Education Commons^™

Michigan Teachers Transitioning To School Librarianship, Kafi Kumasi, Gwenn Marchesano

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Pursuing additional degrees and certifications can be a costly proposition in terms of money, time, and return on investment that results in gainful employment. In this article, we take a look at how a group of Michigan teachers perceive the value of the knowledge gained in a graduate certificate program towards school library certification compared to their prior knowledge and level of importance they assigned to the learning standards.

Enhancing Student Engagement In Wayne State University School Of Medicine (Wsusom) Curriculum Design, Development, Evaluation, And Implementation, Connor Buechler, Heidi T. Kromrei, Leo M. Hall

Medical Student Research Symposium

Purpose: There are a variety of ways in which the 1200 medical students at Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) can formally participate in curricular efforts. To date, a formal inventory and evaluation of these programs has not been reported.

Methods: We compiled a list of students involved in courses, committees, and formal activities related to the medical school curriculum. We then developed and delivered a survey to measure student perceptions utilizing the following constructs: 1) Guidance/Support for Student Role, 2) Project Successes and Challenges, 3) Curricular Project Measurement and Monitoring, 4) Curriculum Management Committee Engagement and Accessibility, 5) …

What Does Cultural Competence Mean To Preservice School Librarians? A Critical Discourse Analysis, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee F. Hill

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In order to provide culturally responsive instruction to all students, school library professionals need to recognize the various discourses around cultural competence that exist in the field of library and information science (LIS) and understand the broader meanings that are attached to these discourses. This study presents an evaluation of the underlying ideologies that are embedded in the textual responses of a group of LIS students reporting on their perceived levels of cultural competence preparation.

A Mother Promotes Cognitive And Affective Outcomes Via Museum Education On Arab American Immigrants’ Culture: A Vygotskian Perspective, Navaz P. Bhavnagri, Suha K. Kamash

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

A Chaldean Catholic immigrant mother from Iraq kept a journal about how her Arab American daughters (ages 9 and 15) visited museums for the first time and participated in museum-related activities that focused on them (1) understanding and developing empathy for all new immigrants coming to the U.S.; (2) understanding and developing appreciation of Arab American im- migrants’ culture; and (3) being exposed to limited Arabic vocabulary related to museum artifacts. The mother’s anecdotal observations, informal conver- sational interviews, and photographs documented her daughters’ learning processes and outcomes. The cognitive processes and outcomes (e.g., under- standing, meaning making through personal …

Teaching Race In Cyberspace: Reflections On The “Virtual Privilege Walk” Exercise, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Teaching for Justice describes the efforts of LIS faculty and instructors who feature social justice theory and strategies in their courses and classroom practices

Developing Designer Identity Through Reflection, Monica W. Tracey, Alisa Hutchinson

Administrative and Organizational Studies

As designers utilize design thinking while moving through a design space between problem and solution, they must rely on design intelligence, precedents, and intuition in order to arrive at meaningful and inventive outcomes. Thus, instructional designers must constantly re-conceptualize their own identities and what it means to be a designer. Within instructional design, professional identity development is intimately linked to the concept of design precedents. Reflective practice appears to be a natural avenue for supporting identity development in student designers, as it challenges them to think deeply about concepts and experiences through interpretation, evaluation, and revision. The authors conducted a …

Content Learning And Identity Construction (Clic): A Framework To Strengthen African American Students’ Mathematics And Science Learning In Urban Elementary Schools, Maria Varelas, Danny B. Martin, Justine M. Kane

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

We present a theoretical framework that views learning as a process involving content learning (CL) and identity construction (IC). We view identities as lenses through which people make sense of, and position themselves, through stories and actions, and as lenses for understanding how they are positioned by others. As people become more (or less) central members of a disciplinary community (e.g., a science or mathematics classroom) and engage (or not) in various cultural practices, changes in identity and knowledge accompany changes in position and status. Identity construction (IC) and content learning (CL) share an important characteristic: they both involve meaning …

Examining The Hidden Ideologies Within Cultural Competence Discourses Among Library And Information Science (Lis) Students: Implications For School Library Pedagogy, Kafi D. Kumasi, Renee F. Hill

