Education Commons^™

A Unilateral Grading Contract To Improve Learning And Teaching, Peter Elbow

Peter Elbow

Contract grading has achieved some prominence in our field as a practice associated with critical pedagogy. In this context, we describe a hybrid grading contract where students earn a course grade of B based not on our evaluation of their writing quality but solely on their completion of the specified activities. The contract lists activities we’ve found most reliable in producing B-quality writing over fourteen weeks. Higher grades are awarded to students who produce exemplary portfolios. Thus we freely give students lots of evaluative feedback on their writing, but students can count on a course grade of B if they …

Dr. Skateboard’S Action Science: Teaching Physics In Context, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science, a curriculum supplement which consists of video instruction and classroom activities is an example that focuses on the physical science concepts found in the areas of forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and simple machines. The use of familiar activities, situations and objects, such as skateboarding and bicycle motocross (BMX), around which students can explore and explain scientific concepts can be defined as action science. Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science is an example of transformative education, a student-centered curriculum supplement built around interesting content linked to specific physic knowledge and skills in science. The videos and classroom …

Managing The Transition To Online Teaching: The Role Of Project Management Methodology In The Learning Organisation, Renata Phelps, Toni Ledgerwood, Liz Bartlett

Dr Renata Phelps

This paper examines the application of project management methodology to the development and delivery of online units within University environments. While project management is acknowledged as having advantages as a methodology in certain circumstances, it can be argued that it is culturally and ideologically inappropriate for managing academic development. Online development which occurs within an institution-wide context presents significant challenges in terms of cultural change and staff development. Furthermore it is argued that online units should not be viewed as a "product" - there is no beginning or end to the process of online unit development and the pedagogical and …

La Efectividad De Un Modelo Metodológico Mixto Para La Enseñanza-Aprendizaje De Español Como Le, Kerwin A. Livingstone, Anita A. Ferreira Cabrera

Kerwin A. Livingstone

El presente artículo propone proveer un modelo metodológico mixto para el desarrollo e implementación de un Módulo de Enseñanza para el español como lengua extranjera en la modalidad presencial. El objetivo principal es evidenciar cómo los principios metodológicos provenientes de los enfoques didácticos (“nfoque por tareas”y “prendizaje cooperativo” pueden ser aplicados de manera efectiva en el diseño de contextos presenciales. Para ello, se explora evidencia empírica acerca de la efectividad de la metodología mixta en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de español como lengua extranjera en dichos ambientes, en un estudio basado en un diseño experimental longitudinal con pre-est y post-est, sin grupo …

The Effect Of National Standard And Curriculum-Based Exams On Achievement, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

[Excerpt] Two presidents, the National Governors Association and numerous blue ribbon panels have called for the development of state or national content standards for core subjects and examinations that assess the achievement of these standards. The Competitiveness Policy Council, for example, advocates that "external assessments be given to individual students at the secondary level and that the results should be a major but not exclusive factor qualifying for college and better jobs at better wages (1993, p. 30)." It is claimed that curriculum-based external exit exam systems (CBEEEs) based on world class content standards will improve teaching and learning of …

Vocational And Academic Education In High School: Complements Or Substitutes, Suk Kang, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

[Excerpt] A number of blue ribbon-panels have called for increases in the number academic courses required for graduation from high school and for lengthening the school day and the school year. Most states have adopted the first of these recommendations but not the second. With the amount of time a student spends in school remaining constant, increases in the number of required academic courses force reductions elsewhere. Which activities should be reduced? Should the reduction be made in study halls, music and fine arts,physical education, and life skills courses or should it come in vocational education? The answer to this …

Exploring Social Studies Through Multicultural Literature: Legend Of The St. Ann’S Flood, Sara Winstead Fry

Sara Winstead Fry

The search for literature that is high quality, high interest, written at age-appropriate levels for adolescent readers, addresses social studies topics, and presents multicultural perspectives can be daunting. Legend of the St Ann’s Flood is a novel that meets all of these goals. Its setting in Trinidad and Tobago provides the opportunity for students to learn about a country and region that are frequently overlooked in social studies curriculum in the United States. This article provides historical and cultural background information about Trinidad and Tobago, an overview of the novel, and specific teaching suggestions that integrate reading and writing into …

Improving Medical Students’ Learning Outcomes: Teaching A Web-Assisted Elective Course For 4th Year Medical Students, Misa Mi, Marlene A. Porter, Jolene M. Miller, Jodi Jameson, Gerald R. Natal

Gerald R Natal

Since 1997, the Mulford Health Science Library at the University of Toledo Health Science Campus (formerly the Medical College of Ohio) has been offering a 3-credit-hour elective course for 4th year medical students. The goal of the course is to provide students with skill sets that are important for them to develop as current students and future health care practitioners.

