Education Commons^™

Spelling Instruction In The Primary Grades, Kathleen Ziegler

Graduate Research Papers

This paper chronicles a multi-year effort to study best practices according to spelling research and the implementation of these practices into a primary classroom. This effort occurred in a school situated in the inner city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The school consists of approximately 330 students grades one through five and serves a diverse population of students. Over the years of this work, approximately fifty percent of students at the school were African American with the remaining students primarily Caucasian. Sixty-nine percent of students are considered low SES ( socioeconomic status) as they qualified for the free and reduced meal …

Mathematics And Spanish: A Comparative Approach Of Teaching Methods, Emily R. Borcherding

Honors Program Theses

Teaching methods in various academic disciplines are all connected. Whether one looks at various content areas, grade levels, or ability levels, teaching methods all share important similarities, as well as sharp contrasts. The meta-analysis and case study address the comparisons between teaching mathematics and Spanish at the secondary education level. In the study, a review of literature is conducted and case studies are analyzed in order to see the role of written and oral communication in mathematics and Spanish education. Throughout the study, written and oral communication, through teacher-student and student-student communication methods, show a strong overlap and supporting role …

Interior Design For The Classroom, Jessica Hellmann

Honors Program Theses

For my honors thesis, I chose to investigate the topic of classroom design. 1 specifically focused on classroom layout and seating arrangement, color schemes, visual displays (student work compared to commercially prepared products), and accommodations that could be made in the physical environment for students with special needs. All of these components of the interior design of the classroom greatly impact student learning and should be carefully analyzed and evaluated before setting up one's classroom.

Academic Advising: Differences Between Freshmen And Sophomores, Abby L. Cochren

Honors Program Theses

Freshman and sophomore years in college are a transitional period in a student's academic life, both externally and internally. Initially, one sees more external transitions such as . going from high school to colle.ge and going to class fifteen hours a week. However, alongside those external transitions, and eventually superseding them, the internal transitions begin to strongly influence the student's life: defining their identity; determining the best academic route; and questioning former beliefs about their interests and future. These internal transitions start a four-year journey of shifting needs and outlook. This journey determines how the student develops, what kind of …

Mathematics Education: An International Perspective, Lisa Roose

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of my thesis/project is to research mathematics education in the United States, Japan, and South Africa. Japan and South Africa were chosen as countries ranking significantly above and below the United States respectively on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study in recent years. The roles and value of education of each country's culture throughout history will be investigated. After gaining a historical perspective of each country, the current education systems, including the school organization, equity, curriculum, students, staff, and reasons for recent reform, will be explored. Finally, mathematics education will be studied along with each country's strengths …

Academic And Social Self-Efficacy In Honors And Non-Honors University Students, Carmen Marie Krapfl

Honors Program Theses

Self-efficacy research has shown that successful past experiences have an influential impact on self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977). The purpose of this study was to compare academic and social self-efficacy between university honors and non-honors students. It was hypothesized that honors students would score higher on academic self-efficacy, but would have lower social self efficacy than their non-honors peers. Participants were invited to complete questionnaires on self-efficacy and background information. Results show that honors and non-honors students do not differ significantly in their general or social self-efficacy, but honors students had significantly higher academic self-efficacy. Further research is needed into the cause …

The Private Rates Of Return To Undergraduate Education By Major, Nick Johnson

Honors Program Theses

The private returns to undergraduate education are important to understand for high school graduates trying to decide between the work force and college. The IRR method is the best measure of the private returns to education because it allows for important variables to be accounted for and includes the time value of money. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of 1972, there are large differences in the returns to college by major. This model allows the returns to college to vary by college selectivity and, through ability, within an individual major.

Meeting The Interests Of Adolescent Females In Physical Education, Sarah Marie Huffer

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this study is to compare the activities of interest of adolescent females in physical education with the types of activities that are provided in their present physical education curriculum at the representative high school. Creating a parallel between activities of interest and activities within physical education curriculums will provide females with more motivation to be physically active while in high school and after they graduate.

Lights Up! On Teaching Hints For Novice Theatre Educators, Chelsea Cunningham

Honors Program Theses

With Playhouse interns coming from a variety of learning and teaching backgrounds, it occurred to me that there was a need for training that introduces all of these new, young teachers to working with all groups of students, grades K-12, in the theatre. Thus, I have created Lights Up!, a resource stripped of educational psychology jargon that is meant to help theatre students teach and to help education majors acquire the skill of using theatre as a tool.