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In order to provide culturally responsive instruction to all students, school library professionals need to recognize the various discourses around cultural competence that exist in the field of library and information science (LIS) and understand the broader meanings that are attached to these discourses. This study presents an evaluation of the underlying ideologies that are embedded in the textual responses of a group of LIS students reporting on their perceived levels of cultural competence preparation. The results reveal that there are dominant and competing discourses around cultural competence in the LIS field, which are important to make visible. The paper …

An Ethical Dilemma: Talking About Plagiarism And Academic Integrity In The Digital Age, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Kelly Sassi

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

An open, in-depth discussion about academic dishonesty may help students (and teachers) develop ethical approaches to scholarship. Real classroom talk is closely examined and suggestions for teaching students how to avoid plagiarism in the digital age are offered.

Landscapes Of City And Self: Place And Identity In Urban Young Adult Literature, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Urban landscapes feature iconic symbols from the past and contemporary times. These noticings and remembrances from literature and life contribute to the formation of readers’ identities, as well as their sense of being anchored in worlds both real and fictional. As taken for granted as the geographic, cultural, and economic distinctions of cities are, there are broader implications for readers, teachers, and critics of adolescent literature. In this article, the author proposes that the virtual nature of many of today’s communication modes has inspired a return to that which is tangible, local, and immediate. The urban geographies imagined and described …

Double Reading: Young Black Scholars Responding To Whiteness In A Community Literacy Program, Carter Power Stephanie, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This paper examines how W.E.B. DuBois' concept of double consciousness influenced the interactions of 13 Black youth inside an after school Community Literacy Intervention Program (CLIP). Du Bois, a pre-eminent 20th century Black sociologist, used double consciousness as a lens to help explain social and psychological tensions that African Americans encounter while negotiating their identities in a societal context structured mainly upon dominant white cultural and linguistic norms and values. The authors provide a conceptual framework for understanding the interpretive processes that signify double consciousness which includes: surveying the context; assessing risks and identity consequences; articulating mainstream or race conscious …

Applying Toulmin: Teaching Logical Reasoning And Argumentative Writing, Lesley A. Rex, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Steven Engel

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

To learn to write well-reasoned persuasive arguments, students need in situ help thinking through the complexity and complications of an issue, making inferences based on evidence, and hierarchically grouping and logically sequencing ideas. They rely on teachers to make this happen. In this article, the authors explain the framework they used and describe how they taught reasoning to students at an alternative high school, where they recorded what happened.

The Time Is Now!: Talking With Black Youth About College, Stephanie Power Carter, James Damico, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article explores the authors work with a group of African American youth in an after school community literacy program. The authors examine how these youth used a set of Internet-based technology tools to evaluate whether or not a group of colleges would affirm their cultural identity and help them succeed if they attended these institutions. From this work, the authors describe how they began to rethink the relationships between college exploration,access, cultural identity, and students potential academic success.

Walking The Talk: Examining Privilege And Race In A Ninth-Grade Classroom, Kelly Sassi, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Kelly Sassi and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas describe their struggles and eventual success with students in constructing a "counternarrative to colormuteness and colorblindness"--the self-imposed student segregation and silencing of voice. Because of discussions during a Native American unit and student participation in a classroom intervention activity, interpersonal dynamics openly shifted for the better.

The Influence Of Professional Development On Teachers' Psychosocial Perceptions Of Teaching A Health-Related Physical Education Curriculum, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Nate Mccaughtry, Jeffrey J. Martin, Donetta Cothran, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The impact of a yearlong professional development intervention on physical education teachers' psychosocial perceptions was investigated. Experienced mentor teachers (n = 15) were paired with inexperienced protégé teachers (n = 15) who helped them learn how to teach a health-related physical education curriculum (i.e., the Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum). Using the theory of planned behavior as the guiding theory, it was hypothesized that teachers would experience favorable increases in various psychological constructs (e.g., attitude) and variables reflecting the social culture of their schools (e.g., administrator's perceptions) as compared with control teachers (n = 17). A variety of …