The purpose of this poster is to demonstrate the process of redesigning the elective as a learner-centered course; and to evaluate the effectiveness of the course on students’ learning and learning outcomes.

Implementación De Un Modelo Metodológico Mixto Para La Enseñanza-Aprendizaje De Español Como Le, Kerwin A. Livingstone

Kerwin A. Livingstone

El presente estudio propone proveer un modelo metodológico mixto para el desarrollo e implementación de un Módulo de Enseñanza para el español como lengua extranjera en la modalidad presencial. El objetivo principal es evidenciar cómo los principios metodológicos provenientes de los enfoques didácticos (“enfoque por tareas” y “aprendizaje cooperativo”) pueden ser aplicados de manera efectiva en el diseño de contextos presenciales. Para ello, se explora evidencia empírica acerca de la efectividad de la metodología mixta en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de español como lengua extranjera en dichos ambientes, en un estudio basado en un diseño experimental longitudinal con pre-test y post-test, sin …

Asynchronous Online Learning: Perceptions And Experiences Of Nontraditional Adult Emergency Services Students, Dr. R. Jeffery Maxfield

R. Jeffery Maxfield

This study used hermeneutic phenomenology, a qualitative methodology, to explore and interpret the lived experience of nontraditional emergency services students in an asynchronous online learning environment. This understanding was achieved through rigorous analysis of in-depth, semistructured interviews and journal entries of four nontraditional adult students enrolled in an online baccalaureate degree program. The research question for this study was: How do nontraditional adult undergraduate students experience asynchronous online instruction? Results revealed that student experiences fell into two overarching themes, each with related subthemes. The two identified themes and subthemes are: (a) Flexible Learning, with the subthemes of convenience, self-directedness/self-discipline, and …

Return On Impact (Roi) Model For Skill Training, Raman Attri

Raman K. Attri

Return on Impact (RoI) is a new approach which measures the difference training has created on those governing business/ service or revenue parameters which drives training needs.

The Power Of Fair Use For Media Literacy Education, Renee Hobbs

Renee Hobbs

No abstract provided.

'Ripples In The Upside-Down Lake Of The World’: Running A Read-Aloud Marathon, Dave Iasevoli

David Iasevoli

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of assigning "On the Road," by Jack Kerouac for summer reading.

Principals As Partners With Literacy Coaches: Striking A Balance Between Neglect And Interference, Jacy Ippolito

Jacy Ippolito

Toward Creating Computer-Based Math Learning Favoring High-School Females, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

Research indicates that teenage females prefer to work and perform better at the learning environment that supports frequent interactions and allows them to build relationships with others. This paper will introduce a computer-based algebra-learning environment MathGirls equipped with pedagogical agents (digital life-like characters) that simulate real-world social interactions and relations. The goal of MathGirls is to help young women of high-school age build positive attitudes toward and self-efficacy in math learning through this simulated social context. To investigate the efficacy of MathGirls, a classroom experiment was conducted with 83 high-school females. The experiment examined the effects of agent attributes (female …

Choices In Grammar Teaching And The Grammar Curriculum, Arshad Abd Samad, Hawanum Hussein

Arshad Abd Samad

The communicative language teaching approach has had a significant impact on the teaching of grammar. In general, the communicative approach, and its objective of communicative competence, has led to a diminished role for grammar teaching. However, of late, numerous voices have advocated a more prominent role for grammar in achieving this objective. As a result, various broad approaches as well as specific techniques have been suggested in teaching grammar to English as a Second language students. Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, for example, suggests that teachers use the challenge principle in order to identify the challenge a grammatical structure poses according to …