Book Review. One Size Does Not Fit All: Traditional And Innovative Models Of Student Affairs Practice, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Identifying A Roadmap Of Support For Secondary Students: School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Applications, Hank Bohanon, Pamela Fenning, Lucille Eber, Brigid Flannery

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

The need for an increased understanding of secondary and tertiary supports within a school-wide positive behavior support framework in high schools is discussed. Outcome data such as discipline referrals sent to the office seem to indicate that school-wide applications of positive behavior support can decrease the proportion of students who require more intensive supports. While limited information is available on high school level supports, connections can be made with cutting edge research on self-determination and increased student participation in buy-in to the overall process. Connecting individualized supports to the overall curriculum of the schools appears to have implications for increasing …

The Lost Sheep: Experiences Of Religious Gay Men In Havana, Cuba, Michael Maher Jr

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

The focus of the article is interviews with ten religious gay men in Havana. Interviews were conducted in 1999 and 2000. The men were from Catholic, Santeria, Protestant, and Pentecostal backgrounds. Common perceptions were that Santeria was the most welcoming religion to gays and that Pentecostalism was the least welcoming to gays. While many non-Catholics viewed the Catholic Church as welcoming, the gay Catholics in the study did not see the Church as welcoming, but they did tend to see it as more welcoming than Pentecostalism. Almost all the men in the study had come to reconcile their sexuality and …

Is The Roman Catholic Prohibition Of Female Priests Sexist?: How Catholic College Students Think About Women’S Ordination And Sexism, Michael Maher Jr, Linda M. Sever, Shaun Pichler

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

In April 2003, the researchers conducted a survey of undergraduate students living in residence halls at Loyola University Chicago. The majority of Catholic students in the study expressed disagreement with the statement, “Women should not be allowed to be clergy (priests, pastors, imams, rabbis, etc.),” and the majority of them expressed agreement with the statement, “Sexism is wrong.” This was not a surprise to the researchers. What was surprising was the fact that the correlation of the responses by Catholics between these two statements was insignificant (r = -.089). The researches explored this question with focus groups made up …

Gay And Lesbian Students In Catholic High Schools: A Qualitative Study Of Alumni Narratives, Michael Maher Jr

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Catholic Magisterium has made a distinction between homosexual orientation (disordered but not sinful), homosexual activity (sinful, but judged “with prudence”), rights of gay and lesbian people, and the Church’s pastoral responsibilities to gay and lesbian people. Both the Vatican and the American bishops have clearly stated that the topic of homosexuality must be addressed in Catholic education, but the emphases on how it is addressed differ between the Vatican (emphasis on finding causes and cures) and the American bishops (providing pastoral care and inclusion). This article deals with the experiences of gay and lesbian youth in Catholic high schools. …

The Quest For Tenure-Track Faculty Positions By Community College Adjunct Faculty, Leandra Powell Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

La Discussió Deliberativa: Usar El Discurs De Classe Per Promoure El Pensament Crític, Mark Felton

Faculty Publications

Per potenciar el pensament creatiu a classe cal comprendre les arrels d’aquest pensament en el raonament argumentatiu. El pensament crític inclou la recerca i l’avaluació de les raons que hi ha darrere d’una afirmació. Per prendre part en aquesta activitat d’investigació, cal entendre els elements sobre els quals es discuteix i com aquests es combinen per justificar una conclusió. Les investigacions es mostren cada vegada més unànimes en el fet que els estudiants experimenten una millora substancial en el desenvolupament del pensament crític (i que aquesta millora es transfereix també a nous temes) a mesura que van adquirint experiència en …

Teaching Critical Thinking In A Community-College Art-History Learning Environment : A Comparison Of Implicit Instruction Versus A Combination Of Implicit And Explicit Instruction, Michael Leonard

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Alignment Of District Assessments With The Virginia Standards Of Learning (Sol), Joan A. Rhodes

MERC Publications

Parents, teachers, and school administrators all have one common goal — student success. Teachers have been trusted to impart knowledge to students, while hopefully fostering a love of learning, then assessing how much the students know. Assessment in the classroom, whether informal, formative, or summative, has been the major source of identifying students strengths and weaknesses. Today, there is increased pressure on teachers to ensure they are accountable for what they do in the classroom. Within the educational system, students’ success has been measured inconsistently from state-to-state, district-to-district, and even classroom-to-classroom. In this age of accountability, national and state standards …

Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities And English Sols: Part Ii Best Practices, Paul J. Gerber

MERC Publications

This paper reports the findings of Phase II of a MERC study on middle school students with learning disabilities (LD) completed during academic year 2005 – 2006. Phase I investigated the success and failure of students with LD on the English SOLs by analyzing three consecutive years of individual education plans (IEPs). (Please see the MERC report titled “Accountability Testing and Students with Learning Disabilities: Factors of Passing and Failing the Virginia SOL Tests” (2004) for finding of the study.)

