Education Commons^™

"What Are The Effects Of Goal-Setting On Motivation And Academic Achievement In A Fourth Grade Classroom?", Danielle Mcmillan

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research was to study the effects of goal-setting as a strategy on student motivation and academic achievement in a fourth-grade classroom. The study was performed at a rural public elementary school in South Carolina, consisting of eighteen students in a general education classroom. This study used a preassessment/post-assessment set-up in order to collect data for math achievement and reading comprehension. An attitude survey was used to collect data on student’s motivation towards academic work. The data shows that the goal-setting strategy had a positive effect on math achievement and motivation towards academic work and may …

The Effects Of Family Education On Supporting Toddler Independence At Home And School, Karen Mitu

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between school and home environments through family education about Montessori philosophy and the importance of fostering independence. The study was conducted with eight families in the researcher’s Toddler class in Shanghai, China. The researcher derived data from observational records, logs, surveys, questionnaires, home visits, workshop evaluation forms and a semi-structured interview with parents. Families integrated the Montessori philosophy in their home by establishing a daily routine involving their child in simple tasks. An improvement in their child’s behavior, helpfulness and independence was noted by families. The accumulated evidence supports the …

The Impact Of Anti-Bias Literature Small Groups On Children's Understanding Of Themselves, Their Families, And Others, Rosabeth Birky Koehn

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research study was to explore how sharing anti-bias children’s books in literature small groups in a lower elementary Montessori class affects children’s perceptions of and ability to communicate about themselves, their families, and others, as well as the classmates with whom they choose to associate. The sample studied in this research was a class of 20 children aged six to nine at a private Montessori school located in a small town adjacent to a large Midwestern city. Data was collected through pre and post oral interviews, written reading reflection worksheets, and daily teacher observations of …

"Parent Education: The Effects Of Educating Montessori Parents On The First Plane Of Development In The Kindergarten Year In A Mixed-Age Classroom", Marie Evelyn Pickard

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This study sought the effects of educating parents on Dr. Maria Montessori's first plane of development in a mixed-age kindergarten classroom in Southern California, USA. Students withdrawing before completing the Montessori kindergarten year formed the basis for tailoring an action research project that informs parents about the importance of Montessori's first plane of development through the lens of Parent Development Theory. The researcher first explored past action research on relevant Montessori parent education studies. Next, twenty-five parents from a mixed-age Montessori kindergarten class participated in a six-week study. The research concluded that parents' understanding and valuing of the Montessori kindergarten …

The Effects Of Character Education Literature Of Bucket Filling Strategies On The Ability Of 5-Year-Old Students To Self-Regulate In A Montessori Classroom, Margaret R. Kennedy

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to explore how the implementation of bucket filling could affect self-regulation in 5-year-olds in a Montessori classroom. The bucket filling theme is character education children’s literature. The collection of data for this action research utilized a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative, including the pre- and post-Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment, daily observation reflections, and tally sheets of behaviors. The data collected and analyzed in this study use of bucket filling can have some effect on self-regulation skills in 5-year-olds in a Montessori classroom. Self-regulation is essential to success in the classroom and in …

The Effects Of Schema On Reading Comprehension At Coleman Elementary, Celeste Mills

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Schema is a framework that helps us organize and interpret information. Developing schema is essential in the comprehension of text. Strong readers can make sense of what they read by seeing how it fits with what they already know. Teachers must help students make connections before, during, and after reading.

Without schema students are unable to infer because making inferences involves creating meaning that is not explicitly stated by the author. Readers use clues in the text plus their personal insights and experiences to make meaning of the text (Roit, 2014). My school is a Title 1 school with a …

The Effects Of Tootling Without External Rewards On Whole-Class Lessons In A Lower Elementary Classroom, Anita Lynette Goss

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of Tootling without external rewards on negative behaviors during whole-class lessons in a Montessori lower elementary classroom. Twenty-four students, ranging from six to nine-years-of-age, including five who received outside assistance, were the subjects of this study. The students participated in a self-assessment pre- and post-intervention. The researcher gave lessons on whole-class lesson etiquette, the importance of being a supportive community, and how to report their classmates’ positive behaviors after whole-class lessons using Tootles. The results suggested Tootling without external rewards had minimal positive effect on students’ negative behaviors during whole-class …

