Education Commons^™

The School Librarian’S Role In Writing Instruction: Research, Perceptions, And Practice, April M. Dawkins, Karen W. Gavigan

Faculty Publications

The degree to which librarians are actively involved in developing the writing skills of students has primarily been studied in academic libraries (Bronshteyn and Baladad 2006, “Librarians asWriting Instructors: Using Paraphrasing Exercises to Teach Beginning Information Literacy Students.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 32 (5):533–536; King 2012, “Essentials of Basic Writing Pedagogy for Librarians.” Community & Junior College Libraries 18:55–66. Accessed March 20, 2016. doi:10.1080/ 02783915.2012.700211; Smith 2001, “Keeping Track: Librarians, Composition Instructors, and Student Writers Use the Research Journal.” Research Strategies 18:21–28) and has rarely been researched in terms of K-12 settings either in the United States or internationally. …

The Effects Of Implementing An Online Professional Learning Community For Teachers Of Gifted And Talented Courses: An Action Research Study, Chelsey A. Mintz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to examine the effects of implementing an online professional learning community (PLC) designed explicitly for teachers of gifted and talented (GT) English language arts (ELA) courses. The present action research (AR) is a limited mixed design study, including quantitative and qualitative elements, to discover the effects on collaboration and professional growth focused on best practices for GT instruction. The quantitative data were collected through surveys, which included Likert scales and nominal items and were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The qualitative data were collected through guided and semi-structured interview questions and transcribed before …

One Woman's College And Medical School Experience In The 1920s: Hilla Sheriff's Story, Jennifer L. Daniel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this historical biography is to describe the educational experiences of Hilla Sheriff, an extraordinary woman who challenged attitudes about women’s education and employment in the medical field in the United States in the 1920s. Although the majority of women who attended a college or university at that time went to co-educational institutions, they were often limited to traditional gender role coursework such as home economics, nursing, or teaching. This study of Sheriff’s educational experiences particularizes attitudes about women’s education and employment in the 1920s. Many people did not see value in higher education for women. The thread …

The Use Of E-Readers For Secondary Literacy And Reading Motivation, Graham Parker

Theses and Dissertations

The Use of E-Readers for Secondary Literacy and Reading Motivation is an Action Research study that describes one predominantly white, southern, rural working-class English Language Arts class of 11th grade student-participants (n=44) of below average reading ability who experienced reading The Great Gatsby on e-readers (i.e., electronic books with dictionaries and visual texts in the form of illustrations to supplement written text). The students’ motivation to read was compared and contrasted with an 11th grade class of student-participants who read The Great Gatsby via a traditional print book (i.e., written text with no visual text). Quantitative data included a pre …

Impacts Of An Online Learning Community On The Way Students Communicate, David Dennis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to describe one advanced placement (AP) high school literature unit and student-participants' perceptions of technological communication in that English Language Arts (ELA) unit. The site of the research was West-Oak High School in Westminster, South Carolina. Student-participants are accustomed to electronic communication. The participant-researcher designed and implemented a blended AP ELA curriculum unit for Shakespearean Drama to combine an online learning discussion with face-to-face discussions aimed at observing whether these students are able to improve their ability to construct defensible verbal and written arguments. Data collections included a series of observations and …

The Impact Of Critical Thinking Strategies On Curriculum And Instruction For Usaf Operations Intelligence, Jason R. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The goals of the present action research study were to understand intelligence analysts’ perceptions of weapon systems visual recognition (vis-recce) training and to determine the impact of a Critical Thinking Training (CTT) Seminar and Formative Assessments on unit-level intelligence analysts' vis-recce performance at a mid-western United States Air Force (USAF) base where the participant-researcher is the USAF unit’s senior intelligence officer which is congruent with action research methods. The identified problem of practice is based on the fact that after decades of viewing vis-recce training as a rote requirement and watching intelligence analysts struggle on the summative assessment, the USAF …

Pedagogy Of The Transplanted: A Study Of Selected First-Year Jamaican Immigrant Elementary School Teachers And Their Perspectives On South Carolina’S Curriculum Processes, Claudia Fletcher-Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

The study explores the experiences of four first-year Jamaican immigrant teachers in rural southern South Carolina regarding their descriptions of the experiences and the researcher’s observations. The main research question was concerned with first-year Jamaican immigrant elementary school teachers’ experiences as they navigate the curriculum landscape in South Carolina. The inquiry engages a qualitative research design.

