Education Commons^™

Utilizing Arts-Related Activities In Accordance With Multiple Intelligence Theories To Increase Third Grade Gifted And Talented Students’ Interest In Language Arts Instruction, Kevin Kovacs

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate the effects of arts-related activities on the interest levels and achievement of third grade gifted students. An important consideration for the improvement of gifted education is the necessity for educators to understand the nature and needs of the gifted learner, including their uneven social and emotional development. In spite of the gifted and talented child’s advanced intellectual development, an asynchronous social and emotional development may sometimes result in lower than expected academic performance. The discrepancy between a high measure of intelligence and low levels of academic achievement may be due to common characteristics …

Development Of An Online Instructional Model For West Chester University Faculty With A Plan For Implementation And Evaluation, Tracy A. Clark

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this applied research dissertation was to develop an online instructional model for West Chester University faculty. In addition, structural, delivery, and evaluation criteria were identified for the purpose of implementing and evaluating the online instructional model. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to developed a number of products which include an executive brief, online instructional resource handbook, and implementation and evaluation plans. Each product intention will catalyze instructional strategies that will increase learner performance.

All five-research questions were answered during this applied research dissertation. The researcher engaged in the following procedures to answer the …

2004-2005 Undergraduate Catalog, Morehead State University

Morehead State Catalog Archive

2004-2005 undergraduate catalog for Morehead State University.

Reconfiguring Childhood Boys And Girls Growing Up Global, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

Children are a spur, a commitment, a way of imaging the future—but all too often these sorts of phrases just rattle around a vacuum, their utterance the beginning and end of the commitment. We emphasize “the best interests of the child,”but this gloss provides a moral imperative to all manner of uncompleted projects and unfulfilled policies. Likewise, the use of children’s images or presence in public forums of all types gives a patina of honorableness to practices and plans that never actually make good on the promissory note of childhood. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit is a notable example. Such …

Socratic Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, Moral Reasoning And Inmate Education: An Exploratory Study, Peter Boghossian

Dissertations and Theses

This exploratory study examines the hypothesis that Socratic pedagogy is a useful tool for imparting critical thinking and moral reasoning skills to inmates. The study explores the effectiveness of a new curriculum, Introducing Socrates, which relies on Socratic pedagogy to achieve its objectives. The curriculum draws from the effective criminal justice research on cognitive education to determine its objectives, and then looks to the Platonic dialogues to find broad philosophical questions that tie into those objectives. The program also evaluates salient criticisms of Socratic pedagogy that are found in the educational and philosophical literature, and then isolates and evaluates constructs …

Assessment Methods For Comparison Of On-Camps And Distance Learning Laboratory Courses In An Engineering Technology Program, John R. Hackworth, Richard L. Jones

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Assessment methodology and results for two Electrical Engineering Technology laboratory courses are shown. In these cases, courses are offered in both the traditional on- campus and non-traditional distance learning format, assessment methods are prescribed, assessment data are taken, and the results compiled and compared. Student comments are included which also support the assessment data. In addition, this paper describes ways in which the laboratory courses are structured in order to make the assessment process easier to manage. Pedagogical issues are addressed that were encountered when constructing the distance learning laboratory courses to assure that the learning experience could equal or …

The Impact Of An Urban Outreach Teaching Project: Developing Cultural Competence, Carol H. Ott, Lynn H. Doyle

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore the development of cultural competence in a group of university nursing students in the context of an interactive substance abuse prevention project attached to a health promotion course with 414 racially diverse high school students. The project provided opportunities for contact, interaction, and reflection. A descriptive approach was utilized to elicit the meaning attached to the experience. Data included written content from an exit survey, field notes from onsite debriefings, transcriptions of a focus group interview, and an analysis of theoretical papers. Findings indicate that when university students participate in an urban …

Methods For Evaluating Interface Design For Online Learning Environments, Constance A. Lowe, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Designing online learning environments poses many challenges. One critical issue is the design of appropriate user interfaces so that the interface does not become a barrier to the learning process. The interface of a web site may be described as the sum of the visible (and/or audible) elements which convey to a user what functions and resources are available at the site and provide access to, or control over, those functions and resources. The interface is a key element of usability, where usability means the ease or difficulty with which the user can complete the intended tasks. Following a brief …

Designing The Social Environment For Online Learning: The Role Of Social Presence, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