Authentic Montessori (In A De/Colonializing World), Lily Schweitzer

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This six-week qualitative action research self-study investigated how critically reflecting upon personal heritage while engaging with decolonial, antiracist perspectives would affect perception and attitudes towards Montessori materials, pedagogical philosophy and methodology. With critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework, the researcher surveyed decolonial scholarship for recommendations. She followed a program revealed by the literature. She took two tests at the beginning and end of the study to establish a baseline of bias. For the first two weeks of the study, she engaged with Indigenous peoples' cultural production. She studied ancestral trauma for the following two weeks. To provoke equal understanding and …

The Effects Of Peace Education On Children’S Prosocial Behavior In An Early Childhood Classroom, Masako N. Brauneis

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to describe the effects of peace education on children’s prosocial behavior. This action research implemented peace education for six weeks in an early childhood classroom of 19 children, in the U.S., ages three to six. Qualitative data including interviews, observational logs, field notes, and a journal were collected. Quantitative data included a tally sheet of incidents and surveys of the children. The research concluded that peace education affected children’s prosocial behavior, increasing the number of prosocial behavior incidents, raising children’s awareness, knowledge, and skills for prosocial behavior, while positively impacting children’s prosocial behavior in …

"The Impact Of Trauma-Informed Strategies On Self-Regulation And Sense Of Belonging In Elementary Students", Sakeenah M. Franzen

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research was to determine the effects of trauma-informed strategies on self-regulation and sense of belonging in elementary students. The research took place over a six-week period in an upper elementary classroom in a public Montessori school in the MidAtlantic. The population included 20 students ages 9-11. The intervention utilized traumainformed strategies such as mindfulness, yoga, community building, a calm box, and solo time. Data was collected through daily observations, a daily log, pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, and student journals. The repertoire of interventions proved to be beneficial in positively affecting self-regulation among students. Some positive …

Modeling Grace And Courtesy In A Montessori Classroom And Its Influence On Children’S Social Behavior, Minhui Zhang

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

It has long been known that teachers have a large influence on students, however, little is known about the effect that teachers may have on students’ ability to develop positive social behaviors. Accordingly, there is a need to collect data regarding the effect that a teacher modeling grace and courtesy may have on how students interact with their peers and teachers. Therefore, the purpose of this action research is to analyze the effects of intentional teacher role modeling of grace and courtesy on children’s social behaviors. A classroom of 24 lower elementary, mixed age children from five to eight years …

The Effect Of Songs On Social-Emotional Literacy In An Early Childhood Classroom, Amy Feaver

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Children in an early childhood Montessori classroom were taught songs that included words to label emotions and phrases for solving social conflicts. The purpose of this research was to find out if children’s emotional vocabulary and problem-solving strategies would be affected by learning words and phrases from songs about feelings and communication for six weeks. Data was collected through comparing words known to describe emotions on faces of an emotion chart, phrases known to communicate feelings, and records of children’s behaviors and conflict resolution strategies both pre and post-intervention. The results showed an increase in both the amount of words …

The Relationship Between Using Conceptual Language And The Depth Of Student Understanding Of Dynamic Addition And Multiplication In 4-9-Year-Old Montessori Students, Quinn Moncada, Karin Riggs Woessner

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This study aims to bring clarity to the relationship between procedural mathematical work and abstracted math learning when carrying in addition and multiplication. To explore this relationship, researchers employed both quantitative and qualitative data tools that unearthed the nuances within this specific process of math learning. Participants in the study included twenty-nine students from two different schools in different mixed age groups including ages three-to-six-years-old and six-to-nine-years-old. Students participated in a six-week intervention process, working on dynamic addition and multiplication using conceptual mathematical language to support the process. The findings indicate an overall two-point increase across learning variables post intervention. …

Gamification Learning For Ipad Engagement In Middle School, Chong Xiong

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research was to determine if gamification learning would increase iPad engagement. This research was done in a 7th grade urban middle school over nine weeks in the fall of the school year. A regular 7th grade class of 18 students and an accelerated 7th grade class of 34 students participated in the study. Informed data was collected from pre and post survey, checklists, observations, student journals and gamification platform on Classcraft. The literature review examined the how motivated and self-regulated learner skills contribute to their academic success and how these skills can be used when …

A Study Of Personalized Learning And Its Impact On Middle School Teachers And Students, Kristina Bauleke, Rebecca Momany

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research study is to investigate the cost-benefit of personalized learning and if it was an effective use of time and resources in the middle school classroom. The research was conducted in a sixth-grade mathematics classroom in a small town in Western Minnesota, and an eighth-grade science classroom from a medium size suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. The data was collected using student assessment scores, student surveys, and teacher reflection journals. The data collected was triangulated to determine if the implementation of a personalized learning method known as The GRID Method was beneficial for both the …

