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Translanguaging In Adult Education: Technology Curriculum Project, Jacqueline Phillips
Translanguaging In Adult Education: Technology Curriculum Project, Jacqueline Phillips
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The use of technology in the classroom is constantly increasing. In the world of adult education, these skills are even more important for students to be successful both inside and outside the classroom. As a way to improve those skills while also accounting for the needs of English language learning students, this capstone project explores the following question: How can teachers support best translanguaging instructional practices in an adult basic technology curriculum? The literature review explores the practices of adult education, translanguaging, and digital literacy pedagogies that contribute to the formation and foundation of the curriculum support materials created. The …
Teacher Identity Development Through Critical Self Reflection, Kelly Holmin
Teacher Identity Development Through Critical Self Reflection, Kelly Holmin
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Many educators struggle daily to balance the many facets of their teacher identity, encompassing their personal and professional lives, as well as how they are portrayed in the media and political realm. This along with the other demands of the job can often lead to teacher identity conflict. While teacher identity conflict is a necessary component to growth throughout one's career, lack of support through these challenges can create frustration, stress, and ultimately cause educators to leave the field altogether. This paper explores the research question: How can educators engage in critical self reflection to overcome conflicts in their teacher …
Building Skills For Success: An Esol Job Readiness Curriculum For Adult Ukrainian Refugees, Shannon Daniels
Building Skills For Success: An Esol Job Readiness Curriculum For Adult Ukrainian Refugees, Shannon Daniels
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The growing number of Ukrainian refugees in North America has highlighted the need for English language learning resources focusing on employment content. This capstone project aims to fulfill this requirement by developing an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) curriculum on practical employment skills and communication. The curriculum considers the importance of cultural identity and the impact of trauma on the learner. It is based on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) principles and Task-Based Learning (TBL). It is intended to assist refugees in making meaningful contributions to their families and communities through work. The curriculum emphasizes communication strategies relevant to …
Culturally Responsive Professional Development: Facilitating Transformational Learning Experiences, Kiana Erickson
Culturally Responsive Professional Development: Facilitating Transformational Learning Experiences, Kiana Erickson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Non Profit Organizations that engage culturally diverse populations as volunteers need support in delivering volunteer training that meets the learning needs of culturally diverse adults. Due to lack of staff capacity, non profit organizations often rely on cohorts of volunteers to train their peers in executing responsibilities of the volunteer roles. These volunteers often do not have background in adult learning nor do they have tools related to engaging culturally diverse groups of adult learners. This capstone aims to answer the question: How can adult educators and trainers use culturally responsive engagement strategies and emerging frameworks to effectively facilitate professional …
Components Of Successful Distance Learning Programs For Adult English Language Learners, Trisha Mcintyre
Components Of Successful Distance Learning Programs For Adult English Language Learners, Trisha Mcintyre
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs in the United States to quickly pivot from traditional in-person classes to Distance Learning (DL). After the end of the pandemic, many ABE programs continue to provide flexible and accessible DL options to meet their learners’ needs. This project sought to research different components of DL programming for adult English Language Learners (ELLs) and to look at the indicators of success of those components. Important programmatic considerations are looked at such as technology, instruction, learner onboarding and orientation, and teacher and staff support. This project consists of web pages and …
Teaching Strategies For Low Literacy Adult Learners, Kelly Rynda
Teaching Strategies For Low Literacy Adult Learners, Kelly Rynda
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research has demonstrated that low-literacy adult learners have different needs than children or more proficient adult readers, but teaching strategies are not often aimed at these students. The professional development presentation developed for this project focuses on the characteristics of these learners, how low-literacy skills affect their lives, and which interventions educators can use in the classroom. Key interventions include Robinson’s suggestions around word recognition, Tighe and Binder’s recommendations about morphology and fluency, Mellard and Fall’s ideas around language comprehension, Park’s suggestions for critical literacy, and Rodrigo et al.’s recommendations around reading for pleasure. The project shares information about the …
