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School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

2020

Interdisciplinary Teaching

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Climate Literacy: Designing A Syllabus For A Graduate Level Climate Literacy Foundations Course, Jana Graczyk Oct 2020

Climate Literacy: Designing A Syllabus For A Graduate Level Climate Literacy Foundations Course, Jana Graczyk

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Climate change is a large and multifaceted topic, connected to science, social studies, economics, politics, and more. It cannot simply be approached through one single lens. Climate literacy acknowledges the interdisciplinary nature of climate change by addressing the scientific process of climate change, the human influence on climate, and the influence of climate on society as well as helping develop pro-environmental behaviors. The syllabus designed for this project focuses on teaching climate literacy to graduate-level students. The approach is based on research about general academic motivation, as well as motivation for pro-environmental behavior. The course involves building strong relationships, creating …


Teaching Social Emotional Skills Through Literacy, Melody Sandell Oct 2020

Teaching Social Emotional Skills Through Literacy, Melody Sandell

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Social and emotional skills are critical to students’ success in school and it is imperative that educators have effective tools and strategies to teach these skills. Social and emotional skills can be taught through an integrated interdisciplinary curriculum where students’ needs are met academically, emotionally, and socially – teaching the whole child. This capstone project creates an integrated social emotional learning curriculum with English language arts curriculum where learning targets encompass both areas of focus thus answering the research question, How can teachers effectively teach Social Emotional Learning skills through literacy in the primary grades ? Research concludes that combining …


Finding A Place In Learning: Facilitating Place-Based Writing In The Secondary Classroom, Ella Rausch Jul 2020

Finding A Place In Learning: Facilitating Place-Based Writing In The Secondary Classroom, Ella Rausch

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

How can teachers facilitate place-based writing that improves the writing and research skills of high school students? This project contains a facilitation guide for an expeditionary experience that utilizes place-based writing for secondary students. Research has shown the significant benefits of this learning model for high school students and its far reaching effects beyond writing skills. Project-based learning is used as the foundation for the guide, emphasizing cross-curricular learning experiences and student voice and choice to provide authentic learning experiences. The guide is designed to support teachers as they lead students through individual projects related to a place they visit …


Effective And Engaging Ways Of Teaching The Civil Rights Movement To K-2 Students By Sarah Westad, Sarah Westad Jul 2020

Effective And Engaging Ways Of Teaching The Civil Rights Movement To K-2 Students By Sarah Westad, Sarah Westad

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project is, what are the most effective and engaging ways to teach K-2 students about the Civil Rights Movement while fostering meaningful connections to history? It documents the research and creation of a curriculum unit discussing the Civil Rights Movement as it existed in the past as well as in the 21st century. The curriculum unit developed in this capstone covers eleven instructional days beginning with slavery and ending with current events discussions. The capstone chapters address issues like master narrative myths, incorporating student experiences and interest, and research based practices. It looks at …


Knowledge And Skill: Integrating Social Studies And Writing Content For Third-Grade Students, Heather Eikenbary Apr 2020

Knowledge And Skill: Integrating Social Studies And Writing Content For Third-Grade Students, Heather Eikenbary

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The Achievement Gap has plagued school districts across the country. Why are students from lower-income families underperforming academically when compared to their more affluent peers? This capstone addresses the Achievement Gap, the Opportunity Gap, and the Knowledge Gap with the intention of answering the question: How does integrating social studies content into third-grade writing improve historical knowledge, student writing, and vocabulary for the purpose of closing the Knowledge Gap? This capstone analyzes and discusses research on the Knowledge Gap and the need for elementary instruction in social studies, vocabulary, and writing. Additionally, research on the best practices for elementary instruction …


Three-Dimensional Learning And The Phenomena Based Learning Approach With A Stem Curriculum, Shana Hoglund Apr 2020

Three-Dimensional Learning And The Phenomena Based Learning Approach With A Stem Curriculum, Shana Hoglund

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this capstone project is: How do three-dimensional learning and phenomenon-based learning approaches increase the authentic learning experience for students in elementary STEM classes? The focus of this project was to research the new learning approaches being proposed by the Next Generation Science Standards. Three-dimensional and phenomenon-based learning are utilized in the goal to better understand how these new approaches will be best used in an elementary STEM classroom. The research focuses on the importance and need of STEM education in an elementary setting. The project is a nine-lesson STEM unit on energy conservation for first …


The Role Of Environmental Education In Steam Education, Elise Malecha Apr 2020

The Role Of Environmental Education In Steam Education, Elise Malecha

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that both STEAM education and environmental education have similar goals: equipping students with 21st-century skills such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. These skills are essential for students to know in order to be successful in their future careers. However, while both STEAM education and environmental education have similar goals, they are often not taught together. This project takes time to answer the question: How can incorporating more environmental education into STEAM help create students that are equipped with skills needed for future careers? The supplemental curriculum designed for this project is intended to be woven into …


Implementing Project-Based Learning Within A Standards-Based Grading System, Hannah Yokom Apr 2020

Implementing Project-Based Learning Within A Standards-Based Grading System, Hannah Yokom

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how can teachers implement interdisciplinary, project-based learning to teach and assess multiple standards in a standards-based grading system? Teachers need to shift their role from being the keeper of information for students to being a guide that helps as they ask questions, lead their own learning, and carry the cognitive load. Standards-based grading is a research-based best practice, but it requires that each standard be taught and assessed individually. This project integrates research in the areas of developing and implementing project-based learning in the classroom, and standards-based grading. It presents a fully-developed, …