Education Commons^™

Teaching Culturally Diverse Students From International Schools: What Online Educators Have To Say, Anneliese Sheffield

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study is designed to discover how online teachers use technology to reach their multicultural international school students. Interviews of twelve international school online teachers were conducted. The topics for the interviews focused on the technology-based strategies that teachers use to meet the needs of multicultural students. The results showed that the tools used by online teachers for international secondary schools closely matched the uses of tools recommended in the literature. Sometimes, however, course design limited the choices teachers were allowed to make regarding tools for supporting students' multiple ways of learning and for encouraging discussion and collaboration. The results …

An Educational Data Mining Model For Online Teaching And Learning, Jui-Long Hung, Kerry Rice, Anthony Saba

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study contains two major parts. First, this study proposed a generic model for Educational Data Ming (EDM) studies by reviewing EDM literature and the existing data mining model. Second, the procedures of the EDM model are demonstrated with a case study approach. The case study results showed patterns and relationships discovered from the EDM model that could be applied to improve online teaching and learning and to predict students’ academic performances.

An Instructional Framework For Tier 2 Intervention In Mathematics, Catherine Didio Beals

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional framework for Tier 2 intervention in mathematics. The framework suggests intervention teachers utilize instructional practices shown to be effective for students with disabilities while assessing students strengths and weaknesses in skills that are strong indicators of an MLD. This study used a mixed methods design to determine whether tutoring based on this framework led to changes in understanding of multiplication and division for four low achieving fourth graders. It also evaluated the usefulness of the instructional framework in determining whether a student had patterns of deficit related to a mathematics learning disability. …

From Expulsion To Success: Perceptions Of Expelled Students About Their Expulsion Process And Resumption Of Education, Julie Slocum Dahlgren

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study examined expelled students in a Northwest public school district of 3,400 students. The purpose was to analyze perceptions of expelled students from 2003-2010 (N-68) regarding their expulsion process and experiences relating to the resumption of educational pursuits. Data was collected from a questionnaire designed by the researcher and distributed to 44 students and from transcribed and coded testimony from four students. The research centers on the whys and wherefores of student expulsions, asking questions that could help schools and school districts penetrate more deeply into the expulsion process, questions that focus on how students perceive their own …

Looking Back And Looking Ahead: A Narrative Inquiry Of Practice Related To Reading Programs In An Accountability-Based Reform Context, Amanda Villagómez

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Teaching in an era of standards and accountability-based teaching has a direct impact on teachers and students. Narrative inquiry methodology was used to better examine the impact on the participant researcher and her students in the context of teaching adolescent literacy (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Montero & Washington, 2011; Schaafsma & Vinz, 2011). Over a three year period, adolescent literacy teaching methodology was examined through contrasting classroom contexts through the eyes of the teacher researcher and her students.

The following questions guided the inquiry: How has policy impacted me as a literacy teacher and the decisions I make, as well …

Videopoetry: Collaboration As Imaginative Method, Peter Lutze, James Armstrong, Laura Woodworth-Ney

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Three Idaho professors (a poet, videographer, and historian) have been collaborating for eight years on a cross-disciplinary project called VideoPoetry, which integrates historical narration, narrative poetry, historical photographs, and videography into the video medium. To this point we've worked primarily on a specific program, Culture of Reclamation, which explores the culture of the early irrigated landscape communities in southern Idaho. In reflecting on our work-process, we’ve discovered that we’ve fundamentally changed as scholars as a result of our collaboration. This paper identifies the nature of our changes and documents instances of the ways in which we have been challenged to …

Composing And Decomposing: Understanding The Complexities Of Writing Processes With Play-Doh And Other Visual Representations, Susan D. Martin, Sherry A. Dismuke

Cheryle (Sherry) Dismuke

This activity engages teachers in decomposition (Grossman et al., 2009) of writing processes. Teachers develop knowledge of and engage in writing/composition processes of planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publication, while at the same time they are immersed in models and modeling of classroom practices. Opportunities for development of both conceptual understandings and instructional tools (Grossman et al, 2000) thus arise regarding complex writing processes important to writing instruction, as well as to experience practice-focused pedagogies (Ball & Forzani, 2009; Hatch & Grossman, 2009; Lampert, 2009) linked to future practice.