Interviews, observations, and artifacts were engaged to collect data. These data were analyzed deductively and inductively through a process of content analysis. These data findings in the study covered four dominant themes these included immigrant teachers’ strengths, challenges, changes, and navigation strategies. The data …

Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Model And Middle-Level Mathematics Achievment: An Action Research Study, Cassondra Leo

Theses and Dissertations

Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Model and Middle-Level Mathematics Achievement: An Action Research Study describes an integers and rational numbers unit (TIRN) over a sixweek period in a seventh-grade flipped mathematics classroom. The identified problem of practice centers on these twenty-three student participants’ low achievement on math tests. The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between a flipped classroom pedagogy and student achievement. The participant-researcher aimed to differentiate instruction for these seventh-grade student-participants using a flipped model that included videos. This flipped classroom pedagogical model allowed for additional time for the participant-researcher to assist struggling student-participants and to foster …

Secondary Students’ Perceptions Of An Interactive Mathematics Review Program: An Action Research Study, Crystal Burroughs Wingard

Theses and Dissertations

The present action research study describes an Interactive Mathematics Review Program (IMRP) developed by the participant-researcher to enable remedial algebra students to learn in a cooperative classroom with pedagogy that promoted collaboration and hands-on, active learning. Data are comprised of surveys, field notes, semistructured interviews, and focus group insights about the IMRP over an 8-week period in the spring of 2017 at a southern, low-socioeconomic status high school. Findings include: (1) greater comprehension; (2) increased engagement and math-related discussions; (3) increased motivation; (4) egalitarian principles; and (5) high-quality reciprocity. A nine-step action plan designed to enable other math teachers at …

The Impact Of A Reflective Practice Series On The Awareness Level Of Six Teacher Candidates At A Public University In The Southeast, Lindsay M. Sturkie

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of a Reflective Practice Series (RPS) on the awareness level of preservice teachers enrolled in a field experience course in a teacher education program at a university in the southeast United States. This study took place during the Fall 2016 semester with six participants, two early childhood majors, two elementary majors, and two middle level majors. Data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires, course assignments, and field observations. The results revealed that the teacher candidates were able to make connections between theory and reflective teaching, had varying viewpoints about the process of reflection, and most …

Curricula As Complements: Inclusive Content-Based Literature And The Goals Of Common Core In Secondary Students’ English Achievement, Sara Lott

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards now suggest a 70% nonfiction, 30% fiction reading load for 6th to 12th grade students (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2017). To satisfy this curricular push toward nonfiction, many secondary English teachers are shifting away from inclusive literature instruction to a more standardized English Language Arts (ELA) model based on Common Core’s five strands for ELA: reading informational text, reading literature, writing, language, and speaking and listening. This ideological and practical shift within secondary ELA has created a local-level problem of practice. Owing to Common Core’s relative silence on issues of diversity, shifts away from …

Life After Graduation: Exploring The Utility Of A College And Career Research Project In Defining Students’ Post-High School Goals, Ashley E. Bowers

Theses and Dissertations

In order to assist students with their digital research skills while simultaneously allowing them to research and explore college and career options, a Project-Based Learning (PBL) assignment was incorporated into the secondary English classroom. This served multiple purposes: providing students guidance and support as they determine their future college and career goals, meeting several of the South Carolina 9-12 English/Language Arts standards, and increasing students’ College and Career Readiness. The site for this quantitative action research study was English 3 classes in a large, rural high school in the Charleston, South Carolina area. Quantitative, statistical data was collected from a …

Promoting A Culture Of Collaboration And Reflection Through A Professional Learning Community, Erica Charlanda Russell Murdaugh

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative Action Research Study was to describe eight elementary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ perceptions of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). The teacher-participants’ opinions about the PLC were used to improve the existing PLC to promote a more reflective and collaborative environment where ELA teachers could be supportive of each other in their endeavors to improve curriculum and pedagogy and students’ scholarly activity at Next Generation Elementary School (NGES). Data collection strategies included semi-structured interviews conducted with the eight teacher-participants as well as a focus group with the eight teacher-participants to debrief the data collected from …

The Impact Of Repeated Reading On The Comprehension Level Of Eight Eighth Grade Students At The Middle School Level, Elizabeth C. Dotson-Shupe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of repeated reading on the comprehension level of eight 8th grade students. Incorporating an action research design, data was collected through utilizing a pretest and posttest, timed repeated readings, a reading semi-open ended questionnaire, a Likert-scale questionnaire, observation and the taking of field notes, and weekly assessments. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for a total of eight weeks for a period of 20 minutes two times per week, each Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Participants were a combination of eighth-grade regular education and special education students, with the majority …

