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Full-Text Articles in Education

Informal Education Builds Deeper Knowledge And Connections With Elasmobranchs To Develop An Understanding For Environmental Conservation, Lacie Ownbey Jul 2023

Informal Education Builds Deeper Knowledge And Connections With Elasmobranchs To Develop An Understanding For Environmental Conservation, Lacie Ownbey

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Zoos and aquariums provide essential tools and opportunities to help get school aged children out of the classroom for informal education and learning. Using facilities that offer programs where the focus is on both entertainment and education, learning can be maximized to obtain literacy of a subject. That level of understanding can be then used to promote conservation and pro-environmental thinking for animals that could most benefit from a more focused setting, such as a non-charismatic megafauna: elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). Using Backward Design, where the goals of the program were determined first, a two-day Shark Researcher Camp was created …


Lgbtqia+ Inclusivity In The Outdoors, Allison Brown Jul 2023

Lgbtqia+ Inclusivity In The Outdoors, Allison Brown

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

LGBTQIA+ individuals face barriers, inequities, and discrimination while accessing outdoor spaces and participating in outdoor education and recreation. This project focused on creating an online, asynchronous toolkit with learning activities designed for individuals and organizations within the fields of outdoor education and outdoor recreation to become aware of barriers the LGTBQIA+ community faces to accessing the outdoors and begin implementing LGBTQIA+ inclusion initiatives. The activities are intended to be completed in order, but can be adapted to best meet individual and organizational needs. Each learning activity was influenced by the research conducted for the capstone project and by examining inclusivity …


Supporting English Language Learners In A Co-Taught Classroom Through The Curriculum, Emilia Witthuhn Jul 2023

Supporting English Language Learners In A Co-Taught Classroom Through The Curriculum, Emilia Witthuhn

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Co-teaching is a common strategy used to support English Language Learners in the content classroom. However, English Language Learners can still struggle in these classrooms. Research has shown that co-teaching can be a benefit for students, but this takes collaboration between the content teacher and the English Language teacher to make the class accessible. This project was designed to take an existing English Language Arts curriculum and modify and adapt the curriculum to better meet the needs of English Language Learners. The WIDA 2020 standards and Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s Understanding by Design were used as resources in developing …


Key Components And Best Practices Of Early Decoding Instruction, Erika Fruetel Jul 2023

Key Components And Best Practices Of Early Decoding Instruction, Erika Fruetel

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The question that guided the research and project development was: What are key components and best practices in early decoding instruction? Throughout recent history, students in the United States have been taught to read based on two main theories: one that approaches literacy learning as natural development that should be supported by surrounding the child with rich and engaging literature, and the other that focuses more intently on teaching the student the patterns of spelling in order to decode words. Although educators have debated which is the most effective approach for decades, research consistently points to the importance of instructing …


Incorporating Opportunities For Diverse Literature Into The Early Elementary Classroom, Mary Cline Jul 2023

Incorporating Opportunities For Diverse Literature Into The Early Elementary Classroom, Mary Cline

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research shows that student engagement is positively impacted by literature that contains mirrors to their own lives and experiences. This is a set of lessons that are created to be incorporated into the school’s literacy curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade. Through reading and discussing various books, these lessons strive to add places for multicultural students to see their lives mirrored back to them as well as to give all students a chance to see another way of life by looking through a window into someone else’s world. The lesson plans focus on creating space for students to engage …


How Can Educators Implement Nature-Based Learning To Increase The Well-Being Of The Whole Child?, Jennifer Hubert Jul 2023

How Can Educators Implement Nature-Based Learning To Increase The Well-Being Of The Whole Child?, Jennifer Hubert

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project is a collection of materials presented in a website format that dives deep into the benefits of nature-based learning, specifically answering the question: How can educators implement nature-based learning to increase the well-being of the whole child? This website is intended to be used as a resource for teachers, caregivers, and anyone seeking nature-based content for kids. High quality materials have been curated in a central repository for easy access. The sections on Nature-based Social Justice Resources, Art-based Environmental Education and Environmental Justice Resources can influence policy change by bringing awareness to social justice issues and providing concrete …


Implementation Of Co-Teaching To Benefit Students With Unique Needs, Zoe Weiler Jul 2023

