Education Commons^™

Exploring Faculty Consideration Of Instructional Resource Cost To Students, Christine N. Turner, Sarah Fitzgerald, Anne Graham

University Libraries Presentations Series

This study investigated how instructors consider resource cost and availability to students when selecting reading and viewing assignments. It employs a critical incident technique method, asking instructors to consider one course syllabus when considering their assignment practices. Findings address differences across formats including books, chapters, articles, and media. Most instructors never consulted library personnel regarding their reading and viewing assignments. Social and behavioral science instructor responses demonstrated interest in course material cost to students. Humanities and fine art instructor responses also demonstrated interest in cost and familiarity with library services. Responses from natural science, nursing, and engineering demonstrated less familiarity …

The Dean’S Racial Justice Curriculum Challenge, S Civjan, Erin Baker, Samantha Wojda, Promise Mchenga, Nick Tooker, Esha Uddin, Hannah Wharton, Sophia Chang, Lia Ciemny, Jacqueline Thornton, Wayne Burleson, Paula Rees

Publications

This Work in Progress paper will present the College of Engineering Dean’s Racial Justice Curriculum Challenge. This challenge tasks all faculty in the college to use their engineering problem-solving skills to develop creative ways to incorporate issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice in every class we teach. The challenge was inspired by our students, who requested a greater connection between the technical content of classes and real world issues, in particular the role engineers play in either fostering inclusive solutions or contributing to the propagation of inequities. The intent is to engage faculty in the development of new …

Too Taboo For You? - Questions, Lessons, And Strategies For Engaging Students With Challenging Materials, Blake Spitz

University Libraries Presentations Series

This talk will briefly present experiences of, and strategies for, teaching with challenging topics and materials in archives. In recognizing that our collections include (or have archival silences around) challenging, controversial, and even disturbing topics, when and why do we decide to share and prioritize these records, and how do we present and contextualize them for students? I will present a few case studies from my work presenting difficult records and topics to undergraduates, and some of my professional training and growth in these areas. I would love to start a dialogue, and hear from others in reaction to my, …

Combining Active Learning Exercises, Blake Spitz

University Libraries Presentations Series

This lightning talk offers an example of combining active learning exercises to achieve multiple learning outcomes (some simple, such as resource identification, and some more complex, such as understanding archival silences and power dynamics in research access). The class was in Special Collections, but the active learning exercises – one a version of “speed-dating,” and the other a version of exhibit or bibliography curation – could easily be used in a more general library information literacy class. These activities are not new, but I had never combined them in this way before, and I have found, as a result, that …

Masspirg Higher Ed Panel - Open Education At Umass Amherst April 2018, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Presentations Series

No abstract provided.

The Open Hub: Six Years Of A Collaborative Oer Initiative, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Presentations Series

Presentation at the 2017 New England Faculty Development Conference

Closing The Digital Divide: Sharing Oer With Libraries, Schools, And Public Health Facilities In Africa And The World, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Presentations Series

Nearly 5 billion people around the world lack basic internet access, putting them at a severe disadvantage in terms of economic, educational, health, and social opportunity. While a number of providers are attempting to address this global digital divide, our panel will explore a collaborative effort to bridge this divide using several low-cost technological solutions, offering enormous potential for reaching the developing world. We will discuss our experiences using Outernet, Keepod, and RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education & Learning). These technologies allow our team to distribute open content to information-poor communities in a cost-effective and efficient way. In …

Experiences Of Religious Minorities In Public High Schools In The Pioneer Valley: The Case Of Jehovah's Witnesses, Foster Kamanga

Master's Capstone Projects

This study was undertaken to explore the perceptions of adult Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) about the ways in which JWs balance the tension between their religious beliefs and public school activities in the Pioneer Valley.

The researcher collected data from seven in-depth interviews with one teacher, five witness former students and one adult, one focus group discussion with six mothers, participant observation and document reviews. Data collection (with interviews lasting from 50-70 minutes) took place during the summer of 2015 in Amherst.

Familial socialization, church-based dramas and speeches and bible studies prepare Witnesses children on how to behave or respond to …

The Open Hub: How Libraries Facilitate Oer, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Presentations Series

An examination of the role of libraries in the support of Open Educational Resources at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Mcclphei Staff Development Summer Workshop Day 2016, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Presentations Series

A summary of the Open Education Initiative at UMass Amherst. Presented to the Massachusetts Commonwealth Consortium of Libraries in Public Higher Education Institutions, Inc.during their summer workshop.