A major challenge to designing online learning is the development of appropriate means to facilitate the social environment that is critical for higher-order learning in many disciplines. In many online learning designs, the majority of resources are channeled to web interface design and technology, while little or no resources are devoted to facilitating the teaching and learning process, the negotiation of meaning and the validation of knowledge among peers and instructors that depends on a conducive socio-cultural environment and adequate learner support. This paper seeks to address this issue by examining one factor, social presence that has been shown to …

Children's Efl Motivation: An Investigation Of 7-12 Year Old Students In Training Schools In China, Daosheng Liao

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

English training schools in China are a new EFL phenomenon and infromation about EFL for 7-12 year old students is also new. There appears to be little research done regarding their motivation to learn EFL, and this constitutes a gap in theory addressing this area. This research attempts to fill the gap by investigating the factors that affect the motivation of learners in this age group. Questionnaires wers administered to 200 students and the responses were analysed to establish the motivational factors associated with learning English in training schools in Xi'an, China.

The Effect Of Technology-Based Lessons On Primary School Students Working In Mixed And Single-Gender Groupings, Brian Clarence

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated primary school students working in mixed and single- gender groupings around a computer during technology-based lessons. In particular it observed the patterns of peer interaction that took place when students worked co-operatively in groups in lessons. In so doing, this study attempted to explain the effects of gender of the student and gender composition of the group, on peer interaction in such a situation. The study also focussed on the effect of gender groupings on the motivation of students and children's collaborative behaviours. The subjects for the study were twenty-nine students (sixteen boys and thirteen girls) in …

Exploring The Clinical Nurse Educator's Ability To Foster Student Reflection, Jessie M. Johnson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study is to understand how Clinical Nurse Educators use reflective practices with students. While the value of reflective practice has been vigorously discussed in both nursing and educational literature, studies to support its benefits remain strangely elusive. The appeal of reflective practice has arisen out of a sustained conviction that life experience offers a legitimate and rich form of knowledge. If captured, it may narrow the gap between the non practical nature of theories and the complexities of everyday practice problems. The research question for this study is: "How do Clinical Nurse Educators foster student reflection?" …

Year 7 Students' English Reading Comprehension And Attitudes And Behaviours: Collaborative Genre-Based Versus Traditional Teaching Methods In Thailand, Sanguansri Torok

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A new system-wide educational change has been introduced in Thailand that requires English as a foreign language (EFL) to be taught from primary to university level. This study investigates a genre-based method of teaching English to grade 7 secondary students in Thailand. The study was conducted in three phases. In phase 1, Rasch measures of reading comprehension (based on three kinds of genre texts) and of attitudes and behaviour towards genre-based learning of English were created for use in phase 2. An interval scale of 36 items (18 real and 18 ideal perspectives) was created from an original attitude and …

The Effect Of Cross-Linked Learning On Visual Arts Education, Cassandra Zervos

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examined how computer technology had an effect on a Year 9 visual arts education class with regard to the Western Australian four Arts Learning Outcomes (WA 4ALO). The research was administered concurrently with a learning approach called Cross-Linked Leaming (CLL) (Zervos, 1997), which consisted of three components: (1) the subject (e.g., visual arts education in relation to the WA 4ALO); (2) the learner (i.e., a target group and how they learn); and (3) the tool (e.g., computer technology). This study addressed the problem of how to promote learning in visual arts education, especially with visual arts theory. Historically, …

The Construction Of A Business English Curriculum, Relevant To The Workplace, And Making Use Of Word Processing In Place Of Handwriting, Ladawan Wattanaboot

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Since the Thailand economic crisis in 1997 there has been a sense of urgency expressed in many areas of the society that businesses must modernize their practices and focus more on international trade and communication. Two important components of the changes required are better use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and better use of the English language for business communication. In the education arena this has translated into the need to provide graduates with better skills in the use of English and computers. These two skill areas come together naturally in the study of Business English. In Thailand Rajabhat …

The Construction Of Alienated Students And Students At Educational Risk : A Study Of The Justice And Education Discourses In Western Australia, Melanie Zan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis locates, examines and interprets the written sources of information guiding how delinquent school-aged young people are viewed in relation to their education in Western Australia. The study involved an examination of texts discussing post industrial socio-historical events and currently policy, practice and research in relation to students who are alienated from school, including those who have criminal histories. An exploration of the discourses assembled around the costruction of Western Australian school-aged offenders as alienated students revealed an ongoing assumption that children and youth from low socio-economic backgrounds are often governed as low school achievers who are less likely …

