Education Commons^™

A Novel Approach To Using Personal Response Systems And Diagrams To Foster Student Engagement In Large Lecture: Case Study Of Instruction For Model-Based Reasoning In Biology, Johanna M. Fitzgerald

Doctoral Dissertations

At UMass Amherst a method of personal response system (clickers) use in large lecture biology called Guided Application of Model-based Reasoning (GAMBR) has been designed to give students experiences in reasoning like expert biologists: In large lecture biology many instructors appear to use clickers mainly as a quizzing and attendance tool. Less well documented and examined are uses of clickers to facilitate cognitive engagement in learning scientific models and skills. In GAMBR, clicker questions ask students to apply and perturb biological models; this is designed to engage them in model-based reasoning. In an attempt to understand such a course, an …

Speaking Back To Structure: Critical Multimodal Media Literacy & The Politics Of School Reform, Kate Way

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the development of critical multimodal and media literacy skills in high school aged students against the backdrop of current state and national education policy. Following the progress of students in a semester-long writing course that focuses on critical multimodal and media literacy, the study examines how critical literacy skills develop within different modes and mediums – particularly those enabled by new media and digital technologies – and considers the implications of critical multimodal and media literacy skills for student engagement, agency, and achievement. The study further analyzes the impact at the institutional level of educational reforms incentivized …

Genres Of Dialogic Discussion In High School English: A Cross-Case Study Of Two Courses, Wendy Keyser

Doctoral Dissertations

This cross-case ethnographic study examines genres of discussion in two public high school English courses to explore the interplay between dialogism, structure, and critical and collaborative thinking practices. Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism and speech genres as well as Vygotsky's concepts of thinking and language and the zone of proximal development provide the theoretical premise of this research. Data sources included field notes, audio recordings and transcriptions, artifacts of the teacher's handouts and students' written work, informal conversations, and an interview with the teacher. I used discourse analysis and grounded theory to analyze the data, looking at both lively and problematic …

Impacts Of The Game-Centered Approach On Cognitive Learning Of Game Play And Game Performance During 5-Week Of Spring Season With Intercollegiate Female Soccer Players, Kanae Haneishi

Doctoral Dissertations

Game-centered approaches have been increasingly recognized for their features and the impacts in coaching profession. Research with the game-centered approach is still underdeveloped in coaching sports and physical activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the impacts of the game-centered approach on cognitive learning of game play and game performance during 5-week of spring season with intercollegiate female soccer players. Game performances at beginning, mid, and end of the season were examined through Game Performance Assessment Inventory (GPAI) with seventeen participants. Cognitive learning of game play was also assessed with instant recalls and practice journals with all …

Computer Integration In Palestinian Secondary Schools: Theory And Practice, Kefah A. Barham

Doctoral Dissertations

The overarching exploratory question that guides this study is: “How can Palestinian secondary schools move forward and integrate computer technology effectively into education?” For the purpose of this study, computer technology integration is defined as the use of computing devices such as desktop computers, laptops, software applications and the Internet, and peripheral devices, such as printers, scanners, digital cameras, and overhead projectors for instructional purposes in Palestinian secondary schools in the cities of Ramallah & Al Bireh and Qalqilia & Azoon. The purpose of this study is to identify ways to help teachers working at the Palestinian Ministry of Education …

Development Of The Biostatistics And Clinical Epidemiology Skills Assessment For Medical Residents, Patrick Brian Barlow

Doctoral Dissertations

This study developed the Biostatics and Clinical Epidemiology Skills (BACES) assessment, and established its preliminary item characteristics and validity evidence. Unlike previous instruments, the BACES assessment was developed and tested using an item response theory (IRT) approach to measurement to create a new, adaptive biostatistics and clinical epidemiology knowledge assessment for graduate medical professionals. Thirty multiple-choice questions were written to focus on interpreting relevant examples of clinical epidemiology and statistical methods. A four person expert panel reviewed these items for content validity. After this review, the BACES assessment was administered to 147 medical residents across three academic medical centers. Results …

Effect Of Automatic Item Generation On Ability Estimates In A Multistage Test, Kimberly F. Colvin

Doctoral Dissertations

In adaptive testing, including multistage adaptive testing (MST), the psychometric properties of the test items are needed to route the examinees through the test. However, if testing programs use items which are automatically generated at the time of administration there is no opportunity to calibrate the items therefore the items’ psychometric properties need to be predicted. This simulation study evaluates the accuracy with which examinees’ abilities can be estimated when automatically generated items, specifically, item clones, are used in MSTs. The behavior of the clones in this study was modeled according to the results of Sinharay and Johnson’s (2008) investigation …

An Investigation Of Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of A Systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop For Increasing Social Skills, Natalie Christina Nussli

Doctoral Dissertations

This study describes how a systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop promoting inquiry, experiential learning, and sociocultural theory guided the enculturation of 18 special education teachers into three-dimensional virtual worlds. The main purpose was to enable these teachers to make informed decisions about the usability of virtual worlds for students with social skills challenges, such as students with autism. Mixed-methods data analysis and triangulation were based on the analysis of seven instruments. Six of the seven steps of the intervention received high ratings indicating its viability for teachers' professional development opportunities

Assessing Student Learning With Technology: A Descriptive Study Of Technology-Using Teacher Practice And Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Tpack), Lara Elaine Ervin-Kassab

Doctoral Dissertations

In 2013, a majority of states in the US had adopted Common Core State Standards under the Race to the Top initiative. With this adoption came the opportunity to utilize computer-delivered and computer-adaptive testing. Although the computer-based assessments were intended to assist teachers in designing classroom assessments and using student data to inform instructional practice, teacher-reported data indicated that the areas in which teachers are most unprepared, lack confidence, or are in need of development were assessment (DeLuca, 2012; Wayman et al., 2007) and technology (Brush & Saye, 2009; Kramarski & Michalsky, 2010).

The Technology Assessment Practices Survey (TAPS) study …