Perceptions Of Health Educators And Supervisors About Their Preparation In Alexandria, Egypt (How Well They Believe Their Training And Preparation Prepared Them To Work As Health Educators), Elshaymaa Ahmed

Master's Capstone Projects

Health educators have many responsibilities, including community education, assessment program development, evaluation, research, health policy and grant writing. Health educators in Egypt do not participate in all these activities, but they mostly do participate in essential activities such as community education. The health educators in Egypt get training and preparation on topics such as addiction, women’s health, chronic diseases, and the skills needed for teaching.

This study investigated the perceptions of health educators and their supervisors about how well they believe their training and preparation has prepared them to work with health clients in Alexandria, Egypt. The study includes interviews …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Teacher Support Approaches In Afghanistan, Noorullah Noori

Master's Capstone Projects

This research explores the effectiveness of three teacher professional development (TPD) approaches in the context of Afghanistan: 2-year in-service teacher education; short-term (ad-hoc) teacher training; and teacher learning circles (TLC). In this research, I compare these three models, their impact on improving teacher quality and subsequently student outcome. I applied the mix-methods approach by using three different research tools: classroom observations, self-administered questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. I also reviewed student performance records over four semesters; from 2010 to 2011. Despite many challenges, the results show three core strengths of each of these models: the 2-year in-service teacher …

Recognizing Culture In Experiential Education: An Analysis And Framework For Practitioners, Valerie J. Kurka

Master's Capstone Projects

Experiential education is an intentional educational process that relies on experiential learning theory. This paper categorizes common features of experiential education and analyzes them with a cultural framework. Common features of experiential education include individual development, student-centered teaching, individual challenge and learning, challenge-by-choice, “emotional safety”, and reflection/processing activities. The features of experiential education that I have analyzed have basic cultural assumptions of high individuality, low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, high achievement, emphasis on internal control, and possible interaction with ascriptive dispositions and masculine characteristics. These assumptions may have implications for practitioners practicing cross-culturally. In an increasingly global world and …

Contemplative Education: How Contemplative Practices Can Support And Improve Education, Judith Johannes

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to explore how contemplative education can have a viable role in education. In the first part of this thesis I will share my own personal experience with contemplative practices and how they led to my personal growth and transformation.

The second part will give some brief insights about the benefits the ancient wisdom traditions Hinduism and Buddhism attributed to contemplative practices. They claim that those practices help to reach a state of expanded awareness and stillness of the mind. Contemplative practices such as mindfulness, which is a Buddhist meditation technique, were used to better …

Environmental Design Research And The Design Of Urban Open Space: A Study Of Current Practice In Landscape Architecture, Jennifer Masters

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

A large and growing body of research exists on how the design of the environment can positively or negatively affect people’s health and well-being, as well as influence their behavior. Researchers in this field, known as “environmental design research,” have long acknowledged the challenge of translating their findings into formats that are accepted and used by practitioners. This study explores how environmental design research on urban open space and the practice-oriented translations of it are used by landscape architects who have been recognized in the profession for their designs of parks, plazas, and streets in urban areas. Through interviews with …

Subversive Representations Of Education In Francophone Novels Of The Colonial Maghreb, Whitney Bevill

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Much work exploring alterity and hybridity in the Maghreb ignores representations of education which confront seminal formative experiences, specifically education. French colonial education was problematic because it granted access to the colonizer’s culture, yet it also created a rupture in self-identity for Maghrebi students. In this thesis, I interrogate the literary representations of sites and sources of education by analyzing how these representations discuss the tension between formal French education and informal Maghrebi education.

My thesis begins with a historical overview of colonial education in the Maghreb. I then discuss literary methods of negotiating identity, contrasting Arab and Western autobiography …

“We Lost Our Culture With Civilization” – A Critical Analysis Of The Internalization Of The Development Discourse Vis-À-Vis Systems Of Knowledge In Senegal, Karla Giuliano Sarr

Master's Capstone Projects

Critical analysis of the complex interplay between development ideals and local conceptualizations of knowledge forms and education methods are essential if we are to promote holistic, responsive, and culturally appropriate development efforts. Since the end of World War II, and the independence movements that greatly changed geopolitics in the 1960s and 1970s, development prevails as the dominant paradigm in current relations between countries of the North and South (Escobar, 1995; Rahnema & Bawtree, 1997). Development, intrinsically linked with neo-liberal policies and globalization (Peet, 1999), defines not only how Northerners perceive the South, but also, how Southerners perceive themselves, their ways …