Implementation Of Co-Teaching To Benefit Students With Unique Needs, Zoe Weiler

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Throughout this project, the research question analyzed is: How can educators learn to implement co-teaching to benefit students with unique needs in the general education classroom? The review of literature contains various co-teaching matters including the history and rationale for co-teaching, the effects of co-teaching on both students and educators, and various implementation strategies. Co-teaching is very powerful and can increase proficiency levels in a variety of subjects for students with unique learning needs. Research shows that co-teaching encourages a sense of belonging and community in the general education classroom. This teaching strategy is unlike any other because it allows …


Critical Literacy And Independent Learning Routines With Opportunity Youth, Natalie Seger Jul 2023

Critical Literacy And Independent Learning Routines With Opportunity Youth, Natalie Seger

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The nation’s population of opportunity youth, those aged 16–24 and disconnected from school and work, has increased since the pandemic. Many of these young people lack a high school diploma or GED. Due to past school experiences, many opportunity youth have not had the same instruction and time necessary to develop their literacy skills when compared to peers with uninterrupted education. This project addresses the research question: How can a high school equivalency curriculum based in critical literacy and independent learning strategies engage opportunity youth and empower them as self-directed learners? Building a classroom curriculum utilizing critical literacy and developing …


Creating A Generation Of Critical Information Consumers: Critical Literacy Strategies In An Upper Elementary Classroom, Maiah Cameron Jul 2023

Creating A Generation Of Critical Information Consumers: Critical Literacy Strategies In An Upper Elementary Classroom, Maiah Cameron

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Due to technology and social media, students now have access to an overwhelming amount of information at the tip of their fingers. It can be difficult for both children and adults to filter through this information and decipher facts from opinions. Elementary teachers should be working to teach their students how to view all media — books, articles, videos, photos, podcasts etc. — through a critical lens. This capstone delves into the research question: How can critical literacy strategies be implemented in an upper elementary classroom to create a generation of more informed citizens? The final website helps to define …


“Using Culturally Responsive Educational Practices To Help Campus Communities Reach Their Zero-Waste Goals”, Ellen Gurrola Jul 2023

“Using Culturally Responsive Educational Practices To Help Campus Communities Reach Their Zero-Waste Goals”, Ellen Gurrola

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Culturally responsive teaching is a term that has increased in popularity amongst educators over the past decade. However, it is not always addressed within zero-waste education on college campuses across the United States. This paper uses a critical lens to connect research from the book Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain with zero-waste practices and education on college campuses. The presentation created for this project is targeted towards college students to educate them about zero-waste and culturally responsive teaching. The content in the presentation challenges students to create a path towards zero-waste by: building collectivism across the campus community, addressing …


A Web-Based Collaborative Ngss-Centered Chemistry Unit On The Topic Of Atomic Structure, Paige Condie Jul 2023

A Web-Based Collaborative Ngss-Centered Chemistry Unit On The Topic Of Atomic Structure, Paige Condie

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project focuses on a high school chemistry classroom with a focus on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). NGSS provides students with a more investigative approach to learning science. These new standards that are being set can lead to improvement in learning, engagement and application of scientific concepts to the real world in high school science classrooms. This changes the way science is being taught at the highschool level. Generally, in the past I have seen a focus on learning from the textbook, memorizing definitions and not really learning how to do science. The NGSS provides a new …


Tying Community Science And Social Justice Together In An Urban Biology Class To Foster Environmental Responsibility, Sarah Graham Jul 2023

Tying Community Science And Social Justice Together In An Urban Biology Class To Foster Environmental Responsibility, Sarah Graham

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research shows that students who are involved in projects within their communities feel more sense of belonging and connection to their space. This is also true when discussing environmental justice. Students who have been historically marginalized can feel more comfort within navigating science. The unit plan designed for this project addressed the research question: How can community science and social justice be tied together in an urban biology classroom to foster environmental responsibility? The unit plan combined the knowledge of community science which focuses on sense of place with social justice within science or critical pedagogy in order to support …


How Can Guest English-Speaking Teachers Best Promote Students’ Identity And Culture In South Korean Schools, Tracy Olsen Jul 2023

How Can Guest English-Speaking Teachers Best Promote Students’ Identity And Culture In South Korean Schools, Tracy Olsen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

