Education Commons^™

Integrating Aesthetics Within Professional Development For Eeachers Of English Learners, Audrey Figueroa Murphy

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

The emphasis on testing in curricular content areas has left little room in most U.S. schools for education in the arts. Yet research supports the pedagogical value of aesthetic education, particularly for English learners (ELs), whose representation in schools continues to increase. This article presents a qualitative action research study intended to contribute to the understanding of the impact of incorporating aesthetic education into the training protocol for teachers of ELs. Twenty‐three graduate education students at a private university in Queens, New York, participated in an artist‐led workshop rooted in the aesthetic education theories of Maxine Greene (1995, 2011, 2007) …

Teachers As Informal Learners: Workplace Professional Learning In The United States And Lithuania, Elena Jurasaite-O'Keefe, Lesley A. Rex

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

Historically, formal directive approaches to teacher learning, based upon a developmental expert-to-learner model, have dominated policy and research, with limited success. This study is based on a learner-centered view of teachers learning from the problems of their own teaching. It demonstrates the understandings that can result from teachers’ explanations of what they do and why when they encounter everyday situations that evoke their learning. Further, the microethnographic study renders these explanations as a framework for further research on teacher learning in informal school-related settings. The framework emerged from a constant-comparative analysis of the structure, language and content of a years’ …

Cedarville Hosts National Urban Education Conference, Andrea Speros

News Releases

Cedarville and Central State Universities are joining to host the National Urban Education Conference “Passion, Power and Performance, Now” on Jan. 23, 2013. The conference will prepare educational professionals for the challenges of teaching in urban environments. Dr.

Practitioner Inquiry: Exploring Quality In Beginning Teacher Researchers' Work, Connie Dilucchio, Heather Leaman

Early & Middle Grades Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring Supports Provided For Student Eportfolio Development In A Professional Development Context, Muireann Okeeffe

Articles

This small scale study aimed to explore and establish if support strategies implemented to enhance student ePortfolios were helpful to students and to identify useful ways of supporting ePortfolio development with future cohorts of students. This action research study was informed through focus group discussion and individual interviews with students.

The importance of reflection for the development professional practice and of creative abilities is discussed. The substantial benefits of creativity within education are investigated and characteristics of creativity that might be developed with students’ ePortfolios are revealed. Specifically this paper seeks to foster Crafts (2011) four characteristics of creativity, pluralities, …

Supporting Professionalism In Educational Development In Irish Higher Education, Muireann Okeeffe

Articles

Higher education, in Ireland and globally, is undergoing profound change influenced by a variety of factors. In conjunction with these changes many initiatives to improve teaching and learning and the quality of graduates in higher education have been introduced in recent years. The changes and expansions in the sector has enabled growth of new roles in higher education described as ‘third space’ professionals by Whitchurch (2008).

This paper describes the struggle of those in third space professions, such as academic development, to establish a professional identity in higher education. The benefits of these contemporary roles to higher education are …

Community College Student Success Programs: A Synthesis, Critique, And Research Agenda, Gloria Crisp, Amanda Taggart

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

A narrative review was developed to add to the discussion and dissemination of research on community colleges. The review adds to existing work by synthesizing and critiquing the empirical research to date specific to three of the most prevalent programmatic efforts presently seen on community college campuses: (a) learning communities, (b) student success courses, and (c) supplemental instruction. Empirical investigations or evaluations of student success programs from academic journals, conference presentations, dissertations, unpublished policy reports, and book chapters were identified, summarized, and critiqued. The review concludes with a proposed research agenda to advance research on program effectiveness at community colleges …

Collaborating To Improve Inquiry-Based Teaching In Elementary Science And Mathematics Methods Courses, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

This study examines the effect of promoting inquiry-based teaching (IBT) through collaboration between a science methods course and mathematics methods course in an elementary teacher education program. During the collaboration, preservice elementary teacher (PST) candidates experienced 3 different types of inquiry as a way to foster increased understanding of inquiry based teaching (IBT). The experiences included a PST driven science inquiry and a mathematics inquiry where PSTs were learners and a science inquiry where PSTs were teachers. During and following the semester of the collaboration, data were collected to assess the impact of the inquiry experiences on the PSTs’ understanding …

Community And Connection In Inclusive Early-Childhood Education: A Participatory Action Research Investigation, Elizabeth Erwin, Victoria Puig, Tara L. Evenson, Madeleine Beresford

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

I really like that everything is matter of fact. The fact that my son doesn't talk as well as other kids-The other kids don't even really pay attention. It may be a little harder for them to understand him sometimes but [he's] just their friend. And that's the beauty of inclusion too. That it's dual-fold. The child in need has a model, which he desperately needed, but in turn the other children become tolerant and accepting of differences and don't see them as different. That's just the way [he] is. (Mother of a preschooler with disabilities.)