Early Education : Experiences And Perceptions Of Minority Group Parents And Young Children, Judith Candy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In Australia there has been little research into the experiences and perceptions of education of parents from different minority groups whose young children attend school in this country. This study investigated the experiences that overseas born parents from non-English speaking backgrounds have of their own and their children's education in countries outside Australia, experiences of their children's early education in Australia, as well as those of their young children between 6 and 9 years of age attending school in this country. Despite marked differences in educational policies and practices operating in the participants' countries of origin, almost all parents in …

Autonomy In Foreign Language Learning: An Exploratory Analysis Of Japanese Learners, Miyuki U. Surma

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Learner autonomy has received increased attention: in the recent language teaching and learning literature. Although Holec (1981) proposed a somewhat categorical definition of learner autonomy, this concept can be viewed in various ways depending on factors such as context and culture. One may posit, for example, that learner autonomy is based on Western values and as such, is not as easily accessible in the Asian context. With such variables in mind, the purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of Japanese students' beliefs regarding foreign language learning in a particular context. This is undertaken by utilising multi-modal …

Aquatic Programmes And Swimming Activities In Health And Physical Education : A Case For Differentiation, P. R. Whipp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research study provides a 'snap-shot' of the current status of teaching aquatic programmes in Western Australian secondary schools. This study also encapsulates the thoughts and feelings of the teachers and the students engaged in these programmes, scrutinises the outcomes of existing programmes and advances practical recommendations to address the problems identified. The study was conducted within a contemporary context where little innovation in aquatic education has accompanied the Australian and state-wide curriculum development based on outcomes-focused education. The research was underpinned by a conceptual framework which conforms to the principles of constructivist learning (Kirk & Macdonald, 1998; Wittrock, 1978; …

Work Intensification And Professionalism : A Study Of Teachers' Perceptions In The State School System In Western Australia, Niall B. Richardson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The past two decades have witnessed the introduction throughout much of the Western world of what has become known as economic rationalism, and for some commentators, as economic liberalism. Grounded in neoclassical economic theory, and with close kinship to the Taylorist and Fordist principles of the early decades of the twentieth century, the vision of economic rationalism has led to measures which have tended to favour the business sector in Australia. Throughout the 1990s, the focus has been on the notions of competitiveness, competition, productivity, efficiency, and profit, while the notions of the individual, and of social justice and equity, …

Lecturer Receptivity To A Major Educational Change In The Context Of Planned Change At Rajabhats In Thailand, Anusak Ketusiri

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In accordance with the National Education Act of t999, the educational system in Thailand was changed after 1999, the largest educational change in Thailand in 50 years. The achievable aims of the change were divided into eight main aspects covering, primary, secondary and higher education. These were: (1) ensuring access to basic education for all; (2) reform of the curriculum and learning processes; (3) encouraging participation and partnership in education; (4) restructuring of educational administration; (5) enhancing educational standards and quality assurance; (6) reform of teachers; faculty staff, and educational personnel; (7) mobilisation of resources and investment for education; and …

A Study Of 1st And 2nd Year Catholic University Students' Perceptions Of Their Senior Religious Education Classes In Catholic Schools In Western Australia, Leslie G. Saker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of 1st and 2nd year university students of their years eleven and twelve religious education classes at a Catholic school. A secondary purpose was to understand students’ acceptance or non-acceptance of official Catholic Church doctrine/dogma and why. Four research questions were asked to direct the study. 1. Are Catholic schools in Western Australia carrying out the mandate for their existence, that is, the Catholic education of their students? 2. Did students perceive their religious education classes as aiding their religious development? 3. Are students accepting or rejecting important doctrinal …

Student Beliefs About Learning In Religion And Science In Catholic Schools, Philip F. Cox

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The focus of this study is the impact of student perception of the validity of content on student learning. It is proposed that, if the content of a subject is perceived by students as being different to the content of another subject, a result of this perceived difference is that students will treat their learning in these subjects differently. To test this proposal, student beliefs about items from the content of the religious education course are compared with student responses to items of content of their science course. A sample of 1418, year 11 students from nine co-educational Catholic secondary …

Learning To Belong: A Study Of The Lived Experience Of Homeless Students In Western Australia, Simone Glasson-Walls