Implementing Nature-Based Play In Academically Focused Early Childhood Settings, Abbie Krohn
Implementing Nature-Based Play In Academically Focused Early Childhood Settings, Abbie Krohn
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research shows that both play and time spent in nature is critical to childhood development. Over the last fifty years, children’s access to extended play in outdoor spaces has decreased substantially. What are early childhood educators in formal academic settings to do with this information? The professional development series created for this project aims to provide early childhood educators with tools and resources to incorporate nature-based play practices into their classrooms. In the series, participants will examine the history of outdoor education in America, the effects of nature on the human body, standardized testing and current educational practices in early …
Critical Literacy And Independent Learning Routines With Opportunity Youth, Natalie Seger
Critical Literacy And Independent Learning Routines With Opportunity Youth, Natalie Seger
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The nation’s population of opportunity youth, those aged 16–24 and disconnected from school and work, has increased since the pandemic. Many of these young people lack a high school diploma or GED. Due to past school experiences, many opportunity youth have not had the same instruction and time necessary to develop their literacy skills when compared to peers with uninterrupted education. This project addresses the research question: How can a high school equivalency curriculum based in critical literacy and independent learning strategies engage opportunity youth and empower them as self-directed learners? Building a classroom curriculum utilizing critical literacy and developing …
Best Practices: To Supporting And Including Slife, Preliterate, Pashtu Students In Secondary, Western, Schools, Claire Madden
Best Practices: To Supporting And Including Slife, Preliterate, Pashtu Students In Secondary, Western, Schools, Claire Madden
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this capstone project was: what are the best practices for supporting and including SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education), preliterate, Pashtun students in secondary, Western, schools? Topics explored in this literacy review were the challenges of SLIFE students, literacy development, multiculturalism and Pashtu culture. This paper and three part professional development series discusses methods for all secondary teachers to include and support SLIFE, preliterate, Pashtu students in Western schools. This professional development utilizes the research of Aguilar (2013). Aguilar’s (2013) work in adult education assisted in the creation of this professional development series. …
Utilizing Behavior Change Principles To Encourage Community Engagement In Water Protection And Conservation, Chyann Erickson
Utilizing Behavior Change Principles To Encourage Community Engagement In Water Protection And Conservation, Chyann Erickson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Integrating behavior change into water conservation efforts is a growing discipline that explores how factors of decision-making can be used to encourage pro-environmental behavior. As water issues of quality and quantity are exacerbated, it is essential to consider the potential of behavioral science as a means to revolutionize traditional approaches to water conservation education and engagement. This capstone project investigates the question: how can behavior change principles be used to engage people in efforts to protect and conserve water? By looking at cognitive foundations, internal and external factors that influence behavior, and particular interventions to encourage water conservation, research shows …
Lgbtqia+ Inclusivity In The Outdoors, Allison Brown
Lgbtqia+ Inclusivity In The Outdoors, Allison Brown
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
LGBTQIA+ individuals face barriers, inequities, and discrimination while accessing outdoor spaces and participating in outdoor education and recreation. This project focused on creating an online, asynchronous toolkit with learning activities designed for individuals and organizations within the fields of outdoor education and outdoor recreation to become aware of barriers the LGTBQIA+ community faces to accessing the outdoors and begin implementing LGBTQIA+ inclusion initiatives. The activities are intended to be completed in order, but can be adapted to best meet individual and organizational needs. Each learning activity was influenced by the research conducted for the capstone project and by examining inclusivity …
Increasing Student And Educator Participation In Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education And Community Connection, Cora Greenawald
Increasing Student And Educator Participation In Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education And Community Connection, Cora Greenawald
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Place based outdoor integrated education in the general elementary setting aims to connect student learning in subjects such as reading and math to first hand schoolyard experiences. This educational practice is anchored in a wealth of research which enumerates the benefits. Yet implementation is not commonly supported within general education teacher professional development. This capstone aims to answer the question How can urban elementary educators take advantage of schoolyard resources for integrated place based learning experiences? The final product is a professional development sequence that introduces general education classroom teachers to the joys and benefits of outdoor integration through circle …
