Education Commons^™

Improving Student Engagement Despite Lowering Attention Spans In The Classroom, Kaycee Lee

Senior Honors Theses

Attention spans have been decreasing throughout society for many years, partially due to the constant increase of technological advances. The average human attention span of eight seconds is particularly concerning to teachers and others in the classroom. It does not seem that the average attention span is ever going to increase, so teachers must implement intentional methods and strategies within their classroom to keep their students’ attention. Physical activities, technology and hands-on supports, small group instruction, shorter lessons, making intentional mistakes, flexible seating, and differentiated instruction are all strategies supported by research to improve student engagement within the classroom. Every …

Exploring The Role Of Curricular Engagement In The Secondary English Classroom: A Case Study, Kelsey Leah Baldwin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Educational engagement is an issue that has become problematic due to the many changes that have occurred since COVID, including technological dependency and teacher burnout. Teachers may need more skills to manage and implement engagement strategies in the classroom setting. Understanding educators’ experiences with classroom engagement in a variety of secondary English classrooms is the setting of this case study. The central research question explores how educators experience student engagement in their classrooms. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s social cognitive theory, as I utilize the theory to examine behaviors affected by people and the classroom environment. This research …

How To Spark Bio Curiosity: An Innovative High School Biology Curriculum, Audrie Charles

Graduate Research Showcase

This project is a researched creative endeavor focused around the creation of an exemplary high school biology course. This presentation will showcase an original high school biology curriculum designed to ignite students’ innate curiosity and empower meaningful learning of core concepts like cell structure, genetics, evolution and ecology. Students revisit key ideas through a spiral curriculum that builds complexity, tackling open-ended problems and collaborating on hands-on inquiries like formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting data and drawing evidence-based conclusions. Tangible projects allow students to demonstrate content knowledge in addition to critical thinking abilities like synthesizing concepts, evaluating claims and applying learning …

Secondary Math Teachers’ Responses To Errors In The Classroom, Richie Vicinanza

Honors College Theses

This study was conducted in an effort to find out how modern-day secondary math teachers respond to errors in their classrooms and the reasonings behind their responses. To fulfill the purpose of this study, various methods of research were used to gather information. Methods included looking into the scholarly sources surrounding the topic as well as a primary-conducted study in the field. Participants of this study were high school math teachers. The participants engaged in two semi-structured interviews (an initial and a debrief) as well as an observation that was conducted during one of their classes. Through the initial interview, …

The Effectiveness Of Behavior Management Systems In Grade 5 Classrooms, Mihaela Colteanu

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research project, conducted over a 6-week period, aimed to enhance classroom management techniques in response to evolving educational trends which emphasize students' self-regulation and intrinsic motivation. The study focused on a control and experimental group of grade 5 students, implementing two distinct behavior management systems: one grounded in a behavioral approach utilizing rewards and sanctions, and the other based on positive strategies. The researcher, a secondary school English teacher with 8 years international teaching experience, collected data through observations and interviews with former teachers. Even though the initial hypothesis proposed the superiority of a balanced system encompassing both …

A Predictive Study Of Factors Impacting Technology Integration In Elementary Public Charter Schools, Carrie D. Ortiz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this predictive correlational study was to determine if technology integration in elementary public charter schools can be predicted from a variety of factors. These factors included self-efficacy for technology usage, perceived benefits of technology usage, teachers’ beliefs and behaviors related to technology, and the available support. The study addressed technology integration in public charter schools by analyzing relationships between these factors and the level of technology integration. The target population was public charter school classroom teachers in the state of New Mexico. All teachers were general education teachers in grades kindergarten to sixth. Teachers completed the Teacher …

The Effects Of Social-Emotional Learning Strategies On Promoting Positive Behavior In Elementary School Students, Lea Adams