English language education in South Korea has complex layers. Ideas of Westernization, globalization, neoliberalism, native-speakerism, language ownership, culture, and identity all play a role in how Koreans view themselves as English language learners. Guest English-speaking Teachers (GETs) should promote student culture and identity to empower students as English speakers in a globalized world and work against ideas of native-speakerism and Westernization. The project created is a website for new and current GETs teaching English in South Korea. Based on research on culture and identity in English language learning in Korea and critically and culturally sustaining pedagogy, this website is meant …


My Work Is Wild — Promoting Career Literacy Of Conservation And Stem Vocations In Secondary School Students, Lauren Salick Jul 2023

My Work Is Wild — Promoting Career Literacy Of Conservation And Stem Vocations In Secondary School Students, Lauren Salick

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

As the climate crisis heightens and we tread ever further into the Anthropocene epoch, it becomes imperative environmental educators help recruit young adults to the conservation career force. However, studies show that career literacy education is a complex subject that is often misrepresented in traditional K-12 education. The goal of this project was to create an inclusive and influential curriculum for informal after-school programming for secondary students to supplement the career literacy of conservation professions garnered in the traditional school day. The lesson plans focus on relating conservation professions to our communities and students’ daily lives, as well as the …


Creating Inclusive Spaces: Using Book Clubs To Increase Diverse Literature In Schools, Clare Ng Jul 2023

Creating Inclusive Spaces: Using Book Clubs To Increase Diverse Literature In Schools, Clare Ng

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Multiple studies have identified that many groups of underrepresented students, including non-Christians, LGBTQ+, Native-Americans, children of immigrant families, and youth of color, feel invisible or not included in school settings because there is a lack of visibility of non-dominant groups in school, or a lack of policies and practices that support the needs and experiences of non-dominant groups. This may include a lack of representation in recognized celebrated holidays, curriculum topics, or literature discussed in school. This capstone project will focus on how we can create inclusive spaces for students to promote positive school culture by obtaining diverse literature for …


Using Cooperative Groups To Enhance Student Learning In A High School Math Class, Caitlin Mccain Jul 2023

Using Cooperative Groups To Enhance Student Learning In A High School Math Class, Caitlin Mccain

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

There are many ways that teachers can use cooperative learning in their classroom. The literature review found in this capstone dives into the research surrounding cooperative learning, starting with the four theoretical perspectives on cooperative learning identified by Slavin (1995, as cited by Slavin, 2011) and how they work together to enhance learning. Also discussed is a 2003 study by Kramarski and Mevarech which demonstrates the need to expose students to metacognitive training. Liljedahl et al.’s (2021) research on how to group students can also be found in this capstone. The research from this literature review, along with the author’s …


Supporting Multicultural Mental Health With Culturally And Linguistically Relevant Practices, Codi Shogren Jul 2023

Supporting Multicultural Mental Health With Culturally And Linguistically Relevant Practices, Codi Shogren

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic as an English teacher to elementary school learners highlighted many mental health needs for learners that were amplified even more once everyone was back in school full time. My fellow educators and I have been surviving and reacting to mental health needs and behaviors as they pop up during the school year but that is neither a long term solution nor does it provide the needed support to learners. These experiences in the classroom led to the question: How can elementary educators support multicultural learners with their mental health? After researching culturally and linguistically responsive …


Effects Of Teaching Collaborative Learning Strategies To Teachers On Student Transferable Skills And Adaptability Development In The High School Stem Classroom, Isaiah Ripley Jul 2023

Effects Of Teaching Collaborative Learning Strategies To Teachers On Student Transferable Skills And Adaptability Development In The High School Stem Classroom, Isaiah Ripley

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Every student’s understanding of the world is formed from the interactions they experience and observe of which the relationships they build with their peers affect both. The guide created in this project serves as an answer to the question: What are the effects of teaching collaborative learning strategies to teachers in the high school STEM classroom on student adaptability and transferable skills development? The guide itself is oriented towards STEM teachers but includes activities and advice that can be transferred across disciplines. Furthermore, the guide is written informally which allows for the information and activities presented to feel more relatable …


Templates For Planning Engaging Secondary Science Class Periods Within A Seven Period Daily Schedule, Christopher Cudnowski Jul 2023

Templates For Planning Engaging Secondary Science Class Periods Within A Seven Period Daily Schedule, Christopher Cudnowski