Metaphor Matters: Teaching Metaphoric Competence, Linda Pope
Metaphor Matters: Teaching Metaphoric Competence, Linda Pope
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research shows that metaphoric competence is necessary for communicative competence and this paper suggests Cognitive Metaphor Theory (CMT) may be useful in teaching metaphoric competence at all levels of English. Even though causality is difficult to establish, research underscores the link between metaphoric competence and overall language proficiency. This, and the pervasiveness of metaphor in everyday and specialized English, strongly suggests a pedagogical shift towards recognizing and engaging deeply with metaphoric language. This means making room for metaphoric competence training in the ESL and legal English classroom. The project models the analyses of two diverse texts: an intermediate-level newspaper article …
How Adult Efl Teachers Can Effectively Utilize Duolingo In Their Curriculum, Rebecca Nelson
How Adult Efl Teachers Can Effectively Utilize Duolingo In Their Curriculum, Rebecca Nelson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The proliferation of cell phones and application technology has changed the way individuals access learning. It’s also opened up a space for profit-driven companies to be included in educational options. This project focuses on Mobile-Assisted Language Learning applications, in particular Duolingo, and how they can best be used by Language teachers, especially English teachers of adults in non-immersive environments, to use Duolingo as a supplement to their teaching. The literature shows that these applications can be helpful, but need traditional support to be most effective. The question the literature brings to mind is how teachers can best use these apps. …
How Can Udl Be Used To Increase Equity And Access At An Abe Site?, Karen Cook
How Can Udl Be Used To Increase Equity And Access At An Abe Site?, Karen Cook
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been shown to reduce barriers through all levels of education. Similarly, there is research showing the effectiveness of UDL to increase equity and inclusion. Given the diverse population of Adult Basic Education (ABE) and the overrepresentation of students with a learning disability, UDL makes sense as a curriculum shift. The professional development project was designed to give ABE teachers tools for implementing UDL that can be used in various classroom settings, regardless of course level or area of study, so that there can be consistency across all classes at an ABE site rather than …
A Training Program That Connects Seasonal Garden Staff And Volunteers To The Mission Of Gale Woods Farm To Promote Land Stewardship Through Agriculture Education, Lindsay Bolstad
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
An educational farm has an opportunity to support staff with the skills needed to make pro-environmental food consumption choices, such as participating in a Community Supported Agriculture program and producing food using regenerative or sustainable practices. Research concludes that best practices for a staff training program considers environmental literacy, skill-building, andragogical principles, and consistent workplace values. This capstone uses a combination of literature review and personal communication to answer the question, what are the elements and considerations of creating a training program that connects seasonal garden staff and volunteers to the mission of land stewardship through food production and agriculture …
Animal Assisted Environmental Education Program Design: The Environmental Learning Farm, Kellie Soronen
Animal Assisted Environmental Education Program Design: The Environmental Learning Farm, Kellie Soronen
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research has shown that by including animals in therapeutic and educational experiences progress can be made in improving the quality of our education and the quality of our lives. This project focused on filling a gap seen in Minnesota’s environmental education programs. There are many environmental learning centers in Minnesota and many different animal assisted therapy programs focusing on physical, mental and emotional health, but there is not a program that is dedicated to bringing our domesticated animals into the curriculum in environmental education. The Environmental Learning Farm is an theoretical and experimental project that could bridge the gap that …
Effective Strategies For Integrating Pronunciation Instruction With A Focus On Intelligibility And Comprehensibility For Adult Esl Students, Ashley Carrel
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The guiding question for this project was: What are some effective strategies for integrating pronunciation instruction in an adult ESL course with the focus being on intelligibility and comprehensibility? This question is guided by personal and professional experiences that are shared in the first chapter. The literature review examines the stigma of accented speech of non-native speakers and the factors that influence their pronunciation production. The intelligibility approach to pronunciation instruction has been proven to be a more realistic and ethical approach as compared to the nativeness principle. The research studied showed that adult ESL teachers often feel ill equipped …