Parents' Participation In Special Education In The Context Of Implicit Educational Ideologies And Socioeconomic Status, Priya Lalvani

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This qualitative study situates parents' perceptions of their participation and role in special education planning in multiple contexts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 diverse parents of children with disabilities. The findings reveal the existence of special education discourses and practices that are entrenched in a deficit-based model and in implicit educational ideologies that sanction segregated education for many children with disabilities. Parents' perception of themselves as advocates was a key theme. Decisions about the placement of children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms appeared to be parent-driven. The findings shed light on the socioeconomic contexts in which family-professional partnerships and …

Making Room For Formative Assessment Processes: A Multiple Case Study, Rob Mcentarffer

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative instrumental multiple case study (Stake, 2005) explored how teachers made room for formative assessment processes in their classrooms, and how thinking about assessment changed during those formative assessment experiences. Data were gathered from six teachers over three months and included teacher interviews, student interviews, participant-observation notes, videos of classroom experiences, and classroom artifacts. These data were analyzed using a category construction method (Merriam, 2009) that involved open coding, axial coding, and finally a cross-case analysis that grouped axial codes according to themes relating to the two research questions. Four case studies describe the process of co-created work with …

Being There: A Grounded-Theory Study Of Student Perceptions Of Instructor Presence In Online Classes, William G. Feeler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of experienced individual online students at a community college in Texas in order to generate a substantive theory of community college student perceptions of online instructor presence. This qualitative study used Active Interviewing and followed a Straussian grounded-theory design to guide the collecting and coding of interview data in order to identify emerging categories and generate substantive theory. The researcher collected data through interviews with 16 online students, all of whom had taken at least four online courses at a community college.

A constant comparative analysis of the data generated …

Mathematics Educators And The “Math Wars”: Who Controls The Discourse?, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, the author expresses support of a colleague, Professor Jo Boaler of Stanford University, in her actions of going public with the harassment that she has experienced through professional and personal attacks by James Milgram of Stanford University and Wayne Bishop of California State University, Los Angeles.

Teacher Education And Supporting Immigrant Students In The Standards-Based Education Era, Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This commentary reflects on pre-service and in-service teachers' sense that teaching to standards and being responsive to immigrant newcomers are, if not incompatible, unlikely to be reconciled by peers or administration. It highlights that away from classroom leaders (e.g., superintendents) are positioned to challenge this unnecessary dichotomy in the interest of educational equity and success.

An Exploratory Study Of Teacher Empowerment And Technical Education In Kentucky, Lee Ann Wall

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of empowerment and principal use of power within career and technical education in Kentucky. The researcher posits that, with the continual process of educational reform, principals need to understand what empowers teachers to perform as additional expectations and responsibilities are being mandated.

The researcher used a mixed methods design to examine power bases that career and technical education teachers perceived were used by their principals to identify teachers’ perceived empowerment, as well as influencers and barriers. Data were collected with a survey and two open-ended questions from …

The Sunflower Forest: An Educator’S Resource Guide, Kathy Everts Danielson

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Loren Eiseley (1907-1977) was an acclaimed writer who grew up in and around Lincoln, Nebraska. An anthropologist by training and vocation, he wrote more than a dozen books of essays and poetry, most focused on the mysteries of nature and humankind's relationship to the natural world.

The "Sunflower Forest" is a theme that appears in Eiseley's book The Invisible Pyramid (1970). As a child, Eiseley enjoyed playing in the large stands of sunflowers that sprang up every year on a floodplain near his home in Lincoln. He would later think of the "sunflower forest" as a place for connecting with …

A Phenomenological Study Of Experienced Teacher Perceptions Regarding Cooperative Learning Training And Cooperative Learning Implementation In The Classroom, Susan Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to explore the perceptions of experienced teachers regarding cooperative learning training and its implementation in the classroom. Twelve total participants, nine teachers and three administrators, volunteered for this six-week study at a private, K3 - 12 school in Broward County, Florida. The study's purpose was guided by the following questions: (1) What do experienced teachers perceive about cooperative learning training as it relates to their classroom teaching? (2) What do experienced teachers perceive regarding cooperative learning use as it relates to their classroom teaching? (3) What are the impacts of cooperative learning training and implementation …

Lynne Diaz-Rico Tssa Winter 2012, Lynne Diaz-Rico

Teaching Skills Study Awards (TSSA) Reports

Enhances faculty's teaching by attending a conference devoted to university teaching, a high-impact practice, evidence-based practice or a newly developing teaching practice.

Amy Leh Cd Spring 2011, Amy Leh

Innovative Course Redesign Grant Reports

Supports faculty to redesign or develop a course in ways that implement high-impact, evidence-based, and/or innovative teaching strategies to improve student learning.