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Secondary teachers in Minnesota are expected to plan for one hundred and sixty five days of school. With many secondary teachers responsible for teaching more than one unique course each day as part of a seven period class schedule, that is over three hundred individual class periods that need to be prepared. Additionally, student attention span is decreasing, and it is harder to keep students engaged in the material than it has been in the past. In order to combat these challenges, I have identified the different categories of science class periods and developed research based planning templates for each …


Supporting Dual-Identified Learners’ English Expressive Language Development, Sara Hommes Jul 2023

Supporting Dual-Identified Learners’ English Expressive Language Development, Sara Hommes

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project seeks to answer the questions: How can educators support ELL and dual-identified learners’ English language development in the modalities of writing and speaking? What is the intersectionality between language acquisition and SLD issues? This project was born out of the author’s own experience in supporting dual-identified learners as well as from a desire to better support expressive language production in her class, with the goal of helping students exit the EL program. The author consulted research that offered information on the diverse identities and various labels of ELL learners, the issues in identifying SLD in ELLs, various perspectives …


Social And Emotional Learning Resource To Reinforce Skills For 1st Grade Families And Caregivers, Jemmy Vasquez Sermeno Jul 2023

Social And Emotional Learning Resource To Reinforce Skills For 1st Grade Families And Caregivers, Jemmy Vasquez Sermeno

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Social and Emotional Learning continues to grow and take part at all times in schools. This capstone project extends social and emotional learning (SEL) to time outside of school. The project discusses the relationship between schools and families/caregivers with the common goal of extending learning outside of school. This project creates a website as a resource to aid families/caregivers in reinforcing social and emotional skills outside of school. The following question is proposed: How can we make Social and Emotional Learning more accessible for 1st grade families and caregivers in order to reinforce social and emotional skills outside of school? …


Curriculum Design That Supports Multilingual Learners' Literacy Development: Pairing The Science Of Reading And Oral Language Development Utilizing Read-Alouds, Eleanor Christman Jul 2023

Curriculum Design That Supports Multilingual Learners' Literacy Development: Pairing The Science Of Reading And Oral Language Development Utilizing Read-Alouds, Eleanor Christman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The curriculum designed for this project focuses on combining the science of reading with oral language development through read-alouds, with a focus on understanding text structure. The purpose of this study is to determine best practices for teaching multilingual learners how to read and to give teachers concrete materials to use in the classroom. Research suggests that phonics-based instruction supports the reading development of multilingual learners more than whole language instruction. Researchers also recommend teachers focus on more than just decoding, especially for multilingual learners as it connects to comprehension. Additionally, research emphasizes the importance of developing oral language in …


Best Practices: To Supporting And Including Slife, Preliterate, Pashtu Students In Secondary, Western, Schools, Claire Madden Jul 2023

Best Practices: To Supporting And Including Slife, Preliterate, Pashtu Students In Secondary, Western, Schools, Claire Madden

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this capstone project was: what are the best practices for supporting and including SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education), preliterate, Pashtun students in secondary, Western, schools? Topics explored in this literacy review were the challenges of SLIFE students, literacy development, multiculturalism and Pashtu culture. This paper and three part professional development series discusses methods for all secondary teachers to include and support SLIFE, preliterate, Pashtu students in Western schools. This professional development utilizes the research of Aguilar (2013). Aguilar’s (2013) work in adult education assisted in the creation of this professional development series. …


Metaphor Matters: Teaching Metaphoric Competence, Linda Pope Jul 2023

Metaphor Matters: Teaching Metaphoric Competence, Linda Pope

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research shows that metaphoric competence is necessary for communicative competence and this paper suggests Cognitive Metaphor Theory (CMT) may be useful in teaching metaphoric competence at all levels of English. Even though causality is difficult to establish, research underscores the link between metaphoric competence and overall language proficiency. This, and the pervasiveness of metaphor in everyday and specialized English, strongly suggests a pedagogical shift towards recognizing and engaging deeply with metaphoric language. This means making room for metaphoric competence training in the ESL and legal English classroom. The project models the analyses of two diverse texts: an intermediate-level newspaper article …


Utilizing Classical Literature In Kindergarten Classrooms: A Tool For Developing Social Emotional Skills And Reading Comprehension, Madeline Steinhoff Jul 2023