Technology-Supported Storytelling (Tsst) Strategy In Virtual World For Multicultural Education, Jie Huang, Youngkyun Baek, Jungwon Cho

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Learning culture through stories is an effective way for multicultural education, since stories are one of the most powerful and personal ways that we learn about the world. Storytelling, the process of telling stories, is a form of communication and a universal expression of culture. With the development of technology, storytelling emerges out of diverse ways. This study explores the storytelling in virtual worlds for multicultural education, and devises a Technology-Supported storytelling (TSST) strategy by examining and considering the characteristics of virtual worlds which could be incorporated into the storytelling, and then uses this strategy to teach Korean culture to …

Examining Interrater Agreement Analyses Of A Pilot Special Education Observation Tool, Evelyn S. Johnson, Carrie L. Semmelroth

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper reports the results of interrater agreement analyses on a pilot special education teacher evaluation instrument, the Recognizing Effective Special Education Teachers (RESET) Observation Tool (OT). Using evidence-based instructional practices as the basis for the evaluation, the RESET OT is designed for the spectrum of different instructional needs found within special education classrooms. The RESET OT informs what Danielson (2011) maintains are the two features of a teacher evaluation system 1) ensuring teacher quality and 2) promoting professional development. In June 2012, six special education teachers participated in a data coding session using the pilot RESET OT to evaluate …

Which Conference Do You Attend?: A Look At The Conference Attendance Of Educational Technology Professionals, Patrick R. Lowenthal

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Educational technology professionals attend conferences each year. Many have funds to attend at most 1-2 conferences each year. As a result, educational technology professionals must make a decision of which conferences to attend. The following article reports on what conferences other educational technology professionals attend.

Learning Global Citizenship: Students And Teachers In Belize And The U.S. Take Action Together, Sara Fry, Shari Griffin, Jean Kirshner

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

We are a group of educators who have taken our passion for literacy and commitment to active citizenship to a global level. As part of a small, teacher-led non-profit organization called the Belize Education Project, we have made a long-term commitment to improve literacy and education in the Cayo District of Belize, Central America. For each of the past five years, we have travelled to Belize for a week in October to work with children and provide professional development for up to 40 teachers at three primary schools in the Cayo District. We also bring Belizean educators to the United …

Engaging In Learning Together: A Theory Of Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Political Learning, Pamela Marie Gehrke

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Health care and nursing are political, and nurses need to be at policy decision-making tables. Graduate nursing education prepares nurses for policy roles, but little research exists about what political and policy education is taught to undergraduate nursing students or how they learn the concepts, skills, and disposition for political and policy work. Nurses need education for civic engagement and political advocacy in their undergraduate professional education. A study was done to learn how undergraduate nursing students made sense of civic engagement concepts like political advocacy and policy making in an online blended, required Policy, Power & Voice course in …

Appropriate Social Behavior: Teaching Expectations To Young Children, Deborah Russell Carter, Juli Lull Pool

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Young children's challenging behavior can impact all aspects of the classroom environment, including relationships (peer–peer, student–teacher), learning, and safety. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a program that focuses on supporting pro-social behaviors and preventing challenging behavior. PBIS begins with building a foundation of universal practices and creating a common language that teachers, children, and families can use to talk about behavior. The identification and defining of appropriate behavioral expectations and the systematic teaching of those behavioral expectations is paramount to preventing challenging behavior. This article describes the steps involved in identifying classroom behavioral expectations and the development of …

On Death And Disability: Reframing Educators' Perceptions Of Parental Response To Disability, Keith Allred, Christine Hancock

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This expository article critically reviews the literature from 1950-2010 regarding educators' perceptions of parental response to disability. Pre-service, practitioner, and professional literature are examined to explore the views presented to teacher candidates during the process of professional induction. As this literature relies upon the stage model of grief associated with Kübler-Ross' (1969) description of the acceptance of death, the effects on parent-professional relations and cultural understandings of disability are critiqued. The paper presents an alternative framing of parental response to disability emerging through positive psychology. Recommendations, based upon a disability studies in education perspective, are made regarding changes in the …

Mobile Microblogging: Using Twitter And Mobile Devices In An Online Course To Promote Learning In Authentic Contexts, Yu-Chang Hsu, Yu-Hui Ching

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research applied a mixed-method design to explore how best to promote learning in authentic contexts in an online graduate course in instructional message design. The students used Twitter apps on their mobile devices to collect, share, and comment on authentic design examples found in their daily lives. The data sources included tweets (i.e., postings on Twitter), students' perceptions about mobile microblogging activities, and self-reported Twitter usage. Based on the tweet analysis, we found that the students appropriately applied the design principles and design terms in their critique of design examples. While the students were mainly engaged in assignment-relevant activities, …