Teachers' Preferences On The Qualities And Roles Of A Mentor Teacher, Donetta Cothran, Nate Mccaughtry, Sara Renee Anderson Smigell, Alex Garn, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Jeffrey J. Martin, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

Research Note: From the preface: "The purpose of this investigation was to address the gap in professional development literature related to mentoring, specifically as it applies to nontraditional cases, beyond new teacher induction. In particular, we examined teachers' preferences on mentoring characteristics and practices to determine whether nontraditional mentoring (owing to grade level changes, subject area changes, and newly adopted school district curricula) would be consistent with or contradict models of mentoring based primarily on the induction of new teachers. This report is part of a larger investigation that explored a curricular change initiative in a large urban school district …

Teachers' Perspectives On The Use Of Pedometers As Instructional Technology In Physical Education: A Cautionary Tale, Nate Mccaughtry, Kimberly L. Oliver, Suzanna Rocco Dillon, Jeffrey J. Martin

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

We used cognitive developmental theory to examine teachers' perspectives on the use of pedometers in physical education. Twenty-six elementary physical education teachers participating in long-term professional development were observed and interviewed twice over 6 months as they learned to incorporate pedometers into their teaching. Data were analyzed via constant comparison. The teachers reported four significant shifts in their thinking and values regarding pedometers. First, at the beginning, the teachers predicted they would encounter few implementation challenges that they would not be able to overcome, but, after prolonged use, they voiced several limitations to implementing pedometers in physical education. Second, they …

The Effectiveness Of Mentoring-Based Professional Development On Physical Education Teachers' Pedometer And Computer Efficacy And Anxiety, Jeffrey J. Martin, Nate Mccaughtry, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Donetta Cothran, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of our study was to examine the impact of mentoring-based professional development on physical education teachers' efficacy. Experienced mentor teachers were paired (n = 15) with inexperienced protégé teachers (n = 15) at the beginning of a yearlong intervention study. It was hypothesized that teachers would increase their efficacy to use pedometers and computers to enhance instruction, and reduce their computer anxiety. Repeated-measures ANOVAs for mentors and protégés revealed a variety of significant main effects. We found increases in computer and pedometer efficacy. A second set of repeated-measures ANOVAs based on mentors', protégés', and control groups' …

Critical Inquiry: Library Media Specialists As Change Agents, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article describes some of the key concepts and strategies associated with the term critical inquiry that are relevant to the work of school libraries in secondary settings. Practical examples are given for conducting critical inquiry in the library based on the authors work with African American youth in an after school literacy program.

Gaining Options: A Mathematics Program For Potentially Talented At-Risk Adolescent Girls, Pamela Trotman Reid, Sally K. Roberts

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In response to indicators that a decline in interest in mathematics occurs among girls—particularly those from low-income and minority groups—during middle school, the GO-GIRL (Gaining Options: Girls Investigate Real Life) program was designed to help potentially talented at-risk girls. The program aimed to build mathematical confidence, skills, and conceptual understanding by integrating mathematics and social science research in a single-sex, technology-rich environment supported by university student mentors. The program targeted seventh-grade urban girls from public and private schools. Participants met over the course of ten Saturdays to learn research methods, computer skills, mathematics, and descriptive statistics. Quantitative data from the …

The Emotional Dimensions Of Urban Teacher Change, Nate Mccaughtry, Jeffrey J. Martin, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Donetta Cothran

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

This study used an emotional geographies theoretical framework to analyze the emotional dimensions of urban teacher change. Fifteen urban physical education teachers involved in a comprehensive curriculum reform project were interviewed and observed multiple times across one school year. Data were analyzed using inductive analysis, and trustworthiness measures included triangulation, peer debriefing, researcher journals, and member checks. Teachers reported that emotional dimensions related to their urban students, colleagues, and status heavily influenced their engagement in the project. The discussion section maps the emotional dimensions of these teachers' change experiences onto an emotional geographies framework that situates their experiences in change …

Teachers Mentoring Teachers: A View Over Time, Nate Mccaughtry, Donetta Cothran, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Jeffrey J. Martin, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

from the introduction: "It was the purpose of this investigation to explore one school districtʼs professional development program intended to address the challenges that newer teachers face when learning new curricula."