Increasing Motivation Toward Math In A Montessori Lower Elementary Classroom, Caitlin Sweeney

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This study investigated how the introduction of math-based games influences children’s motivation to practice math. It was conducted in a Lower Elementary Montessori classroom, serving first through third grade and twenty-one students participated. The students played one of three games every day throughout the study. Their motivation toward math was tracked through observational data and their daily work journals. Additionally, each participant answered pre and post intervention questions to ascertain their mindset toward math. The data shows that the intervention had minimal impact on the students’ motivation toward math, although some students did increase the frequency of their math practice. …

Culturally Relevant Music Pedagogy: Toward Implementation During A Music Teacher Curricular Revision, Raymond Cannon

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research study investigated the experiences and outcomes that occurred in a music teacher collective while exploring culturally relevant materials, including popular music and hip-hop, as a means for improving student engagement and outcomes. Ten elementary Music Specialists from a large Midwest suburban school district made up the collective representing schools ranging from twenty-nine to eighty-nine percent ethnic diversity. Data was collected in the form of the MUSEBAQ survey, observer notes, focus group discussions, and a questionnaire. The teachers initially had positive feelings regarding the conversation around culturally relevant music pedagogy, but realized they lacked the training to authentically …

The Effects Of Daily Math Talks On Number Sense Development In A Kindergarten Clasroom, Hallie Keenan

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to determine the impact that daily Math Talks have of the number sense development of Kindergartners. The study consisted of 22 Kindergarten students in a midwestern school. The data was collected over the course of four months using pre- and post-intervention self-assessments, observational teacher notes, NWEA standardized test scores, and Seesaw video recordings. Results show a positive correlation between daily Math Talks and increased number sense skills. The data shows positive effects on foundational number sense skills and mathematical ability and can be actively integrated into classrooms to help support student achievement and growth. …

The Impact Of Personalized Learning On Learner Agency, Communication, And Critical Thinking In A Fourth And Sixth Grade Math Class, Teresa Ogden, Erica Pierce

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Agency, communication and critical thinking are skills that all students must develop in order to become effective life-long learners. The action research was designed to determine the impact of a Personalized Learning format on students’ learner agency, and their communication and critical thinking skills. The research was conducted with fourth-grade students in a suburban elementary setting, and with sixth-grade students in a suburban middle school setting. The researchers collected before and after treatment data using an agency rubric, and using communication and critical thinking skills rubric. Researchers also collected data to determine student preference for working in a personalized learning …

The Effects Of Giving Effective Feedback Strategies In Reading With Elementary Students, Linda Rodgers

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project is to see the effects of goal setting, giving effective feedback, and student reflection time on self-selected goals in reading. This research setting was conducted with 23 students in a suburban area of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. A pre-survey was given to students before the action research was conducted, with a post-survey given to compare the data. As part of the intervention, students made self-selected reading goals. Then students were given teacher feedback using effective feedback strategies. In addition to feedback, students were given time to reflect on their feedback and goals. …

The Effect Engagement And Positive Relationships Have On African American Students' Math Success In A Large Suburban High School, David Schlager

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Nationwide, African American students have significantly lower advanced placement credits, standardized test scores, and grades (Musu-Gillette, Brey, McFarland, Hussar, Sonnenberg, 2017). The literature review will explore reasons why African American students are underperforming and emphasize the different methods that can lead to higher academic achievement in math. Data from multiple articles were investigated, and the similarities and differences between the influences and best practices for African American students were addressed. Once these best practices were identified, a case study was conducted and conclusions were drawn. This action research project will focus on how engagement and relationships can increase mathematical performance …

The Impact Of Developing A Maker Mindset In An Interdisciplinary Fifth Grade Classroom, Jason Soltis, Tiffany Wells

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research studied the impact of having a maker mindset on a unit of study in art and coding classrooms. This study was conducted with two fifth grade classrooms in a rural kindergarten through eighth grade charter school. Two specialist teachers, one from Art and one from Coding conducted the research over the period of four lessons each. Pre- and post-surveys were administered as well as student journaling, exit slips, and a final project rubric. The study revealed that a targeted unit of study on the maker mindset positively affected learner attitudes in all of the 12 qualities that …

Building A Cohesive Classroom: The Effects Of Music On Cooperation And Community In A Public, Lower Elementary, Montessori Classroom, Julia E. Jones

