Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Education

Integrating Art Into The Classroom: A Necessary Component Of A Well-Rounded Education, Kate Latham Sep 2017

Integrating Art Into The Classroom: A Necessary Component Of A Well-Rounded Education, Kate Latham

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis includes a combination of research and visual arts integration lesson plans. Research covers the benefits of exposure to the visual. Lesson plans were specifically designed for the core content area subjects: English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Each of these lessons was designed to meet local and national standards for the core content area and for visual arts. Additionally, each lesson plan includes a component of art production. This thesis can be utilized by a variety of individuals, including educators who strive to incorporate art into their classrooms. The research aspect can be utilized by those struggling …


Shaking Up Shakespeare: Teaching For The Contemporary High School English Classroom, Megan Sampson Jun 2017

Shaking Up Shakespeare: Teaching For The Contemporary High School English Classroom, Megan Sampson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Contemporary high school English students find Shakespeare distant because they believe Shakespeare is hard to understand. Pairing Shakespeare with thematically-similar contemporary texts can make his works more accessible to students. Using different angles on the same theme shows students that Shakespeare presented some universal issues that still have relevance today. The Literacy Design Collaborative modules included within this thesis use Shakespeare in cooperation with other texts to focus on a specific theme. Using the module structure, teachers can organize the unit’s overarching goals and can include all handouts and necessary materials. This structure of design incorporates literacy-centered practices in order …


Tutor In A Bag: Reaching Struggling Readers, Lillian Hoskinson Dec 2016

Tutor In A Bag: Reaching Struggling Readers, Lillian Hoskinson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Tutor in a Bag is a tutoring program designed to match novice adult tutors with struggling early readers. The program trains tutors with varied backgrounds to work with struggling readers using evidence-based instructional strategies and data collection methods. Tutors attended an initial training session to receive materials, practice each component of the lesson plan, and to receive fundamental training on use of reading games and strategies supporting solid reading instruction at a brisk pace. Each designated struggling reader was paired with a tutor for 10 weekly, thirty-minute sessions driven by each student’s individual needs. Support for the tutors was provided …


Fluency: A Steady Beat In The Making, Nicole Patton Aug 2016

Fluency: A Steady Beat In The Making, Nicole Patton

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This honors thesis explores the literacy component of fluency and its instruction in the intermediate grades through the incorporation of Brain-based learning and the arts. Because reading fluency can affect other areas of reading, such as comprehension, it is important to build fluency skills through meaningful instruction. By exploring the best practices of fluency instruction, by understanding how the brain learns, and by recognizing how the arts can meet the needs of different learners, educators can alter and create instruction that challenges students’ reading ability in a unique way. A series of fluency lessons incorporating brain-based learning and the arts …


The Effects Of Community-Building On Achievement, Motivation, And Engagement In Undergraduate Mathematics, Hannak Keith Aug 2016

The Effects Of Community-Building On Achievement, Motivation, And Engagement In Undergraduate Mathematics, Hannak Keith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This 2 x 2 quasi-experimental study examined the effects of pedagogical method (i.e., direct instruction vs. 5E inquiry) and intentional community-building (i.e., absence or presence) on undergraduate student (N = 103) motivation, engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Conditions were randomly assigned to one of four different College Algebra classes with a one-time occurrence and taught by a trained expert teacher. Findings indicated that intentional community-building – regardless of pedagogical method – had the strongest effects on students’ motivation, engagement, and achievement. Although no differing pedagogical effects were discovered (most likely due to the one-time implementation of the lesson formats), …


Testing The Effects Of Professional Development On Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Mathematics Inquiry Instruction, Courtney Inabnitt Aug 2016

Testing The Effects Of Professional Development On Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Mathematics Inquiry Instruction, Courtney Inabnitt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In this study, a professional development (PD) seminar was designed and implemented with elementary pre-service teachers (n=20) enrolled in a mathematics content course at a small Midwestern university. The central focus of the PD was on bringing inquiry, specifically the 5E model, into mathematics instruction at the elementary level. The structure of the PD followed the 5E model format and participants learned about inquiry through inquiry. The study utilized a pre-post-test design and measured participants’ knowledge about the 5E model and beliefs about using inquiry in elementary mathematics instruction. Statistically significant growth from pre-test to post-test appears in …


Wku International Student Teaching Program: Professional, Cultural, And Character Impacts On In-Service And Pre-Service Teachers, Meghan F. Althauser Dec 2014

Wku International Student Teaching Program: Professional, Cultural, And Character Impacts On In-Service And Pre-Service Teachers, Meghan F. Althauser

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project focuses on researching the effects of participation in WKU’s International Student Teaching Program on in-service and pre-service teachers. The program’s effect on teachers’ professional decisions made in the classroom and attitudes toward diversity in the classroom were the focus of this research. A mixed method approach of in-service teacher questionnaires and interviews, pre-service teachers interviews, and analysis of blogs/journals from in-service and pre-service teachers while they were abroad was used in this project. The results of the project have illustrated the benefits, as well as the professional, cultural, and character developments of participating in the WKU International Student …


Using Art To Promote Peace In The Lives Of Elementary Aged Students, Megan Mcdonald Dec 2013

Using Art To Promote Peace In The Lives Of Elementary Aged Students, Megan Mcdonald

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Guernica was Pablo Picasso’s most controversial piece, created as a political statement to show the devastation of war in Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It is the inspiration for the Kid’s Guernica Peace Mural Project, developed as a way for adolescents to visually express their ideas of peace as a global goal. With the completion of a peace workshop and a 3.5m × 7.8m moveable mural, Kentucky is now a participant in the project. The mural illustrates the creative collaboration of sixty fifth grade students, a local artist and myself. It will travel throughout the state of Kentucky during …


A Virtual Tour Of Wku’S Main Campus, Zachary Ryle May 2012

A Virtual Tour Of Wku’S Main Campus, Zachary Ryle

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In my WKU Honors College Capstone Experience entitled “A Virtual Tour of WKU’s Main Campus,” my task was to create a virtual tour students across the state, country and even around the world could use to view WKU’s campus without ever setting foot in Bowling Green. Throughout this experience, I filmed myself giving individual tour of over 60 different locations on WKU’s campus, with a total of 72 buildings and locations earning markers on the campus map. This virtual tour was created during the summer of 2011 and was completed by November of that same year. Once completed, Admissions Counselors …