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The focus of this action research was to appropriately implement social emotional learning into a small classroom environment. The lessons were aimed to assist students and foster positive behaviors both inside and outside the classroom environment. Participants participated in a four-week study. The research participants consisted of 17 girls and boys within a classroom. This classroom environment had a total of 11 boys and 6 girls, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study also included four specialist teachers (Hawaiian, Japanese, Computer Science, and Physical Education), the homeroom teacher, and the school counselor. During the intervention, each class engaged in daily morning meetings, …

How Do Classroom-Turnover Times Depend On Lecture-Hall Size?, Joseph Benson, Mariya Bessonov, Korana Burke, Simone Cassani, Maria-Veronica Ciocanel, Daniel B. Cooney, Alexandria Volkening

Publications and Research

Academic spaces in colleges and universities span classrooms for 10 students to lecture halls that hold over 600 people. During the break between consecutive classes, students from the first class must leave and the new class must find their desks, regardless of whether the room holds 10 or 600 people. Here we address the question of how the size of large lecture halls affects classroom-turnover times, focusing on non-emergency settings. By adapting the established social-force model, we treat students as individuals who interact and move through classrooms to reach their destinations. We find that social interactions and the separation time …

Using Texts As Mirrors: The Power Of Readers Seeing Themselves, Amy J. Heineke, Aimee Papola-Ellis, Joseph Elliott

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

In schools across the country and world, students enter classrooms with rich diversity in backgrounds, identities, and experiences. They speak hundreds of different languages, come from countries around the world, espouse nuanced cultural and gender identities, and have an array of abilities and interests. But texts in school and classroom collections continue to reflect the so-called mainstream with primarily White, English-dominant, cis-gendered characters without disabilities. Efforts have emerged on social media to encourage resources with relevance to children's lives, but teachers often struggle to make the case for their use in instruction. In this article, we provide a framework for …

Law Library Blog (December 2021): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Integrating Doctrine & Diversity Speaker Series: Book Release Kick Off Celebration 09-15-2021, Roger Williams University School Of Law, City University Of New York School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Surveying Teachers' Preferences And Boundaries Regarding Human-Ai Control In Dynamic Pairing Of Students For Collaborative Learning, Kexin Bella Yang, Luettamae Lawrence, Vanessa Echeverría, Boyuan Guo, Nikol Rummel, Vincent Aleven

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Orchestration tools may support K-12 teachers in facilitating student learning, especially when designed to address classroom stakeholders’ needs. Our previous work revealed a need for human-AI shared control when dynamically pairing students for collaborative learning in the classroom, but offered limited guidance on the role each agent should take. In this study, we designed storyboards for scenarios where teachers, students and AI co-orchestrate dynamic pairing when using AI-based adaptive math software for individual and collaborative learning. We surveyed 54 math teachers on their co-orchestration preferences. We found that teachers would like to share control with the AI to lessen their …

Don't Kill Mockingbird: An Educator's Guide To Teaching To Kill A Mockingbird In The 21st Century, Rachel Mayes Allen

Masters Theses

While To Kill a Mockingbird is easy to misinterpret and difficult to read at times, today’s students are capable of appreciating the novel just as much as previous generations; we as teachers simply have to give them that chance. By grounding our students in the novel’s historical context, navigating controversies gracefully and rationally, and creating meaningful learning experiences around the novel, we can help our students see To Kill a Mockingbird for what it is.

Technology Use In Education By Students And Teachers, Cody Dyhrkopp

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Technology in education is becoming more and more common in the digital era that we now live in. The purpose of this literature review is create awareness of students and teacher's feelings towards technology in education. In addition to their feelings, an abundance of positive ways to integrate technology in the educational setting were also identified. The ways to use technology in the classroom include play, digital storytelling, games based learning, blogs, coding, robotics and virtual field trips. Teachers can also use technology to make significant changes to their classroom settings by flipping the classroom, making their classrooms one to …

Law School News: Dean's Distinguished Service Award 2021: Ralph Tavares 05/28/2021, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Retrieval Practice Consistently Benefits Student Learning: A Systematic Review Of Applied Research In Schools And Classrooms, Pooja K. Agarwal, Ludmila D. Nunes, Janell R. Blunt