High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Effects Of One-To-One Computing Devices On Student Engagement, Herbert S. Bocchino Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The identified problem of practice for the present action research study centers on ways in which teacher-participants in a working class poor, rural, southern high school can use the iPads in daily science classroom activities to more effectively to engage these students in their classrooms and make the curriculum meaningful. Data in the form of classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and teacher in-service seminars was collected over a six week period. The results of the present action research study indicate a need for more professional development for incorporating iPads into science coursework for these teacher-participants at RHS despite their claim that …

The Impact Of Self-Regulating Practice Strategies On The Achievement Perceptions Of Sixth-Grade String Orchestra Students, Anne Poe Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of self-regulating strategies on the musical achievement perceptions of 8 6th-grade students in a beginning orchestra class. For the purposes of the study, musical achievement was measured using two parameters: (a) student self-reports of improvement and ability to effectively use self-regulating strategies and (b) teacher observations ascertaining improved class performance and student use of self-regulating strategies. During the Fall 2016 semester, students received instruction during class on goal setting, monitoring, and evaluating strategies that they were to incorporate during self-directed practice. Data were collected during pre- and postinterviews conducted in …

Implementing The Constructed Scaffold Model: Hands-On Activity Units For Advanced Placement Calculus, Susan Scott

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present action research study is to describe a hands-on activity model, named the Constructed Scaffold Model (CSM), used in an Advanced Placement Calculus class in a southeastern United States suburban high school. Data were collected over an 8-week period during the spring 2017 semester. The teacher-researcher developed a pretest and posttest to describe the CSM’s impact on 10 student-participants in her Advanced Placement classroom. Repeated measures t-tests were used to determine the effect of the CSM on the student-participants’ test scores. Additional qualitative data were collected from field notes, student surveys, a focus group, and student …

A Virtual Learning System’S Impact On Student Achievement In A Secondary Biology College Preparatory Course; An Action Research Study, Jamie Ankney Whitlock

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to describe the effectiveness of a virtual learning system (VLS) on college preparatory biology students’ pre- and posttest scores. Data were gathered from observations of students using the VLS for video lectures, practice tests, reviewing, and other online simulations in the spring of 2017. Data were also collected using a pretest and a posttest designed by the participant-researcher before and after the implementation of the VLS. A t test was used to analyze the pre- and posttest quantitative data, and the constant comparative method was used to analyze the qualitative data from …

The Impact Of Journal Writing On Students’ Understanding Of Rational Number Operations Of Eight Seventh Grade Students At Jackson Middle School, Amanda Marie Smoak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of journal writing on eight seventh grade math students’ understanding of rational numbers in a public school in South Carolina. The literature on mathematical understanding and achievement suggests that students should be taught to write about their mathematical thinking to learn the concepts or reasons behind the procedure to consistently and accurately perform operations with rational numbers (Countryman, 1992; Anderson & Little, 2004; Borasi & Rose, 1989; Ganguli, 1989; Johanning, 2000; Lim & Pugalee, 2004; McCormick, 2010; McIntosh & Draper, 2001; Miller, 1991).

During the course of the study, participants …

The Impact Of One-To-One Ipad Instruction On Student Engagement, Sherri Herbst

Theses and Dissertations

The action research study describes the experiences of 14 elementary students using one-to-one (1:1) iPad instruction to engage in learning Spanish as a second language (L2). The student-participants used 1:1 iPads to learn Spanish over an 8 week unit of study. Data was comprised of scores from a student-participant engagement rubric scored by the teacher-participant before and after the study as well as summative structured surveys with student-participants to determine their perceptions of the iPad unit. Data were also collected in participant-researcher’s daily field notes and journal entries. Formative self-reflective journals were also kept by student-participants. Summative artifacts were collected …

The Impact Of Technology Integration On The Engagement Levels Of Ten Second Grade Students In An English Language Arts Classroom, Octavia J. Hamilton-Hankins

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined the way in which integrating technology into a second grade ELA classroom impacted levels of student engagement. Research investigated utilizing various technological tools to meet learning goals and objectives in the classroom, and determined the impact on student engagement as perceived by the students and classroom teacher. The study employed a mixed-methods approach of data collecting. The researcher collected and recorded data twice a week for six weeks. In order to identify and validate the study‘s findings, the researcher used field notes, interviews, questionnaires, and checklists as the data collection sources to measure student engagement. …

The Impact Of Graphic Organizer Use On The Metacognitive Skills Of Ten Senior High School Students In An English Iv British Literature Class At Seaside High School, Josie P. White

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of graphic organizer use on the metacognitive skills of 10 senior high school students in English IV British Literature at Seaside High School.