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The following research assesses how the daily integration of singing and listening to music helps to construct a socially cohesive, cooperative and joyful classroom during clean up time. This study combined group singing opportunities, a music listening station and music played during clean up time. The songs used for this study included lyrical themes of cooperation, happiness, overcoming obstacles and/or friendship. The thirty-day study involved twenty-one participants between the ages of six and nine at a public, Montessori school in Missouri. Each individual completed a pre- and post-survey, as well as a survey each time they used the music listening …

Physical Activity Improving Executive Functioning Behaviors In Montessori Children Ages 3-12, Melissa Patten, Amanda Bodden

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Executive function refers to the intellectual processes necessary for goal-directed cognition and behavior, which develop across childhood and adolescence. This study focused on the effects of physical activity on concentration and focus, prior to academic lessons, in urban Montessori classrooms ages 3-12. This study was administered for six weeks utilizing a thematic calendar of physical activities. The tools used for data collection were: a pre-dialogue with teachers, pre and post-assessments, control tallies, on and off-task observation counts and a post-satisfaction survey. Movement interventions improved focus and concentration by an average of 27%. The data collected supported our hypothesis that purposeful …

Mathematical Literacy: The Effects Of Mathematics Journals On Student Understanding Of Fractions In A Montessori Classroom, Eileen Bechler

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

It is a typical Monday morning. As students enter the classroom wearing brightly colored polo shirts embroidered with the school logo, their smiles are equally bright. This Title I public school in the heart of the city where 96% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch has recently opened a Montessori option. Walking into the classroom, one 5th grade student eagerly asks, “Who’s on the bread committee this week?” Baking bread is a weekly occurrence in the upper elementary (4th – 6th grade) Montessori classroom. During the first week of school, this same student vehemently threw materials to …

The Effectiveness Of The Flipped Classroom On Homework And Student Achievement In A Secondary Mathematics Classroom, Adam Welch

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the effects, if any, a flipped classroom had on homework and student achievement. The study took place in a high school mathematics classroom over a four-week timeline. Two sections of Algebra 2 were included in this study. Data sources collected from the students included the use of a pre-assessment, quiz, homework rubric, surveys, behavioral logs, and a final assessment that covered the mathematics concepts of rational exponents and radical functions. Additional qualitative data was also collected through teacher observations and teacher-student conversations. While 44% of students’ overall grades improved, the …

The Effects Of Incorporating Coding On Student Experience And Understanding Of Middle School Mathematical Concepts, Ashley Tewes

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to study the effects of incorporating coding into a middle school math classroom on student experience with and understanding of mathematical concepts. The project used five data sources to examine these effects. Two of the data sources were used to examine the effects on student experience; 1) a survey to gauge student perception and 2) a chart to measure student engagement by tracking their time on task. Three of the data sources were used to examine the effects on student understanding; 1) a pre-assessment given before the coding project, 2) a post-assessment …

The Impacts Of Teaching Specific Engineering Group Processes To Cooperative Learning Groups In A Middle School Stem Classroom, Mollly Gareis

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research investigation studied the impacts that teaching specific group processes to cooperative learning groups had on students’ success in a middle school STEM classroom. The participants of this study were fifth grade students enrolled in a STEM course. During the five weeks of this study, students were explicitly taught how to create accountability and interdependence in their cooperative learning groups by learning about specific group roles and communication strategies. Data was collected through weekly self-reflections, videos, teacher observations, daily exit slips, and pre- and post-assessments. The results of this study indicated that students were more engaged in their …

The Effects Of Coding Integration On Student Engagement And Academic Achievement In A 5th Grade Mathematics Class, Sinead Meehan

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research project investigated the effect coding integration had on student engagement and academic achievement in a fifth-grade mathematics class. Research was conducted on a group of 20 fifth grade students performing on grade level, in a suburban school outside of Philadelphia. Four data collection tools were used: A student survey, teacher observations and reflections, pre and post-test data, and a tally chart. Data was categorized into two domains: student engagement and academic achievement. Coding follow-up works using Scratch, Wonder Workshop, and Turtle Academy were provided to students over the course of two mathematical topics created by Pearson Education, …

Effects Of Mentorship On Empathy Development And Civility In An Upper School Community, Cassella M. Slater

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research project investigated the effects of mentorship on empathy development and civility in an upper school classroom. The environment was a Montessori upper school with 21 children ages 6 through 13. It is a newer classroom; however, there is a level of incivility and indifference in their social behaviors. Data was collected using an interactions matrix, pre and post surveys, classroom behavior tally, and the Developmental Environmental Rating Scale before and after the intervention. Results showed civility and joy greatly increased over time. Individuals’ understanding of empathy showed a positive change. Overall, the classroom became more civil and …