Writing To Learn: Benefits And Limitations, Sara Winstead Fry, Amanda Villagomez

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Writing to learn (WTL) is the act of making a subject or topic clear to oneself by reasoning through it in writing; it is a pedagogical approach that uses writing to facilitate learning (Zinsser 1988). Some researchers have reported favorable results associated with the approach (Balgopal and Wallace 2009; Bullock 2006; Hand, Hand, Gunel, and Ulu 2009). However, others have indicated that studies supporting WTL pedagogy tend to lack comparison groups, pre/posttest data, or the rich description that contributes to a rigorous qualitative study (Hübner, Nückles, and Renkl 2010; Kieft, Rijlaarsdam, and van den Bergh 2006; Klein 1999). Thus, existing …

The Pros And Cons Of Progress In A Neoliberal World: Transforming The Lives Of Men, Women And Children, Roberto Bahruth

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Careful consideration of changes occurring in a globalized world turning on neoliberalism provides insight into the many ways, both positive and negative, that cultural foundations are affected in societies around the world. Young people today are growing up in a world changing at the speed of the microchip with clear implications regarding the ways in which humanity is transforming for men, women and children alike. It is time for women to assert their voices as equal partners in the struggle for democracy, basic human rights, and social justice.

Place-Free And Place-Based Educational Preferences Among Rural High School Principals, Joshua Pfiester

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Rural schooling and rural communities are interdependent to a degree not seen in suburban and urban contexts. Thus, the threat to the sustainability of one inevitably affects the other. One of the variables in their sustainability may be educational practices (Haas & Nachtigal, 1998; White & Reid, 2008) that influence the likelihood of rural high school graduate outmigration (Corbett, 2007; Huang, Cohen, Weng, & Zhang, 1996). Considering the body of literature that testifies to the strong influence school administrators have in schools (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000; Prestine & Nelson, 2005), understanding the preferences in educational practices …

Conceptual Understanding Of Fractions And Decimals For Fourth Grade Students, Sarah J. Appleton

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A study was conducted in two 4th grade classrooms based on current research of foundational concepts of fraction and decimal knowledge, socio-cultural learning theory, cognition and international mathematics education. The goal of this study was for students to acquire conceptual and procedural knowledge of fraction and decimal concepts. When students have multiple experiences delving into rigorous tasks with fractions and decimals, researchers (Lamon, 2006; Siegler & Alibali 2005) suggest students will show an increase in understanding. Cognition and developmental stages were examined and incorporated within the suggested tasks of the instructional unit. With assistance from current research, this study demonstrated …

Perceived Impact By Teacher Candidates Of Specific Supervision Experiences Focused On Critical Reflection, Pamela Briggs

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological case study describes the perceived impact by teacher candidates of specific supervision experiences focused on critical reflection. Within this study, critical reflection is defined as examining one’s teaching practice to consider the effects of one’s choices on others relevant to social and political context. The purpose of the study was to understand and describe the experience of specific supervision practices through the perceptions of teacher candidates practicing teaching during their professional year at assigned elementary schools. Data from this study focused on two main questions, “What specific supervision experiences do teacher candidates consider helpful to their teacher development?” …

Concept Mapping Improves Metacomprehension Accuracy Among 7Th Graders, Joshua Redford, Keith W. Thiede, Jennifer Wiley, Thomas Griffin

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two experiments explored concept map construction as a useful intervention to improve metacomprehension accuracy among 7th grade students. In the first experiment, metacomprehension was marginally better for a concept mapping group than for a rereading group. In the second experiment, metacomprehension accuracy was significantly greater for a concept mapping group than for a control group—a group of students who were given already constructed concept maps had accuracy between these two groups. In both experiments, control groups had poor metacomprehension accuracy. That is, they performed worse on tests they predicted better performance and performed better on tests they predicted worse performance. …

Elementary School Experience With Comprehension Testing May Influence Metacomprehension Accuracy Among Seventh And Eighth Graders, Keith W. Thiede, Joshua S. Redford, Jennifer Wiley, Thomas D. Griffin

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

We explored whether exposure to different kinds of comprehension tests during elementary years influenced metacomprehension accuracy among 7^th and 8^th graders. This research was conducted in a kindergarten through eighth grade charter school with an expeditionary learning curriculum. In literacy instruction, teachers emphasize reading for meaning and inference building, and they regularly assess deep comprehension with summarization, discussion, dialogic reasoning and prediction activities throughout the elementary years. The school recently expanded, doubling enrollments in 7^th and 8^th grades. Thus, approximately half of the students had long-term exposure to the curriculum and the other half did not. …