Faculty Works

Given the growing interest in retrieval practice among educators, it is valuable to know when retrieval practice does and does not improve student learning—particularly for educators who have limited classroom time and resources. In this literature review, we developed a narrow operational definition for “classroom research” compared to previous reviews of the literature. We screened nearly 2,000 abstracts and systematically coded 50 experiments to establish a clearer picture of benefits from retrieval practice in real world educational settings. Our review yielded 49 effect sizes and a total n = 5,374, the majority of which (57%) revealed medium or large benefits …

The Year Of Covid-19: Personal Reflections On How Traditional Pedagogy Can Be Informed By Online Teaching Methods (Aka How I Changed My Mind About Online Teaching), Ee-Ing Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Reflections on lessons learnt during online teaching during COVID-19. Despite the difficulties of the term, I realized that online teaching had certain strengths that traditional face-to-face teaching formats lacked. This started me on the path to adapting online teaching practices to improve our current modes of teaching, such as using online tools to improve interactivity, and reduce bias in interacting with students. I also started reconsidering whether our traditional classroom structures are indeed the best way to teach. While my experiences are based on teaching law, I believe that these points are also applicable to teaching in other disciplines.

The Year Of Covid-19: Personal Reflections On How Traditional Pedagogy Can Be Informed By Online Teaching Methods (Aka How I Changed My Mind About Online Teaching), Ee-Ing Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Reflections on lessons learnt during online teaching during COVID-19. Despite the difficulties of the term, I realized that online teaching had certain strengths that traditional face-to-face teaching formats lacked. This started me on the path to adapting online teaching practices to improve our current modes of teaching, such as using online tools to improve interactivity, and reduce bias in interacting with students. I also started reconsidering whether our traditional classroom structures are indeed the best way to teach. While my experiences are based on teaching law, I believe that these points are also applicable to teaching in other disciplines.

A Survey Of Stem Literature In Elementary School Classrooms, Kaitlyn Duhaime

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In today’s classrooms, focus is being placed on teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, simply teaching a lesson is not enough: supplemental resources, such as books, are crucial for students to fully grasp what is being taught. Many teachers do not know what to look for in STEM children's books in order to ensure the books are beneficial and relevant to their students’ learning. This thesis will provide elementary teachers with guidelines and criteria by which to evaluate STEM children’s books. I will sample books from public libraries, such as Taunton, Bridgewater, and Brockton. I am choosing books …

Academic Dishonesty And Testing: How Student Beliefs And Test Settings Impact Decisions To Cheat, Jarret M. Dyer, Heidi C. Pettyjohn, Steve Saladin

Testing Services Publications

Research shows that academic dishonesty in post-secondary education runs particularly high among students in the specific disciplines of engineering, business, and nursing. The authors were interested in how student attitudes towards specific environments for testing might contribute to the prevalence or likelihood of cheating on tests and exams. It was hypothesized that while there would be no difference in their beliefs or attitudes regarding the acceptability of cheating behaviors in unproctored versus proctored settings, students would be more likely to engage in cheating behavior in an unproctored setting. Technology continues to transform the world around us at a rapid pace, …

The Wall Of Silence: Disrupting Kairotic Spaces, Victoria Jaye

Writing Center Analysis Papers

Every class has a balance of kairotic space where teachers have power and students accept that power within the confining space of the classroom. Power defines our world as well as our relationships to one another; without power there is no control which can be key to governing a classroom. Disruption of this power dynamic can open dialogue between teachers and students that might not have existed otherwise because students feel confined to the strictures binding their power creating a wall of silence. Using brainstorming and reflecting as well as peer tutoring, I experimented with breaking down the wall of …

From Statia To School, Frances Avery

Writing Center Analysis Papers

This paper discusses how marginalized voices in the writing center and in the classroom can be heard. The atmosphere differences in the classroom and in the writing center contribute a great deal to the differences in communication that occur there. This paper does not define the term marginalization; basically, it refers to the exclusion that occurs because someone or a group of people are different than the people or group of people who are spear-heading the conversation. The paper begins with a personal story of marginalization and then moves into how marginalization takes places in academia. At the end of …

