Education Commons^™

Developing Alphabetic Knowledge In A School-To-Home Project With Students Who Are At-Risk: Literature Review, Julie Ann Armstrong

Early and Special Education Graduate Projects and Theses

Literacy skills are developing in children from the time they are born and should be nurtured during the preschool years (Joint Position Statement, 2005). There are important literacy skill sets for children to acquire to be competent readers. The 2009 National Early Literacy Panel has defined one of these skills as alphabetic knowledge (Bell & Westberg, 2009). Alphabetic knowledge is being able to recognize and name letters and their sounds. The research shows that mastery of alphabetic skills is required before children can engage successfully in phonemic awareness. (Bara, Gentaz & Cole, 2007). Parents can facilitate their child’s mastery of …

Developing Alphabetic Knowledge In A School-To-Home Project With Students Who Are At-Risk: Alphabetic Knowledge Activities Handbook, Julie Ann Armstrong

Early and Special Education Graduate Projects and Theses

Early childhood educators are on the frontline of developing emergent literacy skills in their students. Research is abundant and clear about the importance of exposure to and experience with literacy activities for young children (Joint Position Statement- International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2005). However, students arrive in the classroom with varying skills and backgrounds relative to literacy, and many students are in a position to be considered at-risk of school failure. Teaching this population of students can be a challenge. This Alphabetic Knowledge Activities handbook was created to be a resource for …

Perceptions Of The Nature Of Science By Geoscience Students Experiencing Two Different Courses Of Study, Louis S. Nadelson, Karen Viskupic

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Student knowledge of the Nature of Science (NOS) is critical to their understanding of science. NOS encapsulates the tenets of how science is regarded and the heuristics by which science is judged to be valid and appropriate. The importance of NOS to science education has lead to curricular and policy development that mandate the construct be taught throughout the K-12 science curriculum. If this curriculum is effective there is an expectation that students would enter post-secondary with foundational knowledge of NOS. Our research examined the perspectives of NOS among two different cohorts of undergraduate geoscience students, one of lower division …

The Analysis Of An Unsuccessful Novice Teacher’S Induction Experiences: A Case Study Presented Through Layered Account, Sara Winstead Fry

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although induction support is heralded as an effective way to reduce high attrition among beginning teachers, nationwide increases in induction participation have not been accompanied by a comparable reduction in attrition rates. This inconsistency suggests some induction programs may not provide adequate support. This article presents the results of a case study that explored the experiences of a beginning teacher who left the profession despite participation in an induction program. The research question was: "Why was Stella unsuccessful in her second year of teaching?" The results are presented through the postmodern ethnographic method of layered account (Ronai, 1997). In addition …

Teaching Inquiry-Based Stem In The Elementary Grades Using Manipulatives: A Systemic Solution Report, Louis S. Nadelson, Anne Hay, Pat Pyke, Janet Callahan, Cheryl Schrader

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Young learners come to school holding myriad conceptions about how the world works, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM.^1-3 Further, young students' conceptions are commonly based on fragmented knowledge or naïve perspectives that contribute to the importance of early exposure to and practice with scrutinizing situations scientifically.^1,3 An important part of helping children gain the skills necessary to approach situations scientifically involves preparing them to conduct scientific inquiry.³ The development of critical thinking skills and scientific approaches to problem solving should begin early in education.⁴ However, lack of elementary …

Course-Integrated Undergraduate Research Experiences Structured At Different Levels Of Inquiry, Louis Nadelson, Linda Walters, Jane Waterman

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Enhancing undergraduate students’ preparation and interest in science careers frequently involves engagement in authentic research experiences. Traditional undergraduate research (UR) one-to-one faculty-to-student ratio is challenged by demand and cost, motivating the development of alternative approaches to offering these experiences. Embracing this challenge we integrated UR experiences into three undergraduate biology courses, each taking a different approach to engaging students. The approaches varied the amount of teacher and student responsibility, reflecting different levels of inquiry instruction; one in which students were embedded into the faculty’s on-going research; a second in which faculty provided the hypotheses and methodology and students were responsible …

Pedagogical Considerations That May Encourage Character Development In A Distance Education Course, Michael C. Johnson, Richard Osguthorpe, David D. Williams

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The aims espoused by institutions of higher education often entail the development of students’ character. Rarely, however, are these character development aims connected to the unique design and delivery of distance education programs, and the research literature that explores the moral and character development aspects of distance education is sparse. This case study examines instructor and student perceptions of approaches, instructional methods, and other factors that contributed to perceived character development in a fantasy literature distance education course. The findings indicate that the instructor and students perceived myriad kinds of character development and corresponding approaches and methods for bringing about …

Poor Metacomprehension Accuracy As A Result Of Inappropriate Cue Use, Keith W. Thiede, Thomas Griffin, Jennifer Wiley, Mary C. M. Anderson

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two studies attempt to determine the causes of poor metacomprehension accuracy, and then, in turn, to identify interventions that circumvent these difficulties to support effective comprehension monitoring performance. The first study explored the cues that both at-risk and typical college readers use as a basis for their metacomprehension judgments in the context of a delayed summarization paradigm. Improvement was seen in all readers, but at-risk readers did not reach the same level of metacomprehension accuracy as a sample of typical college readers. Further, while few readers reported using comprehension-related cues, more at-risk readers reported using surface-related cues as the basis …

The Effects Of Interaction On Adolescent Reading Motivation, Greg A. Hoetker

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study had two main purposes: One, to discover the nature of interactions that motivate adolescent students to read; and two, to follow how adolescents’ views of interaction and reading motivation evolve over time. The study’s research question was: What do student artifacts and interviews within both middle and high school contexts reveal about adolescents' perceptions of interactions with peers, teachers, and family and their motivation to read? The concept of interaction used within this study was based on a collaborative group-process learning context (Webb & Palincsar, 1996) and a social constructivist conceptualization of intrinsic motivation for literacy learning …

Exploring Brain-Based Instructional Practices In Secondary Education Classes, Constance Darcy Jack

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Research on how the brain perceives, processes, stores, and retrieves information is important to guide pedagogy, yet many schools continue to promote practices that are inconsistent with practices suggested by brain research. Brain-based teaching practices promote a more holistic approach to teaching that acknowledges the interconnectedness of the brain and how it naturally learns.

In order to explore brain-based teaching practices, this study focused on a high school (grades 9-12) in southwestern Idaho to determine whether teachers’ perceptions of their use of brain-based teaching strategies are consistent with the strategies they demonstrate in the classroom. Data included two original instruments: …

The Phenomenon Of Character Development In A Distance Education Course, Michael C. Johnson, Richard Osguthorpe, David D. Williams

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rarely are character development-related aims espoused by higher education reflected in the design and delivery of distance education programs. Further, literature exploring the character development aspects of distance education is sparse. This study finds that the instructor and students in a fantasy literature distance course perceived myriad kinds of character development related to performance, moral, relational, and spiritual character traits and strengths. This paper considers implications for character development in distance education and directions for future research.

Evidence Of Metacognitive Control By Humans And Monkeys In A Perceptual Categorization Task, Joshua Redford

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Metacognition research has focused on the degree to which nonhuman primates share humans’ capacity to monitor their cognitive processes. Convincing evidence now exists that monkeys can engage in metacognitive monitoring. By contrast, few studies have explored metacognitive control in monkeys and the available evidence of metacognitive control supports multiple explanations. The current study addresses this situation by exploring the capacity of human participants and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) to adjust their study behavior in a perceptual categorization task. Humans and monkeys were found to increase their study for high-difficulty categories suggesting that both share the capacity to exert …