Education Commons^™

Real Ethical Dilemma: Professor Whistleblower And The Diary Of The Lost Job*, Terence Garrett

Political Science Faculty Publications

*This story is a fictionalized account of an actual event. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty. Any similarities with other persons or events are purely coincidental. A version of this paper was presented at a Roundtable discussion of the 2002 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, April 2002, in Chicago, IL, Roundtable Title – “Administrators, Activists, and Academics: Political Science at the Bargaining Table.” In no way, shape, or form is this essay about my current employer.

Effective Methods Of Supervising Student Teachers In Special Education Environments, Tina Georgeson, Cory Gann, Steve Nourse

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

Although cooperating teachers design and implement model programs of inclusion and special instruction, the supervision of student teachers requires an entirely other "trunk full of unique tools." Successfully facilitating the student teacher's development requires not only good modeling, but also meaningful feedback that is honest and constructive. Such mentoring holds the most promise when the intern receives maximum experience with the tenets of a constructivist teaching philosophy and the implementation of best instructional and management practices. The cooperating teacher is ideally situated to interpret the contours of constructivist theory as it is manifested in daily classroom discourse and activity. Careful …

The Context Of Alcohol Consumption By Social Fraternity And Sorority Leaders, Sarah Kathleen Glascock

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Contrasting Black Male Stereotypes With The Voices Of Successful Black Male College Students At A Predominantly White Institution: A Qualitative Study, Crystal Donnette Verdun

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Motivation For Studying Abroad, Wendy M. Buesing

Masters Theses

The motivational factors among students who have completed a study abroad program or who are currently studying abroad were investigated. Several variables were explored including gender, age, major and whether the student was an international student who has studied or is currently studying in the United States from another country or an American student who has studied or is currently studying in another country. Two hypotheses were tested: 1) American students are more likely motivated to study abroad by cultural motives such as sightseeing and gaining awareness about a different culture, and 2) International students are more likely motivated to …

A Case Study Of The Libraries In The Vanguard Learning Colleges, Linda G. Swaine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the characteristics of a learning-centered library from the perspective of the libraries in the 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges which were participants in the Learning College Project sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College. The 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges were: Cascadia Community College (WA), Community College of Baltimore County (MD), Community College of Denver (CO), Humber College, (Ontario), Kirkwood Community College (IA), Lane Community College, OR), Madison Area Technical College (WI), Moraine Valley Community College (IL), Palomar College (CA), Richland College (TX), Sinclair Community College (OH), and Valencia Community College (FL). Furthermore, …

The Influence Of Students' Cognitive Style On A Standardized Reading Test Administered In Three Different Formats, Elizabeth Lynn Blanton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the means of scores on three forms of a standardized reading comprehension test taken by community college students in developmental reading classes. The three forms of the test were administered as a timed multiple-choice test, a constructed response test, and an un-timed multiple-choice test. Scores on the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) were used to classify the students who participated in the study as having field dependent (LOW GEFT), mid-field dependent/independent (MID GEFT), or fieldindependent (HIGH GEFT) tendencies. The paired samples test was used to analyze the scores among the students classified …

Motivations For Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp) System Implementation In Public Versus Private Sector Organizations, Joycelyn Lorraine Harrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to increase the knowledge base regarding Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software implementation, particularly in the public sector. To this end, factors regarding benefits sought through ERP system implementation and critical factors surrounding successful ERP implementation were identified. In addition, the perception of project team members’ satisfaction with modules implemented and their concerns about implementing ERP software were identified in this study. The results of this study provided recommendations for public- and private-sector organizations in order to increase their opportunity for successful ERP system implementation. The literature review and results of this study suggested that …

A Journey Of Teaching And Learning In Science Education: The Microculture Of Emerging Inquiry-Based Science Instruction In An Urban, Low Socioeconomic Elementary School Science Lab, Kimberly Dahl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic study of emerging inquiry-based science instruction in an urban, low socioeconomic elementary school science lab was designed to gain insight into the perspectives of the teacher and students. The study involved a Central Florida elementary school whose population was over 80 percent African-American. In this six month study, the researcher examined the classroom setting of a science lab teacher and her fourth and fifth grade students during a six month period of time. Data sources included interviews, field notes, reflections, and student work , which were used to identify the emerging themes and patterns in the study. The …