Fernando De Azevedo E A Questão Da “Raça Brasileira”: Sua Regeneração Pela Educação Física [Fernando De Azevedo And The Issue Of The “Brazilian Race”: Regeneration Through Physical Education], Karl M. Lorenz, Ariclê Vechia

Karl M Lorenz

No final do século XIX a nas primeiras décadas do século XX, uma questão que afligia a intelectualidade brasileira era o atraso econômico e social do Brasil, apesar de suas riquezas naturais. A tese que ganhou destaque foi a que atribuía à “degeneração da raça brasileira” a causa do problema. Este pensamento tinha raízes nas teorias raciais europeias sobre a desigualdade das “raças” e na necessidade do controle das categorias sociais estigmatizadas. Fernando de Azevedo, membro e secretário da Sociedade Eugênica de São Paulo, atribuía à mestiçagem da “raça” a fraqueza física e moral do povo brasileiro. Influenciado pelas ideias …

Transforming Middle School Science Education Through Action Science, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science is a curriculum supplement for middle school students that is designed to address content and process objectives in physical science for both the National Science Standards and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The video instruction and twenty classroom activities provide the teacher with a series of instructional tools and content information that can be used to explore and explain the concepts found in the areas of forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and simple machines. Action Science can be defined as the use of familiar objects, circumstances and situations within the lives of students in …

Budget Casualties: School Budget Cuts Will Mean Fewer Industrial Technology Courses Offered At Owatonna High School, Melissa Kaelin

Melissa F. Kaelin

Welding isn’t the only skill students are learning under the Industrial Technology program at OHS. The program — which will lose .75 FTEs (full-time equivalents) at the high school and .4 FTEs at Owatonna Junior High School in budget cuts for the 2009-2010 school year — encompasses a long list of course offerings. Among them are automotive technology, machining, residential electricity, woodworking, construction technology, architectural design and graphic communications and Web site design.

The Role Of Gender Identities And Stereotype Salience With The Academic Performance Of Male And Female College Athletes, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

An experiment was conducted to examine factors that moderate the experience of academic identity threat among college athletes who represent a stigmatized group on most college campuses (Yopyk & Prentice, 2005). It was hypothesized that because they are more engaged in academics, female college athletes would be especially threatened by the prospect of confirming the “dumb-jock” stereotype. As predicted, female college athletes performed more poorly when their athletic and academic identities were explicitly linked, but only on moderately difficult test items. The results also revealed that male college athletes performed significantly better (see stereotype reactance and self-affirmation) on more difficult …

A "História Da Educação" E O Ensino Pós-Secundário Nos Estados Unidos (1840-1910) [The “History Of Education” And Post-Secondary Education In The United States (1840-1910)], Karl M. Lorenz

Karl M Lorenz

A Historia da Educação era uma das matéria mais profícua nos séculos XIX e XX. Este trabalho examina a historia da disciplina nos cursos de formação docente em escolas normais e instituições superiores, e discute a natureza e a transformações de seus conteúdos através do tempo. Relata o desenvolvimento da disciplina nos Estados Unidos desde 1840, ano que marca seu surgimento como disciplina profissionalizante do magistério, até 1910, ano aproximado em que a interpretação dos conteúdos da disciplina assumiu uma orientação mais objetiva. As datas delimitam um período em que Historia da Educação, com seus enfoques diversificados, emergiu como um …

Stereotypes And Stigmas Of College Athletes In Tank Mcnamara's Cartoon Strip: Fact Or Fiction?, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I student-athletes (N= 43) regarding stereotypical cartoons about athletes. A qualitative approach, which included a visual elicitation technique, was utilized by administering the Lifestyle Association & Representation of Athletes Scale (LARAS). The LARAS explored participants’ perceptions of the following six specific concepts: a) academic support issues; b) academic progress; c) coaches as educators; d) professional sport aspirations; e) media identities, advertising, and representation; and f) cultural issues and recruiting. Five major themes emerged from participants’ perceptions: Big Sport Business, Athletic Image, College Athlete …

Die Opvoedkundige Waarde Van Woordeboeke : Voorstelle Vir Woordeboekonderrig In Suid-Afrika, Michele Van Der Merwe