Lynne Diaz-Rico Cd Summer 2010, Lynne Diaz-Rico

Innovative Course Redesign Grant Reports

Supports faculty to redesign or develop a course in ways that implement high-impact, evidence-based, and/or innovative teaching strategies to improve student learning.

Hallmarks Of Quality Teaching, Timothy L. Heaton

Education Faculty Presentations

Identification of what is effective teaching in the classroom in both the cognitive and affective domains.

Best Practices In Education, Timothy L. Heaton

Education Faculty Presentations

The term “Best Practice” is a key term for all educators to know. There are many facets to “Best Practice” at every level dealing with student learning, student behavior, student development, student motivation, and much, much more. The educational research giving the evidences of what works and what doesn’t work in classrooms is substantial. This workshop will give teachers and supervisors at every level a thorough look at “Best Practice” so implementation can be done in every school.

Family Environment And School Environment As Predictors For Physical Aggression In Low-Income Children, Xiaoyu Li

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the current study was to examine the unique and collective contributions of child’s own characteristics, their family environment and school environment to the development of child physical aggression at Grade 5. This study was based on Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). Children’s gender and their aggression at age 3 were included as person characteristics. Family environment (primary caregiver’s ethnicity, maternal education, home warmth, physical punishment, exposure to violence, family conflict, and parent-child dysfunctional interaction) and early child care experience measured by whether the child was in child care at both age 3 and age 4 …

Interactive Bulletin Boards That Support Writing, Julie Patterson

Articles

Great writing instruction = student created bulletin boards. Here are some ideas.

The Teaching Of Happiness In Mainland China: In Light Of Aristotle And Marx, Zhaojun Xu

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, the teaching of happiness through morality courses in Mainland China is explored. The exploration centers on three questions: 1) What should be taught to students in terms of happiness? 2) Should schools focus on the cultivation of voluntary virtue or habituation of virtuous actions? And 3) what is the relation between happiness and achievement and/or sacrifice of self-interest? Based on both Aristotle’s and Marx’s views on these questions, the author argues that a comprehensive rather than a “correct” understanding of happiness should be taught to the students. Also, the author suggests that the goal of habituating students …

Excellent Teaching: A Collective Case Study Of Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Teaching Of Mathematics, Michael J. Gay

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative collective case study explored the mathematical teaching of three excellent elementary teachers who were nominated by experts in mathematics and mathematics educational organizations, agencies and universities. I examined what excellent elementary mathematics teachers know and do in their practice of teaching. The study depicts detailed verbatim interactions between the teachers and students during actual teaching episodes to give the reader naturalistic examples of the explanation patterns and questioning strategies that these excellent teachers used to further students’ understandings of mathematical concepts and procedures. Analyses of the pedagogical strategies, including the interactive exploratory problem solving format these teachers used, …

Authentic Assessment : An Approach To Enhance And Assess Students’ Learning, Sher Azim

Professional Development Centre, Chitral

This paper underscores the process of using Authentic Assessment (AA) not only as a tool to assess learning but also as an approach to enhance learning in a school in the context of Pakistan. Data was collected through classroom observations, conducting interviews, analyzing relevant documents and maintaining person reflective diary. Findings indicate that AA helped in enhancing students’ learning such as knowledge about the noise pollution, planning, developing interview questions, interviewing people, preparing posters, giving presentation and responding to audience question. The study also revealed that in AA the student’s role changed from a passive test taker to an active …

Variation In Standards In Pakistani School Examination Boards, Thomas Christie

Examination Board

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Primary School Teachers’ Professional Development Programme : The Translation Of Theory Into Practice In Schools, Tajuddin, Mohammad Khan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Professional development programmes are criticized for not meeting the practical needs of teachers and teachers are blamed for going to their comfort zones despite their participations in professional development programmes. This qualitative case study explored effectiveness of the program of primary education certificate course looking into participant teachers’ new knowledge, skills and attitude gained from the programme and the implementation of their new learning into their respective classrooms. Nine teachers and 27 students participated in the study. Data was collected through semi-structured and open-ended interviews, classroom observations, documents analysis and focused group discussions with students.

The study reports a shift …

Students’ Views Of Impact Of Textbooks On Their Achievements, Riaz Hussain

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The history of curricula and textbooks development in Pakistan has remained contentious particularly during Zia Ul Haq era (1977- 1988) and after. There have been quite a few reviews of the curricula and textbooks undertaken both by Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan and independent researchers. These reviews have mainly employed document/textbook analysis methods and few of them explored teachers or students’ views of curricula and textbooks. This paper argues that since teachers and students are the ultimate users and beneficiaries of textbooks so their views are worth exploring before suggesting or initiating any change process including curricula and textbooks …