An Investigation Into The Apparent Over-Representation Of Blacks In Educable Mentally Handicapped Programs In K-12 Schools Within The 67 Florida Public School Districts, Arlene H. Thomson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Placement into educable mentally handicapped (EMH) programs is necessary for some students in order to allow them the opportunity to receive an education appropriate for their special needs. Nonetheless, identification as EMH is often perceived as negative and demeaning. Decades of research have substantiated the over-representation of black students into certain categories of special education, including EMH, in comparison to white and Hispanic students. This disparity has raised questions within schools, academe and research communities, and legislative and governing bodies as to the causes, compelling factors, and related variables impacting the phenomenon. This study investigated the apparent over-representation of blacks …

An Investigation Of The Proficiency Level Of High School Students With Autism And Mental Retardation Within Community-Based Job Settings: The Relationship Between The Use Of A Hand-Held Computer Compared To Staff Modeling For Accurate Novel Job Skill Acquisition And Student Learning, Kimberly Gen Spence-Cochran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects and efficacy of two vocational instructional interventions - a Hand-Held Computer intervention versus a Staff Model intervention - as vocational instructional tools for high school students with autism and mental retardation. Specifically, the study analyzed the effects of these two treatments on the completion of authentic novel job tasks within a local department store. This research indicated the provision of specific technology as an instructional model positively influenced participants' ability to: accurately complete tasks, exercise increased independence during task completion, reduce problematic behavior during task completion, and lower necessary staff prompts during task completion. The …

Instructional Practices In Athletic Training Education Programs: 'What, Nancy Cummings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to understand effective and ineffective instructional practices in clinical settings and to identify problem-solving strategies used by students and instructors. Three research questions were addressed: where in the undergraduate athletic training education program do students learn, or fail to learn, particular skills; "what instructional methods are of most worth" in teaching these skills, as perceived by the students; and what are the problem-solving strategies used by novice, experienced non-expert, and expert athletic trainers when confronted with novel situations. The subjects were nine students ("novices") and ten Approved Clinical Instructors (ACI's) from three programs in the Southeast United …

Awareness, Knowledge, And Attitude About Environmental Education: Resp, Rodrigo Melchor Cruz Lasso De La Vega

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last 30 years, environmental education has been part of the curriculum in Southwest Florida public schools. Curriculum objectives, such as, environmental attitude, knowledge, and awareness (AKA), have been investigated in the literature as ways to improve the overall behavior of future citizens toward the environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the aforementioned objectives among the following groups: environmental specialists, high school instructors, high school students, and the parents of the corresponding students in three Southwest Florida counties during the 2003-2004 school year. An instrument was developed to measure the groups' levels of awareness, knowledge, and …

Effective School Characteristics And Student Achievement Correlates As, James Doran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between effective school characteristics and norm referenced standardized test scores in American-style international schools. In contrast to schools in traditional effective schools research, international schools typically have middle to high SES families, and display average to above average achievement. Eleven effective school characteristics were identified and correlated with standardized test scores for grades 4, 6, and 8 and high school SAT scores. Data was gathered from an online teacher questionnaire designed for this study. All eleven characteristics were present in high performing international schools while frequent analysis of student progress, …

The Effects Of The Teacher's Use Of Guided Inquiry In The Fifth Grade Classroom, Deborah Strickland Spiess

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF THE TEACHER'S USE OF GUIDED INQUIRY IN A FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE CLASSROOM. INQUIRY IS SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL(2000), AND INDICATES THAT ALL STUDENTS SHOULD DEVELOP THE ABILITIES NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND DEVELOP UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (P.21). THIS STUDY WAS A QUALITATIVE ACTION RESEARCH DESIGN, FOCUSING ON SEVENTEEN STUDENTS AND THEIR RESPONSES TO A GUIDED INQUIRY METHOD OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION ON MATTER, ENERGY AND MOTION, AND EARTH AND SPACE. AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE AND STUDENTS' ATTITUDES ABOUT SCIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM WAS CONDUCTED ABOUT EACH UNIT OF INSTRUCTION. THE …

