Education Commons^™

Motivation For Vocabulary Learning Of College Students, Qizhen Deng

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study is to construct and validate an instrument to measure motivation for vocabulary learning, opening the door to more studies on motivation for vocabulary learning in reading and listening. In the new 34-item questionnaire: Motivation for Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire (MVLQ), eleven subscales were examined within two motivational constructs, namely, self-efficacy and attitude. Participants in this study were 121traditional undergraduate students from a Midwestern research university. Students responded to two self-report questionnaires: the Motivation for Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire (MVLQ), and the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) (Wigfield & Guthrie,1997). The results suggested that MVLQ had good reliability …

Does Socio/Economic Status Affect Environmental Awarness In Elementary School Children Interacting With School Gardens?, Grady C. Erickson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This is a case study involving three elementary schools in the greater Lincoln, Nebraska area. These schools were chosen to provide insight to three different economic backgrounds. Saratoga and Randolph from Lincoln Public Schools, and Norris Elementary part of Norris Public Schools 160 was the third school involved in the study. This case study focused on seeing whether socio/economic background had any effect on environmental awareness. To do so, surveys were handed out to each school to help measure environmental awareness. These surveys also helped determine where the environmental literacy standards were in the elementary schools of Lincoln, Nebraska. The …

Educators' Attitudes Toward Outdoor Classrooms And The Cognitive Benefits In Children, Carlie Speedlin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A case study was organized at a K-5 elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraksa. This school is Saratoga Elementary School and is a United States Title I Distinguished School1 under No Child Left Behind. It has a population of 266 students, with 47% being minority, 1% gifted, and 28% special education (LPS School Profile Brochure). 80% of the student population is eligible for free/reduced meals, implying that it’s a school with a lower socioeconomic status. At this school a garden space was constructed and an after school garden club was implemented for this case study. The club had been running since …

Improving Student Achievement Through Professional Learning Communities, Mindy L. Roberts

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study determined how general education teachers in a Midwestern school district perceived their personal skill level in working collaboratively and focusing on academic results while working in a Professional Learning Community (PLC). The overarching question for the research was: Do educator perceptions of their personal skill level in working collaboratively and focusing on academic results while implementing a Professional Learning Community have an effect on student achievement? The study looked at teacher perceptions within the three themes of PLCs: (a) assuring students learn at high levels, (b) creating a culture of collaboration, and (c) focusing on academic results. Student …

Nebraska Reading First Final Report, Guy Trainin, Kathryn Ac Wilson

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

Reading First has been implemented in Nebraska since the 2004-5 academic year. In two rounds of funding and participation, schools have transformed the way they trained their teachers, measured student progress, and taught. This transformation is one of the hardest tasks in education and it has taken the considerable dedication of school personnel as well as dedicated leaders from the Nebraska Department of education. The program has seen great success in increasing the proportion of students acquiring basic literacy skills of phonemic awareness, decoding, and oral reading fluency. That initial success has led to an increase in outcomes even for …

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 21, Number 1, Fall 2010, New England Faculty Development Consortium

NEFDC Exchange

Contents

Message from the President - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

From the editors - Jeanne Albert, Donna Qualters, Naomi Migliacci, Gouri Banerjee, and Deborah Hirsch

Fall 2010 Conference; Friday, November 19, 2010, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Better Teaching – Better Learning: Reflective Practices for Faculty and Students; keynote speaker: Dan Willingham, University of Virginia

An excerpt from, Why Don’t Students Like School? - Dan Willingham, University of Virginia

NEFDC Fall 2010 Conference Agenda

Connecting with others

The Benefits of Formal and Informal Reflective Practices - Art McGovern, Nichols College

Seven Ways …

Evaluating Measurement Invariance With Censored Ordinal Data: A Monte Carlo Comparison Of Alternative Model Estimators And Scales Of Measurement, Natalie A. Koziol

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Evaluations of measurement invariance provide essential construct validity evidence. However, the quality of such evidence is partly dependent upon the validity of the resulting statistical conclusions. The presence of Type I or Type II errors can render measurement invariance conclusions meaningless.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of categorization and censoring on the behavior of the chi-square/likelihood ratio test statistic and two alternative fit indices (CFI and RMSEA) under the context of evaluating measurement invariance. Monte Carlo simulation was used to examine Type I error and power rates for the (a) overall test statistic/fit indices, and …

The Academic Success Of Homeschooled Students In A South Carolina Technical College, Jack N. Bagwell Jr

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2010, homeschooling was increasing in prevalence in the United States. Yet, little was known about the academic achievement of these students as they matriculated into colleges and universities. The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to examine the academic success achieved by the homeschooled population (N=273) and a sample of the traditionally educated students (N=273) who had enrolled in credit courses between the years of 2001 and 2008 at York Technical College, a comprehensive community college in South Carolina. In the quantitative phase of the study, academic success measures included COMPASS placement scores in writing, pre-algebra, …