Students’ Perceptions Of Effectiveness Of Hospitality Curricula And Their Preparedness, Imran Rahman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Curriculum assessment has been an important tool in measuring the effectiveness of the curriculum to evaluate student learning and preparedness. This study develops a conceptual framework, based on course offerings and descriptions of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to evaluate how the curriculum contributes to students’ preparedness for their future career. Using an online field survey, this study examines the skills that contribute to students’ preparedness. Besides putting forward the strengths and weaknesses of the program, and identifying the significant skill areas that contribute significantly to students’ preparedness, findings of this study indicate …

A Unilateral Grading Contract To Improve Learning And Teaching, Peter Elbow

English Department Faculty Publication Series

Contract grading has achieved some prominence in our field as a practice associated with critical pedagogy. In this context, we describe a hybrid grading contract where students earn a course grade of B based not on our evaluation of their writing quality but solely on their completion of the specified activities. The contract lists activities we’ve found most reliable in producing B-quality writing over fourteen weeks. Higher grades are awarded to students who produce exemplary portfolios. Thus we freely give students lots of evaluative feedback on their writing, but students can count on a course grade of B if they …

Final Report, Center For International Education

Learning Initiatives for Rural Education

Since August 2007, the Learning Initiatives for Rural Education (LIRE) project in Senegal and The Gambia has strengthened educators' capacity to deliver and support quality multi-grade (MG) education in rural areas with low population densities. In a truly collaborative approach, the LIRE project worked with 20 demonstration schools (13 in Senegal and 7 in The Gambia) to develop a teacher training manual and teachers' guide that was locally appropriate and in keeping with the curricula of each country. The LIRE team was truly international, with team members in Senegal, The Gambia and in the United States. The team met regularly …

Civics And Citizenship Education In Schools In Afghanistan, Mohammad Tariq Habibyar

Master's Capstone Projects

This thesis focuses on the status of civics and citizenship education in schools in Afghanistan. My purpose for this study was (a) to understand what is taught about civics education in classrooms, (b) what concepts of civics education are addressed in the national curriculum and the text books, and (c) what role civics education plays in Afghan schools to produce productive citizens. My assumption is that schools have direct impact on civics understanding of the students and how they use their civics knowledge in everyday life. Civics education raises students’ political, governance, and social awareness and informs them about their …

Research On Undergraduate Mathematics Education In Afghanistan: How Students Understand And Learn The Concept Of “Function”, Ahmad Khalid Mowahed

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate students’ conception of the concept of function in the education faculty of Balkh University, Afghanistan. In particular, the focus was to see what difficulties they had in learning the concept and to determine those factors that impeded/facilitated the learning of the concept in the curriculum. The research methodology was an exploratory approach where both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. The theoretical basis for the study was David Tall’s theory which focuses on understanding one’s knowledge and learning. David Tall’s theory was used to analyze qualitative data …

The Effects Of English Teaching Methods Course Of The English Department Of Kabul Education University On Secondary School English Teachers, Ali Hikmat

Master's Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Bridging: Overview Of The Curriculum, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

Learning for Life Bridging Program is a health-based literacy program designed for rural women to strengthen their literacy skills and improve their chances for entering community midwife training. The curriculum of the Bridging program provides instructional materials for classes in the four subject areas of Health, Language, Math and Communications and Analytical Skills.

Bridging: Facilitator Guide, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

Learning for Life is a health-focused accelerated adult literacy and learning initiative to prepare women and older girls in rural areas of 12 provinces1 for Community Health Worker and Community Midwifery training. Learning for Life (LfL) was established in December 2004 in Kabul and Herat provinces. LfL will expand to over 7800 women in 12 provinces by summer 2005. Two tiers of classes are available to women: 1) the Foundations Program, multi-grade classes covering reading, writing and numeracy skills at the 1st through 6th grade levels to prepare women for CHW training or train current CHWs and 2) a Bridging …

Bridging: Mathematics Learner Book Milestones 1-8, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

No abstract provided.

Bridging: Mathematics Faciliator Book Milestones 1-12, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

This document is for use by the Facilitators, those who will be guiding learners. It contains Milestones and Activities for one subject area.

- Curriculum Chart

- Milestones (MS)

- Instructional Activities

- Evaluation Activities

- Learner Books

Bridging: Language Learner Book Milestones 1-7, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

No abstract provided.

Bridging: Language Facilitator Book Milestones 1-10, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

This document is for use by the Facilitators, those who will be guiding learners. It contains Milestones and Activities for one subject area.

Bridging: Communication Facilitator Book Milestones 1-10, Center For International Education School Of Education University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Learning for Life

No abstract provided.