Factors Associated With Retention Rates In Career And Technical Educat, Jo Ann Whiteman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a recognized state and national shortage of Career and Technical (CTE) teachers; in certain school districts or by subject area, it is defined as a "Critical Shortage". At the same time, both statewide and nationally, the number of teacher preparation programs for Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers has decreased. To alleviate the shortage and increase access many Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher preparation programs use the web. This study examined retention rates in courses from Fall 1997 through Fall 2003 within web-based courses in a CTE teacher preparation program at the University of Central Florida to …

Predicting Licensing Examination Performance With Cognitive Style And Reactive Behavior Pattern Assessments, Daniel Paul Combs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Candidates for Florida real estate sales associate licensure responded to a two-part questionnaire based on William A. Long’s Reactive Behavior Patterns Theory and Robert J. Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. Examination scores were converted to a dichotomous pass/fail variable based on the Florida Real Estate Commission-mandated cut-off score of 75 correctly answered questions out of 100. The candidates’ responses to the questionnaire comprising the Long-Dziuban Inventory and the Cognitive Strengths Task List based on Sternberg’s theory, were crosstabulated with pass/fail to identify differential passing proportions, if any, based on reactive behavior pattern and/or cognitive strength. An ANOVA procedure was used …

A Study Of The Influence Vocational Education Has On Students' Ultimate Academic Success, Margaret Mary Gunderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if vocational/business education has an influence on a student's ultimate academic achievement--high school graduation. This study consists of comparing students with no vocational/business education experiences to students with some degree of vocational/business education. The cohort group started high school during the 1999-2000 school year, had earned a GPA of 2.5 or lower at the end of the freshman year (May 2000) and finished high school prior to the start of the 2003-2004 school year. There were 322 students identified in the initial cohort group. In completing this study, the following procedures were …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Sandplay Therapy On Mental Health Status And Resiliency Attitudes In Mexican Farmworker Women, Ximena Elizabeth Mejia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact that sandplay therapy sessions had on Mexican farmworker women's mental health status and resilience attitudes. The participants of this study were 40 women who were born in various states in Mexico and presently reside in rural Central Florida. Twenty women participated in the control group and twenty women participated in the treatment group. The impact sandplay therapy has on participants' mental health status was measured by Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45), which assesses progress in therapy; and Resiliency Attitudes Scale (R.A.S.), which determines resiliency attitudes. The study also includes twenty participants' transcriptions of their individual sessions to …

A Study Of Why Older People 65+ Do Or Do Not Exercise, Nancy Mccoin Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study uses interviews to examine factors explaining why 20 elderly individuals from a variety of occupations and still living in the community independently did or did not exercise. Within the limits of this qualitative study, the reasons elderly participants gave for avoiding exercise included fear of injury, joint pain, poor health, complications from various degenerative diseases, and a lack of enjoyment of exercise. The reasons for exercising included necessity due to post-heart attack motivation, work-site exercise program or equipment availability, opportunity to habituate work-related tasks, spouse support, history of exercise experience, ability to exercise without injury, enjoyment of …

A Profile Of The Literacy Practices Of K-5 Central Florida Teachers Of, Stephanie Cowern

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of this study was to develop a literacy teaching profile of the 2004-2005 Teachers of the Year in Kindergarten through grade 5 in four central Florida school districts. Of primary interest was the extent to which these teachers indicated their use of exemplary literacy practices as defined using the domains and indicators of the National Exemplary Literacy Teacher Assessment (NELTA). The NELTA results were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The results of the NELTA were also evaluated and discussed when total length of years teaching, and length of years at present grade level were considered. The data were …

An Analysis Of The Aspiring Principal Preparation Programs Provided By, Deborah Juusela