Improving Irt Parameter Estimates With Small Sample Sizes: Evaluating The Efficacy Of A New Data Augmentation Technique, Brett P. Foley

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The 3PL model is a flexible and widely used tool in assessment. However, it suffers from limitations due to its need for large sample sizes. This study introduces and evaluates the efficacy of a new sample size augmentation technique called Duplicate, Erase, and Replace (DupER) Augmentation through a simulation study. Data are augmented using several variations of DupER Augmentation (based on different imputation methodologies, deletion rates, and duplication rates), analyzed in BILOG-MG 3, and results are compared to those obtained from analyzing the raw data. Additional manipulated variables include test length and sample size. Estimates are compared using seven different …

An Examination Of Changes In Program Offerings And Program Enrollments In Selected Nebraska High Schools During The Era Of Standards-Based Reform, Kenneth E. Schroeder

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not there were changes in certain characteristics of educational programs in grades 9-12 Nebraska public high schools during the era of standards-based reform. This purpose was accomplished by testing for changes between the 1993-94 school year and the 2007-08 school year in the courses high schools offered and in the courses students took. The total program and each of ten designated subject areas that comprise the program were examined. Those ten designated subject areas were language arts, science, social science, mathematics, foreign language, vocational education, visual and performing arts, personal …

An Examination Of Core Course Admission Deficiencies And Their Impact On Six-Year Graduation Rates For Transfer Students At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln., David S. Belieu

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the six-year graduation rate of transfer students who enter the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a deficiency in a core course admission requirement. The study explored the odds of a transfer student graduating in a six-year period if he/she were admitted with a deficiency. Specifically, the study examined graduation rates for transfer students who entered UNL with a core course deficiency in mathematics and foreign language. The study also examined graduated transfer students admitted with one or more core course deficiencies GPAs versus graduated transfer students who were admitted without a deficiency. After …

A Study To Determine The Influence Of Student Status And Gender On The Learning Styles Of Freshmen Students, Ali J. Morris

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to compare the learning styles, as defined by David A. Kolb, of traditional freshmen students and non-traditional freshmen students to determine if there is a significant difference between them. The researcher also collected data to determine if there is a correlation between learning styles for gender and traditional/non-traditional student status.

Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was used as the survey instrument and was administered to all students in the sample. The stratified random sample population consisted of 550 students selected from the freshmen class and provided to the researcher by the Office of Institutional …

The Impact Of Teaching Presence In Intensive Online Courses On Perceived Learning And Sense Of Community: A Mixed Methods Study, Elizabeth Laves

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed methods concurrent triangulation design study was predicated upon two models that advocated a connection between teaching presence and perceived learning: the Community of Inquiry Model of Online Learning developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000); and the Online Interaction Learning Model by Benbunan-Fich, Hiltz, and Harasim (2005). The objective was to learn how teaching presence impacted students’ perceptions of learning and sense of community in intensive online distance education courses developed and taught by instructors at a regional comprehensive university.

In the quantitative phase online surveys collected relevant data from participating students (N = 397) and selected instructional …

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2010, New England Faculty Development Consortium

NEFDC Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: Where would you be - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

From the editors -

Spring 2010 Conference, Friday, May 21, 2010, Westford, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Teaching for Learning; keynotes speaker: D. Christian Jernstedt, Dartmouth College, "How Learning Changes Brains"

A Book and Readings List for Thinking about the Human Mind - G. Christian Jernstedt, Dartmouth College

Embracing the Intimidating: Assessing Student Learning in a Non-major Online Science Course - Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

Save the date! 2010 Fall Conference, November 19, 2010, Westford, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Better Teaching, Better …

Participation In Positive Youth Development Programs And 4-H: Assessing The Impact On Self-Image In Young People, Karen Bloomquist

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to identify relationships between youth involvement in 4-H and self-image. The study also explored whether there were relations between self-image and development of the 5 C’s (confidence, competence, caring, connection and character) of Positive Youth Development. The study focused specifically on the differences in self-image between youth who participate in 4-H and youth who do not.

Participants included 180 youth from grades eight through twelve in the state of Nebraska. Demographic responses indicated that 47% of respondents were male and 53% were female. Approximately 72% of the respondents were not participants in a 4-H …

Review Of Teaching Graphic Novels, By Katie Monnin, Susan Spangler

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

No abstract provided.

Rationale For Pride Of Baghdad, Crag Hill Ph.D.

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

A rationale for teaching the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad at the secondary level.

Rationale For Magneto: Testament, Brian Kelley

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

A rationale for teaching the graphic novel Magneto:Testament in secondary schools.

Sequential Art, Graphic Novels, And Comics, Brian Kelley

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The first global distribution of a paper prepared for the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Graphic Novels Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association,the Executive Board of the New Jersey Reading Association, and the Legislative and Professional Standards Committee of the NJRA.

Comic Vision, Gale Acuff

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

A narrative, rhetorical poem