Michele Van Der Merwe

Die idee van woordeboekonderrig in die laerskool het nog nie baie aandag in die opvoedkunde en leksikografie in Suid-Afrika getrek nie. Tans word uitkomsgebaseerde onderrig as model in Suid-Afrikaanse skole gebruik en woordeboekonderrig kan baie goed binne dié opset geakkommodeer word. In die artikel word probeer om woordeboekonderrig te definieer en aangetoon watter uitkomste in verband met woordeboekgebruik deur leerders in die intermediêre fase bereik behoort te word. 'n Model om die proses van woordeboekonderrig te illustreer, word aangebied. Praktiese voorbeelde van toepaslike woordeboeke vir gebruik in die klaskamer word bespreek. Die verwagting word gestel dat sowel opvoeders as ouers …

Argument Visualization In The Political Arena: The Debate On Global Climate Engineering, Michael H.G. Hoffmann

Michael H.G. Hoffmann

A map that shows a certain point in a fictitious deliberation which is supposed to be ongoing and open-ended, driven by the motive of participants to support or to criticize any of the assumptions mapped out so far by further arguments. This map is mainly based on recent publications on geo-engineering

Korean American Cultural Differences In Classroom Literacy Activities: Observations From An Ethnographic Case Study., Heriberto Godina Phd, Jeonghee Choi Phd

Heriberto Godina PhD

This study explores teacher-student perceptions about cultural differences and their influence upon classroom literacy activities. An ethnographic case method focuses on a Korean American student. Secondary participants include a parent, teacher, and classmates in a white Midwestern community. The study accentuates the generalizable discourse that neglects the complexity inherent to intercultural relationships in a changing elementary classroom. Implications include how multicultural children’s literature deemed appropriate for minorities can be problematically situated for effective instruction.

Sustainable Living In The Pacific: Exploring The Role Of Multiculturalism In Teacher Education, Cresantia Frances Koya Vaka'uta

Cresantia Frances Koya Vaka'uta

The Pacific is arguably one of the most diverse regions in the world, both culturally and linguistically. Although much has been said about the relationship between culture and education, the topic of multiculturalism in education is one that remains unexplored. Although sporadic discussions have occurred with reference to the fourth Pillar of „living together‟ in the Delors‟ report, much of the discourse surrounds the need to incorporate cultural knowledge and culture inclusive pedagogies into local curricula. The author is of the view that quality educational development requires an examination of multiculturalism in teacher education and training. This paper presents the …

The Role Of Learner Attributes And Affect Determining The Impact Of Agent Presence, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

This paper introduces two experimental studies that examined the potential of animated virtual peers (VP) to build social relations with learners in online learning environments. VP emotions and learner characteristics were foci of interest. Study I investigated the impact of VP emotional expressions (positive vs. negative vs. neutral) and gender and learner gender on college students’ perceptions of agent persona, motivation, and learning. Study II investigated the interaction effects of VP presence and learner gender and learner sociability on high-school students’ task-related attitudes, self-efficacy beliefs, and learning. Overall, the results revealed the interaction effects of VP/learner attributes on the learners’ …

Academic English As A Second Language For Gaps, Gulbahar Beckett

Gulbahar Beckett

"Athleticated" Versus Educated: A Qualitative Investigation Of Campus Perceptions, Recruiting And African American Male Student-Athletes, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative investigation of student narratives (N= 167) about the contemporary issue of recruiting high-profile African American male student-athletes. Participants were asked to view a scene on recruiting from the film, The Program (1994). Participants were then presented with questions regarding a recruiting trip by an African American football player to a traditionally white campus. Findings indicate that both Black and White students perceived the African American male student-athletes in the film scene to be more "athleticated" than educated. They were also perceived as stereotypical sex-objects. "When athletes (especially male) show up …

A Day In The Life Of A Male College Athlete: A Public Perception And Qualitative Campus Investigation, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

Perceptual confirmation paradigm (PCP) rooted in social psychology, can be implemented to frame sport science research questions (Stone, Perry, & Darley, 1997). Public perception of college athletes’ lives has been scarcely investigated in the sport sciences (Keels, 2005) using the PCP to prime stereotypes. The purpose of this study was to prime stereotypes about a day in the life of a college athlete by using qualitative inquiry to assess college students’ (N = 87) perceptions. Participants provided written responses about a day in the life of a college athlete. Two different college athlete targets were used “Tyrone Walker” (n = …