Effects Of Acute Physical Activity On Nih Toolbox-Measured Cognitive Functions Among Children In Authentic Education Settings, H. G. Calvert, J. M. Barcelona, D. Melville, L. Turner

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2019

Introduction: Identifying a dose of physical activity (PA) that can improve cognitive function in children has important implications for school-day PA recommendations. Researchers and educators have interest in this link as it relates to both health and academic performance. This study examined the dose-response relationship between PA and improvement in cognition in a sample of fifth and sixth grade students.

Methods: Participants (n = 156) from eight classes each completed two of four different cognitive assessments on an iPad, both before and after exposure to one of four randomized, 10-min PA conditions (sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous). Conditions …

Law School News: Remembering Rwu Laws Founding Dean 9-10-2019, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Supports For Increasing Classroom Physical Activity Within Elementary Schools, Hannah G. Calvert, Julianne Wenner, Lindsey Turner

Publications

Classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) can significantly benefit students’ health and educational outcomes, but many teachers do not utilize CBPA. This study examined teachers’ perceptions about the value and impact of several approaches to support CBPA implementation, and teachers’ weekly self-reported CBPA use. Interviews were conducted with 35 classroom teachers (including those using and not using CBPA) at two public elementary schools, and CBPA tracking logs were collected on a weekly basis. Interview transcripts were interpreted through key domains within implementation science. On average, teachers reported using one activity every other day. Interview data revealed that utilizing professional collaboration time for …

An Exploration Of Supports For Increasing Classroom Physical Activity Within Elementary Schools, Hannah G. Calvert, Julianne A. Wenner, Lindsey Turner

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) can significantly benefit students’ health and educational outcomes, but many teachers do not utilize CBPA. This study examined teachers’ perceptions about the value and impact of several approaches to support CBPA implementation, and teachers’ weekly self-reported CBPA use. Interviews were conducted with 35 classroom teachers (including those using and not using CBPA) at two public elementary schools, and CBPA tracking logs were collected on a weekly basis. Interview transcripts were interpreted through key domains within implementation science. On average, teachers reported using one activity every other day. Interview data revealed that utilizing professional collaboration time for …

The Utilization Of Visual Design Systems To Promote Higher Levels Of Learning In Educational Environments, Keenan Sultanik

Masters Theses

Traditional higher education environments have changed very little in the last hundred and fifty years, while technology has advanced in nearly every other area of society making each more productive and more capable. This study identifies key aspects of a comprehensive and universal visual learning system that incorporates a more holistic approach to design and interactivity in educational environments. The desired effect of this is elevating classroom learning to higher levels as defined by Bloom’s Taxonomy. In this thesis, I have collected and explored empirical and observational data to examine the relationship between effective learning environments and the use of …

Reflecting On The Context Of A Teaching Philosophy, Judith Platania

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Teaching experience is only valuable when we reflect on our practices as professors. This reflection should expand our realization of the challenges we face in the classroom.As faculty, we have an obligation to our students and to ourselves to participate in continued assessment of our teaching philosophy.Not only is it important to do so from a pedagogical perspective, it reminds us of our responsibility to inform our students through evidence-based practices and the science of our respective disciplines.

Holy High-Flying Hero! Bringing A Superhero Down To Earth, Gregory A. Dilisi

2019 Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.

It’S Kind Of A Curious Incident In The Bell Jar: Using Literature And Discussion To Advocate For Mental Health Education In The High School English Classroom, Margaret Keefe

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Literature has served as an outlet for those who have both written and read it, powerfully describing all aspects of the human condition—even the mental disorders we suffer from. Language Arts classrooms provide students with the ability to access and critically analyze this unique outlet for expression and understanding. Given the high rate of mental disorders among young adults and students, this often stigmatized issue cannot be ignored inside or outside the classroom. The purpose of this project is to analyze how texts which discuss mental disorders might be taught in the high school English classroom. This will include not …