What Value Does Service Learning Have On Introductory Engineering Students' Motivation And Abet Program Outcomes?, Carol Sevier, Seung Youn Chyung, Janet Callahan, Cheryl Schrader

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using a service learning (SL) method on influencing introductory engineering students' motivation and ABET program outcomes, compared to the effectiveness of using a conventional, non-service-learning (NSL) method. The sample used in the study was 214 students enrolled in an Introduction to Engineering course at a medium-size university in the northwestern region of the U.S. during the fall semester of 2009 and the spring semester of 2010. Sixty-nine students completed SL projects while 145 students completed NSL projects. Both SL and NSL projects were team-based. Using the ARCS model as a …

Perceptions About Women In Science And Engineering History, Heidi Reeder, Patricia A. Pyke, Lynn Lubamersky, Seung Youn Chyung, Cheryl B. Schrader

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study investigated college students' perceptions about the contributions of women to the history of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (N = 1,147). Students were asked to write down as many famous or historically important scientists, inventors or engineers they could think of. After one minute, they were instructed to write down as many famous or historically important women scientists, inventors or engineers they could think of. For the first question, 95% of the responses referred to male scientists, inventors or engineers. For the second question, respondents named on average less than one woman (M=.86), and those named were …

Intentional Web Presence: 10 Seo Strategies Every Academic Needs To Know, Joanna Dunlap, Patrick Lowenthal

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A little over a year ago The Chronicle of Higher Education published a piece titled "Creating Your Web Presence: A Primer for Academics." We were excited to see some of the strategies Miriam Posner recommended for academics wanting to create and maintain a web presence. We had been doing many of the things Posner recommended, as well as a number of others. Thus, in many ways this article builds on Posner's piece but argues that faculty should be taking even more steps to build, maintain, and ensure that others can find their presence on the web.

Intentional Web Presence: 10 Seo Strategies Every Academic Needs To Know, Joanna Dunlap, Patrick Lowenthal

Patrick R. Lowenthal

A little over a year ago The Chronicle of Higher Education published a piece titled "Creating Your Web Presence: A Primer for Academics." We were excited to see some of the strategies Miriam Posner recommended for academics wanting to create and maintain a web presence. We had been doing many of the things Posner recommended, as well as a number of others. Thus, in many ways this article builds on Posner's piece but argues that faculty should be taking even more steps to build, maintain, and ensure that others can find their presence on the web.

Notetaking On The Ipad: Evernote, Memo Cordova

Jose Guillermo "Memo" Cordova Silva

Presentation to Boise State faculty on the uses and functionality of the Evernote environment.

Community Narratives: Initiating An Arts Integrated Curriculum In Public Education, Amber R. Powers

Art Graduate Theses and Projects

Teachers have power to implement a constructive learning environment through team teaching and aligned instruction where schools can benefit from stronger bonds between students and teachers while providing a learning environment responsive to both academic and social needs. Thus, utilizing a mixed model of art education and standard core curricula can provide students with effective creative-thinking processes to support instruction, and empower students.

This project proposes a model of integrated arts curriculum into public education at the high school level. Arts integration can produce more learning possibilities while informing a community of solutions to larger problems through project-based curriculum design, …

Arts Educators Advocating For The Arts In Idaho, Heather Hanks

Art Graduate Theses and Projects

The purpose of this M.A. Art Education project is to provide Idaho’s arts educators with both a comprehensive arts education advocacy handbook and access to a professionally designed arts education advocacy marketing campaign. Global, national, and local arts advocacy research serve as a foundation for this project. This project has three major components: an arts advocacy handbook, materials for an Idaho-specific arts advocacy marketing campaign, and a social media page. The handbook, “Informed. Active. Connected. Arts Educators Advocating For The Arts in Idaho,” aims to better prepare Idaho’s arts educators to be effective, knowledgeable, and informed advocates for the arts …

Informed. Active. Connected. Arts Educators Advocating For The Arts In Idaho, Heather Hanks

Art Graduate Theses and Projects

PROJECT OVERVIEW: Create a professional marketing handbook for arts educators in Idaho to use as a tool to allow them to more effectively advocate for arts education in Idaho.

For the first time, in 1994, the Goals 2000: Education America Act identified the arts as part of the core curriculum in federal policy. Eighteen years later, available research shows that arts education contributes to critical thinking, creativity, social engagement, cultural awareness, and student achievement. However, despite this “convincing research and strong public support, the arts remain on the margin of education, often the last to be added and the first …