Training English Language Teachers To Help Adult General English Students With Complex Noun Phrases For Business Writing, Christina Cipriani
Training English Language Teachers To Help Adult General English Students With Complex Noun Phrases For Business Writing, Christina Cipriani
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
An overwhelming number of English Learners (ELs) are motivated to learn English because it can act as a tool to help them achieve career success. However, textbooks, which form the backbone of many General English (GE) courses, do not provide enough information in a number of areas related to success at work. Notably, few textbooks offer models for the language needed in job searching, including complex noun phrases. Since textbooks are not providing this material, teachers have to fill that gap themselves. In order to help teachers fulfill this task, my capstone project investigates the following research question: “How can …
How To Create A Successful Learning Environment For Students With Challenging Behaviors, Kristin Otto
How To Create A Successful Learning Environment For Students With Challenging Behaviors, Kristin Otto
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
As an experienced special education teacher working with a range of school districts, I have observed the need for further training on how to manage challenging behaviors within our schools. Though there are many researched based strategies available for helping educators manage challenging behaviors, there are very few trainings that guide educators to program for students with challenging behaviors. With teacher shortages at all-time high in the state of Minnesota, and schools working hard to provide inclusive classrooms, the need for further training for educators appears to be at the forefront. This project on: How to create successful learning environments …
The Role Of The Native-Speaker Listener In English As A Lingua Franca Interactions, Leah Fruechte
The Role Of The Native-Speaker Listener In English As A Lingua Franca Interactions, Leah Fruechte
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research agrees that monolingualism, through a lack of linguistic and metalinguistic awareness and general linguistic reflexivity, is the source of a widely observed listening problem where monolingual native-speakers (NSs) of English fail to correctly perceive the meaning of spoken English that diverges from their own in phonological forms or contextual norms. On the other hand, research has also shown multilingual communities, such as those which use English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), to display the intuitive use of collaborative, pragmatic listening strategies that keep them from misunderstanding each other, despite their differences in forms and norms. As a result, this …
A Curriculum Resource For Teachers Of Low-Level Adult English Learners: Incorporating Digital Literacy Skills, Jennifer Sorlie
A Curriculum Resource For Teachers Of Low-Level Adult English Learners: Incorporating Digital Literacy Skills, Jennifer Sorlie
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The use of technology in the workforce and in academia is ever increasing. Given the events of the past two years, more and more individuals are turning to technology as a means to help them function in today’s world. There are many individuals who arrive from other countries to the United States for various reasons. One possible reason is learning English. However, what happens when you arrive to a country that uses technology daily in a prolonged manner and you have never had this experience? This is the case for many learners who enroll in adult education programs across the …
Facilitating The Success Of Students Transitioning Between Different Methods Of Instruction, Amanda Froberg
Facilitating The Success Of Students Transitioning Between Different Methods Of Instruction, Amanda Froberg
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question being addressed in this project is, how do teachers successfully facilitate the movement back and forth between different methods of instruction for students? This question is answered in the paper and then the project. The project consists of a professional development workshop that is five 120 minute sessions. The first chapter introduces the topic with discussing teaching experiences before the pandemic, COVID-19 and distance learning, and teaching experiences after the pandemic. The second chapter is the literature review that looks at defining student success (academic, social, and mental/emotional), distance learning and COVID-19, and transitions in method of …
Social Emotional Learning: A Professional Development Series For Teachers, Danielle Plumley
Social Emotional Learning: A Professional Development Series For Teachers, Danielle Plumley
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
In the past two years, we have experienced unprecedented times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As students were forced into distance learning, they were missing out on the opportunity to grow their social and emotional skills in person with their peers. This capstone paper and project seek to answer the question, “How can we as teachers incorporate social emotional learning on a regular basis to create meaningful progress for students?” As we return to regular in person learning, it is so important for teachers and students to focus on social and emotional learning. Although academics are what most people think of …