The goal of Phase II was to obtain best practices used for preparing students with LD on English SOLs in …

The Professional Expertise Of Community-Practicing Occupational Therapists, Ruth Ramsey

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

African Heritage In Cuban Literature For Children And Young Adults : A Participatory Study With Nersys Felipe And Teresa Cã¡Rdenas, Dulce Maria Perez Castillo

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Islamic Education In China: Rebuilding Communities And Expanding Local And International Networks, Jackie Armijo

All Works

Over the last twenty years a wide range of Islamic educational opportunities have been developed to meet the needs of China's 20 million plus Muslim population. In addition to mosque schools, government Islamic colleges, and independent Islamic colleges, a growing number of students have gone overseas to continue their studies at international Islamic universities in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, and Malaysia.

A Theory Of Curriculum Development In The Professions: An Integration Of Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory With Schwab's Deliberative Curriculum Theory, Shelley Ann Chapman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

A hundred years ago, the problem with professional education was that it lacked a sound scientific foundation and opportunities for clinical practice. Throughout the past three decades, discussions on graduate professional education have focused on how to improve the theory/practice continuum, either through new formats or strategies, or by emphasizing one over the other. However, with the new century, new problems have emerged within the professional education arena. This dissertation has focused on two main problems in graduate professional education in the early 21st century: students are focusing too much on technical expertise and not enough on becoming transformed into …

Evaluation Of An Adult Education Technology Program, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adult education technology program at a chartered alternative adult education center in Florida. The adult education center had a low rate of students passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study examined the impact of the use of computer technology in an effort to improve student learning in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers at the institution were used by all students for tutorials to prepare them for the FCAT and to obtain a high school diploma. The research questions for this study were as follows:

1. Is the education technology program …

An Asset-Based Approach To Linguistic Diversity, Martin Scanlan

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Visual Layout Of Print Questionnaires: Effect On Responses Of Middle School Students, Sheri Bauman, Robert Steiner, Francesca Lopez

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

A three-page questionnaire was modified to a one-page format. Questionnaires were administered in classroom groups to 300 middle school students. Classrooms were randomly divided into two groups, with one group receiving the original three-page format and the other receiving a single-page version of the same questionnaire. The visual layout of the two versions was different, and included variations in font, placement of response options, and spacing. Item non-response was greater for the single-page format. No statistically significant differences were detected between response patterns or internal consistency of the two versions of the questionnaire. Implications for school counselors are discussed.

Socially Just Teaching And The Complementarity Of Ignatian Pedagogy And Critical Pedagogy, Sharon Chubbuck

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

This qualitative research, conducted in a teacher education course at an urban Jesuit university, examines the concerns voiced by preservice teachers when they are challenged to define and embrace a vision of “teaching for social justice” in a methods course utilizing instructional methods based on theories of critical pedagogy and Ignatian pedagogy. The reflective journals and focus group interviews of a cohort of 15 preservice teachers revealed concerns about the curriculum, the pedagogy, and the rationale for socially just teaching. Those concerns, when juxtaposed with Ignatian pedagogy and critical pedagogy, reveal that each theory is both helpful and limited in …

Understanding Hope: A Review Of Measurement And Construct Validity Research, Lisa M. Edwards, Kevin L. Rand, Shane J. Lopez, C. R. Snyder

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Hope has been discussed by philosophers, theologians, educators, and scientists, to name but a few groups of people, over the preceding two millennia. During the last 15 years, C. R. Snyder and his colleagues at the University of Kansas have developed a theory and associated measures of the hope construct that have received extensive, detailed attention both within and outside the field of psychology. In this chapter, we describe Snyder's hope model and some of the research findings that have supported the validity of this construct. Beginning with a conceptual definition of hope, we move to relevant findings about the …

Pilot Study Of Psychopathology Among Roman Catholic Secular Clergy, Sarah Knox, Stephen G. Virginia, Jacquelyn Smith

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

This pilot study gathered information regarding overall levels of psychopathology in a nationally selected, random sample of U.S. Roman Catholic secular (i.e., diocesan) priests using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 2004). The study yielded a response rate of 45%. One-half of the participants reported marked psychological problems, with interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, and depression most strongly correlated with the instrument’s overall index of psychopathology. Four dimensional scales were elevated (i.e., obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, psychoticism), as were two indices (i.e., GSI, PST). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Vietnamese American Experiences Of English Language Learning: Ethnic Acceptance And Prejudice, Jeffrey Labelle

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

This article investigates the effects of ethnic acceptance and prejudice on English language learning among immigrant nonnative speakers. During 2004 and 2005, the author conducted participatory dialogues among six Vietnamese and Mexican adult immigrant English language learners. The researcher sought to answer five questions: (1) What are some nonnative English speakers’ experience regarding the way native speakers treat them? (2) How have nonnative English speakers’ experiences of ethnic acceptance or ethnic prejudice affected their learning of English? (3) What do nonnative English speakers think they need in order to lower their anxiety as they learn a new language? (4) What …