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This is a phenomenological study of the lived experiences of homeless young people in Western Australia. Its focus is the reasons why homeless young people leave education, although many of them make a serious effort to complete post-compulsory schooling. The study was qualitative, and was designed as an in-depth analysis of the experiences of five young people aged between 15 and 17, all attending the same school. Data collection consisted of two in-depth interviews with each participant, and a focus group discussion with all five. Although the study’s focus as the issue of homelessness and schooling, it quickly expanded when …

Facilitating Teacher Professional Learning : Analysing The Impact Of An Australian Professional Learning Model In Secondary Science, Rachel Sheffield

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In education, innovations are frequently introduced to promote changes to the curriculum, teachers' practice, and the classroom environment, however, these initiatives are often implemented without sufficient evaluation to monitor their impact and effectiveness in bringing about the desired changes. This thesis analyses the impact of a teacher professional learning program on lower secondary science teachers' practice. It examines the relationship between teachers' concerns about the strategies incorporated in the Collaborative Australian Secondary Science Program (CASSP) and teachers' ability to understand the strategies, on their ability to utilise those strategies in the classroom. It also seeks to determine teachers' beliefs about …

Using Interactive Multimedia (Imm) To Help Year Four And Five Students Identified As Experiencing Reading Difficulties: A Formative Approach, Grace Oakley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study involved four formative experiments, each of which investigated ways in which IMM (Interactive Multimedia) could be used to help children who experienced reading difficulties. In each of the four contexts, classroom teachers identified a number of students with reading difficulties, selected pedagogical goals for them and worked with the researcher to plan IMM-based activities that targeted the selected goals. The implementations were evaluated formatively and modifications were made accordingly, with the intention of 'fine-tuning' them to facilitate achievement of the pedagogical goals. Facilitative and inhibitive factors were identified during and after each formative experiment, as were unplanned outcomes. …

An Examination Of The Capabilities Required By University Tutors In Online Learning Environments And The Factors Affecting The Relative Importance Of These Capabilities, Douglas Reid

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Internet is influencing some would say revolutionizing most aspects of our society, including distance education (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek,2003). There has been a worldwide movement to implement online education technologies in Universities. In Australia, use of these technologies has coincided with the development of pedagogics to improve the merging of distance education and asynchronous, anywhere / anytime learning (Cashion & Palmieri, 2002; Harper, Hedberg, Bennett, & Lockyer, 2000). However, using technology to teach at a distance requires different capabilities than traditional face-to-face teaching. In the revolutionary situation which distance education finds itself, online tutors find themselves acting as …

The Effect Of Money As A Context On Students' Mental Computation Performance In Years 3, 5, 7 And 9, Anne Paterson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to research the effect of money as a context on school students’ mental computational performance and strategy choices across a range of ages. This study adds to existing research, which has compared students' mental computational methods with their written methods, by the provision of the single common context of money. The content topics of whole and other rational numbers (simple fractions, decimals, and some percentages) were covered. Forty-eight primary school students plus sixteen secondary school students were involved in this study, with equal numbers of both genders from the two primary schools and one …

Nigerian Science Teachers' Beliefs About Effective Science Teaching, Their Pedagogical Content Knowledge, And How These Influence Science Teaching, Morris A. Benjamin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated Nigerian junior secondary science teachers' beliefs about effective science teaching, their pedagogical content knowledge and how these influence their classroom teaching behaviour. The research is underpinned by a conceptual framework, which establishes a strong relationship between teachers' beliefs about teaching, teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and classroom teaching practices. The study was carried out in two phases. The first phase involved a survey of all junior secondary science teachers (N=70) from the 30 secondary schools in two Local Education Districts of Lagos State, Nigeria. The second phase involved in-depth case studies of three science teachers who were purposively …

Exploring Community Development In Online Settings, Christopher Brook

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As educators and training providers embrace online technologies, some researchers posit that the development of a learning community is perhaps the most fundamental goal of online instructors (Hiltz, 1997). The process for developing and maintaining learning communities, however, remains unclear (Bonk & Wisher, 2000; PaJloff & Pratt, 1999). This study sought to provide insight into factors that influence community development through an exploration of the community experience in online settings. To do this, it was necessary to establish an understanding of the community construct through an extensive review of contemporary literature. A review of the online learning community literature was …