Using An Ecojustice Education Framework To Address Conservation In The Upstate, Rebecca Bolich-Wade
Using An Ecojustice Education Framework To Address Conservation In The Upstate, Rebecca Bolich-Wade
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
In an era of complex and overlapping issues, it is critical to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative interdisciplinary methodology within the fields of justice and environmental conservation. One such method is encapsulated in an ecojustice education framework. This capstone project sought to analyze the effectiveness of an ecojustice education framework to address conservation in the Upstate of South Carolina. In the process of this study’s literature review, it is evident that isolating social justice from environmental conservation is ineffective and unresponsive to the needs that historically underserved communities today face in terms of the mitigation of environmental burdens and enhancement …
How Can A Non-Personal Interpretive Guide Increase Place Attachment For Visitors, Encourage The Appropriate Development Of Sustainable Community-Based Ecotourism, And Increase Knowledge Of The Desert And Coastal Ecosystems And Migratory Whales Of Baja Mexico?, Mahin Hamilton
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Small ecotour companies run whale-watching tours in remote, protected lagoons of Baja California Sur every winter, as gray whales migrate there to mate and give birth to their young. Often, tourists must drive for hours each way to reach the lagoons for their tour. When tourists get to the small villages that are the base camp for whale watching, their only guides are the boat captains, who do not normally speak English (the main language of tourists in the area). A non-personal interpretive guide would bridge the gap of information, so that tourists learn about the ecology, history, and culture …
Key Aspects Needed For Creating A Successful Esl Program In The Workplace, Dianne Sandeen
Key Aspects Needed For Creating A Successful Esl Program In The Workplace, Dianne Sandeen
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Businesses that employ low-skilled workers are looking for ways to increase retention, workplace engagement, and communication. However, many of their employees lack English skills. Workplace ESL education programs have been shown to increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention, but few businesses understand how to implement a workplace ESL program. This capstone project uses a professional development workshop to help businesses and educators understand how to implement a successful workplace ESL education program. It examines labor-exchange theory, human capital theory, and the theory of sense of community to understand how businesses can influence employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention by implementing a …
Teaching Pragmatic Suprasegmentals In The Adult Esl Classroom, Jordan Wooldridge
Teaching Pragmatic Suprasegmentals In The Adult Esl Classroom, Jordan Wooldridge
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
While many ESL teachers acknowledge that there is more to learning English than understanding letter sounds, grammar, and vocabulary, suprasegmental work still gets relatively little attention in most classrooms. The curriculum designed to address this need looks at how to create effective and engaging material in order to teach pragmatic suprasegmental features in the adult ESL classroom. It is designed to be delivered in 10-15 minute bi-weekly “mini-lessons” that draw on what students already know and incorporate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic components to engage all learning preferences. Drawing on the work of Celce-Murcia et al., (2010) the suprasegmental features that …
How Can Environmental Based Library Programming Benefit Communities?, Samantha Morrison
How Can Environmental Based Library Programming Benefit Communities?, Samantha Morrison
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
As technology advances, and cities and population grow, there is a higher need for environmental education. Outdoor education provides many benefits in many different ways. Libraries offer free services to everyone in the community and provide the perfect opportunity to give everyone a chance to learn about the environment. This project focuses on enhancing library programming through nature based learning, asking the question How can communities benefit from environmental education focused library programming? Research shows that there are many different benefits to environmental education and exposure to nature. The literature reviews discusses how outdoor learning is good on mental and …
Leveling The Playing Field: A Proposal For A Portfolio Summative Assessment For A Task- Based Adult Esl Course To Address The Needs Of Students With Limited Or Interrupted Formal Education (Slife), Joshua Eick
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research shows that students with limited or interrupted education (SLIFE) are at a distinct disadvantage when taking formalized exams as compared to their more highly educated peers due to factors such as cultural dissonance. The need for an alternative method of summative assessment that rewards SLIFE’s strengths, such as funds of knowledge and collaboration skills, instead of punishing them for their lack of test-tasking skills and background knowledge is the central focus of this project. This project is a proposal for an adult school district to pilot a portfolio summative assessment as an alternative to formalized testing. The rationale for …