Education Commons^™

A Scientific Approach To Sight Word Acquisition In Early Childhood, Emma J. Powers

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Teachers have commonly taught sight words through viewing the word as a whole unit and committing it to memory through repetition, but this practice bears little connection to phonics. While this method may work for some, for many students, especially those with specific learning disabilities (SLDs), it is not enough. Through this honors project, the teacher candidate will research new instructional methods based in the Science of Reading, which utilize orthographic mapping, or letter-sound connections, to chunk sight words into recognizable and phonetically regular spelling patterns (Ehri, 2014). To do so, she will investigate a body of evidence from relevant …

Measuring Students' Pro-Environmental Attitudes And Behaviors Before And After Demonstration-Based Instruction, Collin Ryan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A growing amount of research exists on environmental education programs which incorporates the viewpoints of students into its assessment of the program’s efficacy. This research seeks to add to that body and evaluate an environmental education program about the sustainability of plastics, using both quantitative and qualitative data collected from participating students. The data was collected after a 90-minute instructional block of demonstration-based environmental education meant to inform students on the variability of plastics’ properties and the sorting and remolding processes of recycling. It also aimed to help build pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors in the students, and a sense of …

Differences In Education In Urban And Rural Areas, Jacob Shreve

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project examines the educational differences and disparities of urban and rural schools in Ohio. The focus school districts are Switzerland of Ohio Local and Akron Public Schools. Demographic information from each of the focus school districts is examined and compared to the outcomes of the schools to determine if factors such as poverty inhibit student learning. Data and statistics, published research, and personal experience will be used to make connections between the school districts, their students, their environment, and their learning. Differences in educational quality, opportunities, and funding will also be discussed.

Global Education: The Caribbean Realm, Carson Moore

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper will explore the educational systems of four countries in the Caribbean region, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica, referenced as the focus countries. This will also compare these educational systems to the education system of the United States. In addition, this paper will also show a pilot research study conducted to evaluate how Americans view these four countries in the Caribbean realm and what they know about education in other countries as a whole, showing that Americans know very little about education in other parts of the world, and no even less about countries in the Caribbean …

Growth Vs. Fixed Mindsets In College Mathematics Education, Bryan Yaeger, Lynne Pachnowski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between college mathematics professors and whether they have a growth or fixed mindset towards the students in their classrooms. This paper will share the results from a survey that was constructed with 38 participants - all of which are college mathematics professors in the state of Ohio. This survey focused on asking questions that would relate the professors to either having growth or fixed mindset traits. The survey also asked for the demographics of the participants, which helped classify similarities between those with growth or fixed mindset ideals. After analyzing …

Why We Teach Mathematics To Every Student: Determining Impact Of Mathematics On Problem Solving And Logical Reasoning Skills, Megan Marie Harris

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this paper is to dissect why it is important to teach mathematics to every student, even if the student does not plan on pursuing mathematics in his or her career. This paper will describe and test various reasons why mathematics is taught to every student but it will focus on math as a way to help develop and improve problem-solving and logical reasoning skills. An experiment was conducted on a random sample of fourteen University of Akron students who were measured on their problem-solving abilities and critical thinking through playing two games. These students were then compared …

Behavior Incentives In Public Schools, Paige Miller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project is to see if behavior incentives will work to increase student attention and productivity in the classroom. By improving these two skills, teachers should also see an improvement in the academic performance of their students. In this project, an honors class of 20 students and a general education class of 24 students was compared. Many of these students would show up late to class, spend large periods of time on their cell phones, constantly get out of their seats, and mess around rather than taking advantage of class time to complete assignments. Student grades, and …

Girls Only Science: Motivating Adolescent Females To Pursue Stem Careers, Madeline Cuckow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the last five years, much attention has been drawn to the large deficit of females in STEM careers and fields. Most attribute this failure to colleges not turning out enough female STEM majors. Contrary to this belief, research suggests a young woman's aptitude for STEM related fields begins much earlier, and declines without intervention.

This project details the research of why there is a gender gap in STEM, what is being done educationally, my unique case study to test the research conducted, and the implications of that research.