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify the basis of the aspiring principal preparation program (appp) components florida school districts provide to their aspiring principals and their relationship, if any, to the state and isllc standards. A total of 50 school districts in florida participated in this study. The research was guided by the following questions: to what extent do the florida school districts provide a formal appp to their current assistant principals? (b) upon what are the formal appps for current assistant principals based: the florida principal competencies (fpcs), the interstate school leaders licensure consortium (isllc) standards, or …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Racial Identity Developme, Franklyn Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between racial identity development and career thoughts for Black seniors at an urban high school. The available population was 557 Black senior students at a high school in Orange County, Florida. With respect to this population, socioeconomic status, influences on career interest, parental level of education, parental occupations, post-secondary intentions, and plans to take the SAT or ACT were some of the specific demographic variables that were analyzed. Results from a variety of simple regression analyses revealed significant positive relationships between Black seniors' perceptions of their racial identity development and …

A Framework For Effective School-To-Home Communication, Michael Shawn Ward

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the modes of communication that schools use with parents while identifying which modes are most preferred by parents. This study offers information toward expansion of school-to-home connections in elementary schools. This study demonstrates that what educators and parents think about parental involvement is not always the same. The conclusions that emerged from this study can be used by educators to develop a better understanding of parental needs and wants in the area of communication and parental involvement. From this base, research might be conducted in other grade levels and/or other states to determine if similar patterns exist. …

Achievement Test Scores Of African American Students Attending Magnet And Non-Magnet Schools, Sadie M. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any statistically significant differences among the reading and math scores of African American students attending magnet and non-magnet schools in a large urban school district. This study involved a posttest-only design. Groups were not randomly assigned, but rather assigned to the two groups based on their classification as magnet or non-magnet. Thus, this study was a quasi-experimental posttest-only design with the non-magnet schools assigned to that group based on the school's demographic variables matching the schools in the magnet group. A two-sample t-test was the statistical procedure used for …

Abc Books: Connecting With Literature, Constructing Personal Learning, Deborah Dean

The Utah English Journal

"When do we get to make ABC books?"

"Yeah. I've seen those before, and I know the kids made them in your class."

It was the first day of school, but already the students were asking about an assignment that my ninth grade classes were well known for doing. The whole thing began early in my teaching career as I pondered some questions all teachers ask themselves from time to time: How do I help my students make learning personal? How do I help them own a novel, rather than simply parroting back my comments or what "Cliff' might have …

Utah Writing Project Summer Workshops, Debbie Davis

The Utah English Journal

"It was the best workshop I've ever attended. I will never teach writing the same way again!" Linda Simpson, President of the Utah Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts, told me at the UCTE/LA 2002 Conference. Her assessment of the Utah Writing Project's one-week writing workshop made me want that experience for myself. Last summer I attended the one-week workshop, and this summer I attended the four-week. Linda was right- I will never teach writing the same way again!

Engaging Reluctant Readers: Let's Try Nonfiction, Kathryn Fitzgerald

The Utah English Journal

"If it's not fiction, it's not reading." Starkly put, that was my concept of worthwhile literature until recently with, I think, good reason. Not only do we English teachers love reading good fiction, but we know that valuable lessons are taught through literature: students learn about themselves and their own life choices through reading about recognizable fictional characters; they experience cultures and times other than their own by reading diverse current and classical fiction; they learn to think critically about the beliefs and values they are exposed to through fiction (and to reflect on their own beliefs); they learn empathy …

My Students And English Literature, Ellen Mccaffrey

The Utah English Journal

It took me nearly thirty years to be assigned to teach English literature. Although my undergraduate and graduate training in English focused heavily on literature from Britain, my teaching assignments usually involved grammar and composition and literature from the United States. In my district, English literature is a twelfth grade elective course, and those who teach it usually teach it for as long as they can. My opportunity came when the usual English literature teacher became ill and had to retire. To my amazement no one else in the department wanted to teach the course. I willingly, happily, and enthusiastically …

Bringing The Story To Your School, Sherry Meidell

The Utah English Journal

During the first day of the fifth grade, my teacher smiled and gave us graham crackers. The next day she put on a grim face which remained for most of the year. I do remember one day that I saw her smile again. The teacher announced that we were going to have a special visitor from a publishing company. She handed each of us a piece of manila paper and told us to do a drawing from one of the publisher's books. I drew the South Going Zak, which was a character created by Dr. Suess.