Education Commons^™

Social Media As A Personal Learning Network For Professional Development: Teachers In International Schools Use And Perspectives, Shannon H. Doak

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Traditional professional development methods are not optimal for international school educators because of isolation, lack of funds and time to attend, disconnected content and inability to make a difference in the pedagogical approaches teachers use. The creation of online Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) has been suggested as an augment to or a replacement for traditional approaches. The purpose of this mixed methods study was three-fold: (a) to discover if international school educators are using social media for professional learning and if so, what tools they are choosing to use, (b) to discover if a relationship exists between the use of …

An International Comparison Study Of The Alignment Between Standards And Assessment Of Pre-Service Elementary Mathematics Teacher Preparation Courses, Vilma Guadalupe Duke Escobar

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the extent to which components of pre-service elementary teachers’ mathematics programs are aligned. Specifically, it includes an analysis of national standards and assessments for elementary mathematics education courses at universities in two countries, the United States and El Salvador. Understanding that the quality of school education is closely linked to pre-service teacher education, the purpose of the study is to contribute much-needed information to assess and improve pre-service elementary mathematics curriculum in both countries. Using Webb’s framework for standards-assessment alignment, data include the Mathematical Education of Teachers II (MET II) standards from the United States and Study …

Evaluating The Effects Of Credit-Based Transitional Programs On High School Students' Critical Thinking Skills, Jane M. Walther

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the critical thinking (CT) skills of Grade 12 students (N = 60) enrolled in different academic programs: International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement (AP), and a control group (NON). CT was assessed using the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test, which provided measures of five CT subscales: Evaluation of Argument, Deduction, Inference, Recognition of Argument, and Interpretation; and a separate category of CT skill: Use of Emotive Language to Persuade.

Despite similar demographics across groups, there were significant differences in three of the five subscales of CT and Use of Emotive Language to Persuade. IB and AP scores were …