Education Commons^™

Development And Evaluation Of A Model For Secondary Evolution Educators’ Professional Development Needs, William L. Romine, Ellen Barnett, Patricia J. Friedrichsen, Aaron J. Sickel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Professional development (PD) efforts have improved acceptance and pedagogical practice related to the theory of evolution in high school biology teachers. However, these teachers express need for more PD related to evolution. It therefore becomes necessary to understand teachers’ PD needs prior to structuring PD efforts.

Methods

We formulated and validated a model to explain secondary teachers’ PD needs using data from a survey of 276 secondary biology teachers who reported teaching evolution.

Results

In addition to reliable subscales, we found that obstacles to teaching evolution, school and community support for evolution instruction, confidence in evolution instruction, and prior …

Tech Edge Student Rubric Grades 2-3, Laurie A. Friedrich, Guy Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This rubric can be used to evaluate formative and summative assessments of technology integrated products across the curriculum for grades 2-3.

Tech Edge Student Rubric K-1, Laurie A. Friedrich, Guy Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This rubric can be used to evaluate formative and summative assessments of technology integrated products across the curriculum for grades K-1.

Tech Edge Student Rubric Grades 4-5, Laurie A. Friedrich, Guy Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This rubric can be used to evaluate formative and summative assessments of technology integrated products across the curriculum for grades 4-5.

School Counselor Evaluation: Why It Should Be Different, Brandie M. Oliver, Nick R. Abel

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Dr.s Oliver and Abel address school counselor evaluation in the October 2014 issue of IndianaGram.

Merced College: An Online Library Presence, Joselle L. Merritt

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Merced College has a number of courses being taught on line and that the number continues to grow. The college is currently implementing online courses that meet the requirements of California SB520, passed in May of 2013, requiring all California students to have access to online classes at any California community college. This applies only if the classes they need are not available at their home institution. Added to this is the requirement from the accrediting agency for California Community Colleges that all students, both distance and face-to-face have equal access to library resources. As more and more classes go …

Impact Of A Diversity Conference On University Curriculum, Recruitment, And Accreditation Efforts, Christine M. Wilson, Autumn M. Palmer, Judith Puncochar

Conference Presentations

Diversity of students, faculty, administrative staff, community, and curriculum is an asset thought to strengthen and enrich students’ academic experiences. Responding to a charge from a Northern Michigan University president to place diversity at the center of a University Strategic Plan, members of a diversity advisory council proposed a plan to prepare the university and its students for a future in an increasingly diverse and globalized society. Integral to this plan was a diversity conference, UNITED (Uniting Neighbors in the Experience of Diversity), which went from an annual September event to an integral part of the university's academic fabric. Our …

Successive Study Of Diversity Conference Evaluations Of Presenters By Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, And Disability, Autumn M. Palmer, Christine M. Wilson, Judith Puncochar

Conference Presentations

A Midwestern university’s annual diversity conference hosts about 1,500 attendees from a campus of 9,000 students. Using a successive independent samples design, a series of cross-sectional surveys were conducted to answer the research question, how does a presenter’s race, gender, and ability/disability affect participant responses on conference evaluations. A review of the literature has determined that our research represents the largest and longest empirical study of a higher education diversity conference in the United States. The research is a comparative study of evaluation trends of conference attendees toward diversity conference presenters based on race, gender, and disability over eight years …

Evaluation Of Gogirlgo!; A Practitioner Based Program To Improve Physical Activity, Jennifer L. Huberty, Danae M. Dinkel, Michael W. Beets

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Background:
GoGirlGo! (GGG) is designed to increase girls’ physical activity (PA) using a health behavior and PA-based curriculum and is widely available for free to afterschool programs across the nation. However, GGG has not been formally evaluated. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the GGG curricula to improve PA, and self-efficacy for and enjoyment of PA in elementary aged girls (i.e., 5-13 years).

Methods:
Nine afterschool programs were recruited to participate in the pilot (within subjects repeated measures design). GGG is a 12-week program, with a once a week, one-hour lesson with 30 minutes …

Protocol For The Process Evaluation Of A Complex Intervention Designed To Increase The Use Of Research In Health Policy And Program Organisations (The Spirit Study), Abby Haynes, Sue Brennan, Stacy M. Carter, Denise O'Connor, Carmen Huckel Schneider, Tari Turner, Gisselle Gallego

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background Process evaluation is vital for understanding how interventions function in different settings, including if and why they have different effects or do not work at all. This is particularly important in trials of complex interventions in `real world' organisational settings where causality is difficult to determine. Complexity presents challenges for process evaluation, and process evaluations that tackle complexity are rarely reported. This paper presents the detailed protocol for a process evaluation embedded in a randomised trial of a complex intervention known as SPIRIT (Supporting Policy In health with Research: an Intervention Trial). SPIRIT aims to build capacity for using …

Whole Body Vibration Exposure Experienced By Bauxite Mining Operators: An Evaluation Of Heavy Haulage Equipment During Varying Seasonal Conditions (Wet & Dry Seasons) And The Potential Exposure Risk, Marcus Brooks, Marion A. Burgess, Jane L. Whitelaw

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 32nd Annual Conference & Exhibition of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Inc, 29 November - 3 December 2014, Melbourne, Australia.

Self-Assessment Of Employability Skill Outcomes Among Undergraduates And Alignment With Academic Ratings, Denise Jackson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Despite acknowledgement of the benefits of self-assessment in higher education, disparity between student and academic assessments, with associated trends in overrating and underrating, plagues its meaningful use, particularly as a tool for formal assessment. This study examines self-assessment of capabilities in certain employability skills in more than 1000 Australian business undergraduates. It evaluates the extent to which student self-assessments differ from academics, in what ways and the influence of certain individual and background characteristics - such as stage of degree, gender and academic ability - on rating accuracy. Explanations for documented disparities are presented, in addition to implications and strategies …

Listening To Student Voice: An Evaluation Of Wooglemai Environmental Education Centre’S Youth Environmental Network Eco-Leadership Camp, Peter Andersen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The staff members from the Department of Education and Communities Wooglemai Environmental Educational Centre (WEEC) have hosted an annual residential eco-leadership camp for secondary students since 2011. The name of the camp is ‘Youth Environmental Network Eco-Leadership Camp’ (YEN). The participants have primarily been Year 7 to 10 students from New South Wales government schools. There would normally be thirty students (male and female) attending the YEN, with the duration of the camp being four days and three nights.

The purpose of the YEN camp is to provide an opportunity for students to air their concerns about the state of …

Final Report: Evaluation Of The In2uni Program, Valerie Harwood, Sarah Elizabeth O'Shea, Steven J. Howard, Ken Cliff

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This report is an evaluation of the University of Wollongong's In2Uni outreach program. The In2Uni Program, delivered at the University of Wollongong, is an outreach program that works with primary and secondary students from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds on the NSW South Coast. These programs take the form of student academic mentoring, parent/caregiver/community and teacher engagement seminars, and university transition workshops. In2Uni's focus is on building the skills and aspirations required to enter Higher Education.

Opportunities To Personalize Teacher Learning: Innovative Approaches To Bridge Evaluation And Professional Development For Continuous Improvement, Laura Kassner

MERC Publications

The following seven innovative approaches to personalize teacher learning are explored as possible mechanisms to bridge evaluation and professional development: individual or peer portfolios; National Board Certification; computer-mediated content management; peer evaluation and coaching; computer -mediated coaching; unconferences; and virtual learning communities (VLCs). Relevant research studies on these approaches are summarized, strengths and weaknesses are presented, and recommendations for consideration are discussed.