Reaching Food Insecure College Students Through An On-Campus Interactive Education Program, Danielle Buchbinder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Need/Purpose: Emerging research suggests food insecurity is a problem for college students. Unpublished data from our campus (a large, Midwestern public institution) suggests 36% of students struggle with food insecurity, yet the campus has no pantry or meals/swipe donation program. While little research has been conducted examining food insecurity’s impact on academic success in college, it is well established that food insecurity negatively impacts academic performance in adolescents, mental and social health, dietary choices, and overall health. Program/Participants: In order to learn more and begin to mediate this problem on our campus, a series of nutrition education classes was created …

Traditional Grammar For A Modern Classroom, Madison Jones

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores the different methods currently being used to teach grammar in a secondary Language Arts classroom. Additionally, the research identifies the relevance of sentence parsing, a traditional grammar method. Finally, the project offers a set of materials that would tangibly allow readers to take the results of the research and apply traditional grammar practices into a modern-day classroom. While there are many different current methods being used to teach grammar, this paper ultimately makes an argument that traditional grammar still can play a powerful role in the classrooms of tomorrow.

Experiential Learning And Its Place In A Quality Business Education, Zach Gollwitzer, Callie Mack, Brenna Mack

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this paper, the authors explore experiential learning pedagogy in the context of a business education based on the research of John Dewey (1897), David Kolb (2005), and Scott Wurdinger (2009). In addition to examining the definition of experiential learning and the various implementations of it, this research includes an examination of the business school standards body (AASCB) and of the components in a quality business education. The authors then delve into a literature review of experiential learning, which explores the social structure of education (Dewey, 1897), the process of experiential learning (Kolb, 2005), and specific experiential learning methods (Wurdinger, …

Creating Confident Writers: Implementing Writing Portfolios In A Secondary-Level Language Arts Classroom, Julia Smagacz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the implementation of a writing portfolio project in secondary-level English Language Arts classrooms. In addition to defining the project and describing its potential parameters, this paper describes goals and strategies that educators may use to implement this project, using research from multiple school district curricula and reputable state education resources. The paper includes testimonies from four current high school English teachers, in which each teacher details his or her experience with the writing portfolio. The teachers also provided feedback on the importance of writing and the writing process in general. Also included in this paper is a …

The Relationship Between Nursing Students' Perceptions Of Staff Nurses' Attitudes Towards Them And Self-Efficacy In Sophomore- And Senior- Level Nursing Students, Sarah A. Mueller, Raechel M. Naragon, Rachael R. Smith

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Clinical teaching gives nursing students practical experience, allowing them to practice skills and to apply theories of nursing alongside a staff nurse. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between nursing students’ perceptions of staff nurses’ attitudes towards them and self-efficacy in sophomore- and senior-level nursing students. According to scientist Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, self-efficacy is defined as a person’s belief in his or her own abilities. Using non-experimental comparative design, convenience sampling, and Likert scale questionnaires, sophomore- and senior- level baccalaureate nursing students were asked to complete the survey using the Nursing Clinical Self-Efficacy …

The Takeover Of Standardized Tests, Karlie M. Lieberth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Diane Ravitch once said, “Sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent students do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds”. Standardized testing is a very controversial issue occurring in our school systems today. Standards hold schools and teachers accountable for properly progressing our youth through school. However, is administering the same exact test to every child in every school district the best way to measure growth? There are many factors that makes up a school and student body such as poverty, cultural beliefs etc. These factors are not addressed in the standardized tests that our students …

Effectively Preparing Special Education Teachers: Success In Urban Environments, Gabrielle Siegenthaler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This literature review examines the level of preparedness of pre-service and novice special education teachers, specifically teachers pursuing education careers within urban school districts. Research studies were reviewed to indicate what teaching methods are regarded as effective in relation to behavior management. It was found that using culturally responsive teaching has been proven to be effective within urban settings. Studies were also examined to determine if first-year teachers were well prepared and what teacher preparation programs could possibly implement to ensure that future educators are well equipped to effectively teach and manage the growing special education population of students in …

Exploring The Benefits Of Embedded And Sustained Field Placements For Pre-Service Teachers And Students Through Research Of The F.A.C.E Collaboration, Marie Corrigan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

The University Of Akron Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy: Past, Present, Future, Jonathan E. Vichosky

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to increase Akron’s knowledge on opinions of the effectiveness of the current Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy Program among its alumni. A cross-sectional retrospective study was done to gain a better understanding of The University of Akron’s opinion of its students on the effectiveness of the current Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy Program. METHODS: A single contact survey was sent via email through Qualtrics to the University of Akron Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy students from this current graduating year (2014-2015) as well as graduates from the past four years. This survey included questions on the …