Education Commons^™

Empowering Refugees Through Self-Education, Ayanna Osborne

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project focuses on how to create easier access to education in refugee camps. This is discussed through the ideas of self-directed learning and cooperative learning. As well, the current need for education is explored. Several case studies are provided demonstrating that people without a formal education have successfully been able to seek information and teach themselves. As well, studies are discussed in which individuals have been shown to efficiently seek information and teach one another.

My website provided is still under construction as of 01/2018. It will be completed by the end of the year. Anyone is welcome to …

Teaching Reduced Forms: A Curriculum Guide For Junior High English Language Teachers Using Digital Technology Based Activities And Classroom Games, Dion Sanchez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Japanese English language students often struggle with listening comprehension when communicating with native English speakers due to the use of reduced forms. Native speakers use contractions, reductions, elisions, and linking in casual speech which sounds unfamiliar to students who have not been exposed to reduced forms in their classrooms. In order to facilitate improved listening skills and help students with speaking fluency, reduced forms ought to be taught in English classrooms.

While the use of reduced forms by native English speakers has been recognized as a problem for English students, incorporating reduced forms instruction into an English curriculum involves overcoming …

Teaching Efl/Esl College-Level Learners Through Current Global Topics: Integrated Lessons For Efl/Esl Teachers, Chaiyeon Sylvia Lee

Master's Projects and Capstones

The importance of educating effective English users competent in communicating and interacting in a variety of social settings is highlighted in today’s highly globalized world. Being able to understand and discuss complex global topics related to current cultural, social, and business issues and events has become an integral skill of English learners to achieve greater international connectivity. Unfortunately, many EFL/ESL college-level students, specifically Korean EFL students, do not seem to have sufficient preparation to build English communicative competence and cultural awareness necessary to cope with various situations in which they need to communicate meaningfully and purposefully as effective English users. …

Recreating Resistance: Rape Culture Resistance Through Human Rights Education, Hailey D. Vincent

Master's Projects and Capstones

Sexual violence and rape culture are substantial issues in our society and on our college campuses. The goal of this project is to provide research that investigates rape culture on college campuses as a human rights violation and ways to address it in an intersectional manner through human rights education. The research for this project, conducted through a literature review, provides the ability to look at rape culture through a human rights education lens. In response to the research conducted, Recreate Resistance was created as a pedagogical tool for educators in First Year Experience (FYE) programs on college campuses. Recreate …

Can Addressing Language Skills For Fifth Grade Ells In A Multiplication Curriculum Help Address The Achievement Gap In Math? A Multiplication Workbook For Big Kids, Michelle Douglas

Master's Projects and Capstones

Currently, the state of California has 1,332,405 students from grades k-12 who speak a language other than English at home (Caledfacts, 2016). When I started my first year teaching fifth grade with 95% of my students being English language learners (ELLs), I was surprised to see an achievement gap of two to three years in my student’s reading and math skills. I found that my student’s developmental language and math skills contributed to a lack of engagement during math time. Upon further research, I found that these three factors play a role in the wide achievement gaps between ELLs and …

Mindful Classroom: Developing And Testing Strategies For Resilience Among Urban 7th Grade Students, Alyssa Santos

Master's Projects and Capstones

Introduction: A growing body of research suggests mindfulness-based classroom interventions are an effective, low cost approach to reducing the effects of toxic stress among youth. The purpose of this project was to identify key sources of stress among urban 7th grade students at De Marillac Academy and develop and test mindfulness techniques to actively engage and potentially improve stress management skills among students.

Methods: Five focus groups with students were conducted to assess the most prominent sources of stress inside and outside of school as well as current self-management strategies. Additionally, anonymous online surveys were distributed to 7th grade parents, …

Global Voices: A Student-Centered Guide To Teaching English As An International Language, Megan M. Mcara

Master's Projects and Capstones

It is time for change in the world of English language teaching. The dominant view and practice of teaching English as a neutral, straight-forward act of imparting “objective” grammatical, phonological and semantic knowledge to passive students does not serve the interest or needs of the estimated 1.5 billion students learning English in today’s interconnected, dynamic world. Critical theories and approaches such as critical pedagogy, critical literacy, and the participatory approach can help identify this problem and offer solutions, yet little has been done to apply and translate these theories into practical, useable materials for teachers in the classroom. This project …

Cultivating Student Voice: Writing As A Tool For Multilingual And Multicultural Students To Develop Language, Identity, And Cultural Competence, Gaeun Lee

Master's Projects and Capstones

The importance of using writing as an educational tool to English learners cannot be understated. It is critical for youth learning English as their second language to be encouraged to value their first language, culture, and identity by writing. Unfortunately, many teachers overlook the significance of the writing activity, which can be greatly helpful to develop the English learners’ language and cultural competence and their identity, specifically for multilingual and multicultural youth.

This project is developed with the purpose of cultivating student voice by using writing as a tool. The project is based on the two theories: the affective filter …

Music Speaks, We Listen: A Teacher's Guide For Using Music In The Adult Ell Classroom, Honora Mitchell

Master's Projects and Capstones

Too often adult ESL students are stymied by high levels of perfectionism, self-consciousness and anxiety when trying to learn English. They are further challenged because they may have come from a country where language teaching methods have not kept up with the times, so have an imbalance of skills—lacking speaking and listening skills. When students’ affective filters are high and their motivation is low they are less open to learning. Students need authentic, culturally-relevant material to stimulate learning and activate their multiple intelligences. The purpose of this project is to introduce adult ESL teachers to using popular songs to teach …