Utilizing Classical Literature In Kindergarten Classrooms: A Tool For Developing Social Emotional Skills And Reading Comprehension, Madeline Steinhoff

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project seeks to answer the question, How can educators use pedagogical storytelling with classical literature to address the social-emotional needs of their students while also increasing reading comprehension in early years? For the purposes of this research, classical literature is defined mainly as fables, folk stories and fairy tales. In answering my research question, I explore the research that underpins the history of pedagogical storytelling, classical literature, best practices in reading comprehension and academic language instruction, and the foundations of social emotional learning. This Capstone Project includes a two week, ten lesson literature unit that weaves together these …


Outdoor Education And The Effects On Social-Emotional Outcomes In Elementary-Aged Students: A Pd Series, Christopher Windman Jul 2023

Outdoor Education And The Effects On Social-Emotional Outcomes In Elementary-Aged Students: A Pd Series, Christopher Windman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has sought to find ways that educators can increase student engagement, social attitudes, cooperation, and other domains of social-emotional learning in the classroom. Outdoor education researchers have long hypothesized that outdoor education can help increase student social, emotional, and academic outcomes. There are many different definitions of outdoor education and several frameworks for social-emotional learning. This project uses a definition of outdoor education derived from a combination of historical research from Lloyd B. Sharp and Phyllis Ford, international research and curriculum analyses, and several environmental, place-based, and nature-based education research studies. This project utilizes the CASEL framework and EDTRUST’s …


The Ethnic Studies Curriculum: A Student-Centered Approach At The High School Level, Erin Wentzel Jul 2023

The Ethnic Studies Curriculum: A Student-Centered Approach At The High School Level, Erin Wentzel

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Public schools in the United States maintain a position in the spotlight as the debate over what should or should not be taught in public schools swirls amongst headlines and soundbites throughout the media. While some states seek to limit and contain what can be taught, other states and cities seek to expand social studies content in order to incorporate the diverse histories and stories not traditionally taught in the eurocentric, heteronormative system of United States public education. One way such expansion takes place is through the implementation of Ethnic Studies courses. As teachers take on Ethnic Studies for the …


Increasing Student And Educator Participation In Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education And Community Connection, Cora Greenawald Jul 2023

Increasing Student And Educator Participation In Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education And Community Connection, Cora Greenawald

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Place based outdoor integrated education in the general elementary setting aims to connect student learning in subjects such as reading and math to first hand schoolyard experiences. This educational practice is anchored in a wealth of research which enumerates the benefits. Yet implementation is not commonly supported within general education teacher professional development. This capstone aims to answer the question How can urban elementary educators take advantage of schoolyard resources for integrated place based learning experiences? The final product is a professional development sequence that introduces general education classroom teachers to the joys and benefits of outdoor integration through circle …


Implementing Inquiry In A High School Economics Course, Nathan Prince Jul 2023

Implementing Inquiry In A High School Economics Course, Nathan Prince

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) allows students a more authentic learning experience by providing them the opportunity to question, explore, investigate, analyze, draw conclusions and create. In contrast, traditional didactic teaching methods often hinder students' deeper comprehension and disenfranchise students from institutional education as a whole. This paper advocates for the integration of IBL methodologies within high school economics education by exploring the question, how can high school seniors use inquiry-based learning in economics? IBL's cognitive advantages, including heightened student involvement, critical thinking enhancement, and improved problem-solving skills, are explored in this paper. By encouraging active questioning, collaborative investigations, and exploration, IBL …


Effectiveness Of Integrating Technology For Improving The Post-Secondary Skills Of Students With A Graphic Novel Based Curriculum, Dana Rosbacka Jul 2023

Effectiveness Of Integrating Technology For Improving The Post-Secondary Skills Of Students With A Graphic Novel Based Curriculum, Dana Rosbacka

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this study was: how can high school teachers design a unit plan, centered around a graphic novel that effectively integrates the teaching of technology skills which students can apply in their post-secondary experiences? Topics explored in the literature review include what student burnout is, in addition to student attention spans. Alongside those, it looks into the best practices of utilizing technology, teaching technology as a skill, and teaching graphic novels. The curriculum designed for this project focuses on the Understanding by Design (Ubd) framework from Wiggins and McTighe (2011) and uses backward design to craft …