarten, Marie Bess Forst

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the project was to create a program of instruction that seamlessly meshed with my current emergent literacy curriculum, a popularly used phonics program entitled Zoo-phonics, which can easily be applied by other kindergarten teachers using the same phonics instruction program.

Second Grade Life Science Curriculum Design Using Howard Gardner's Theory Of Multiple Intelligences, Mary Anne Stover

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to bring the subject of life sciences to second grade students through a diverse curriculum design. The theory of multiple intelligence and the principles of brain-based learning areused to incorporate elements that will reach each student on an individual basis.

A Web Page Of Curricular Resources For The Computer Literacy Class: Grades 7 - 9, Kelly Sue Daly

Theses Digitization Project

This project is a web site dedicated to providing computer literacy resources that assist teachers in designing quality, interesting, and educational curricular units directed toward adolescent learners.

Focus On School Improvement: A Planning And Implementation Guide For Effective Technology Integration, Nancy Ellen Pitre-Jasko

Theses Digitization Project

This study focuses on teachers' perceptions of their computer practices in various aspects of their work and the factors which enable or impede them.