This study took place over the course of five weeks in Spring 2017 and involved one section of the teacher-researcher’s English IV British Literature class at Seaside High School. Through student surveys, a pre-study interview with each student-participant, a learning styles inventory, students’ use of graphic organizers, the teacher-researcher’s observations and field notes, two writing assignments, and a post-study interview with each student-participant, extensive data was collected …

Impact Of Leadership Education On Perceptions Of Job Readiness In Undergraduate Students, Christine R. Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

Based on previous findings from employers, undergraduate students, and universities regarding workforce readiness, action is needed to improve students’ knowledge and skills in areas such as professionalism, communication, problem solving, and leadership. The increase in undergraduate leadership education curricula and programs over the past few decades has been significant. While research has been done on the relationship between leadership education and specific knowledge and skillsets, further research is needed on the impact of leadership education on perceived job readiness. This paper outlines the purpose, background, methodology, and findings of an action research study on the relationship between leadership education and …

Students Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Study Of On-Task And Off-Task Behaviors In Traditional Versus Montessori Classrooms, Sara-Frances Crow Lail

Theses and Dissertations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a common neurobehavioral disorder in childhood, negatively impacts academic and social functioning, both of which later influence adulthood (Bose, 2013). This action research study focuses on comparing the prevalence of on-task and off-task behaviors exhibited by elementary age students diagnosed with ADHD in a traditional classroom structure versus a Montessori classroom structure. While much time and research has been conducted to assist educators in meeting the needs of students with learning disabilities through interventions, less research has focused on non-conventional educational environments as an alternative for children with ADHD. In this study, on-task and off-task …

The Effects Of Student Involvement In Writing Topic Selection On Achievement And Motivation, Henry D. Tindal

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined 18 high school student-participants’ perceptions of essay writing both with teacher-generated standardized prompts and prompts where students were included in the development of the writing assignment. The students consisted of 12 white females, 2 Asian females, and 4 white males enrolled in an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class from a rural, southern school located in South Carolina. Quantitative methods were used to determine the impact of the prompts on the students’ motivations for writing essays. Writing samples, surveys and observations comprised the data. Teacher-participants and instructional leaders reflected on the data with the …

Ninth-Grade Students’ Perceptions Of Social Media Responsibility & Cyberbullying, Geoffrey A. Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

At Upstate High School (pseudonym) in South Carolina, incidences of cyberbullying are on the rise. This explanatory action research study was implemented with the purpose of raising awareness of social media responsibility among ninth-grade high school students along with determining what these students’ perceptions of social media responsibility and cyberbullying. The study was conducted during the Fall semester of 2016 with a single group of 105 9th grade students at a high school in the upstate of South Carolina. Students who participated in the study completed an 85-item questionnaire to provide such quantitative information as their demographics, social media usage, …

Studying Jazz In The Concert Band Setting And Its Effects On Perceptions Of Jazz Performance, Joseph Ryan Westberry

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present Action Research study was to describe a class of southern, suburban, high school band student-participants’ perceptions of a jazz performance of an arrangement by the researcher that is a Duke Ellington adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite. Student-participants’ perceptions were gathered using a modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scale in the form of a pre-test and a post-test to determine any changes in attitudes towards jazz performance. Data were analyzed and reflected upon with the collaborating band director and administrators at Cane Bay High School and an action plan was designed to improve student-participants’ attitudes toward jazz …

The Act Keytrain Program And The Act Workkeys Test Performance: An Action Research Study, Matthew T. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative action research study was to describe the effectiveness of the American College Testing (ACT) KeyTrain program in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), conducted with 50 inmate-student-participants who were enrolled in the Palmetto Unified School District’s Tyger River High School’s (TyRCI) adult education program. The identified problem of practice for this dissertation in practice (DiP) was an evaluation of the effectiveness of this program for one group of low socioeconomic status Black male inmate-student-participants. This evaluation was of vital importance to the Palmetto Unified School District (PUSD) and SCDC because ACT WorkKeys is one …

Exploring An Organization Skills Intervention For Improving Executive Functioning Skills Within A Gifted Population: An Action Research Study, Lynn Gee

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring an Organization Skills Intervention for Improving Executive Functioning Skills within a Gifted Population: An Action Research Study examines the impact of providing gifted and talented (GT) middle level students at Ford Middle Academy (FMA), with an instructional program called Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) that was designed as an intervention to teach organizational, planning, and time management skills. The identified problem of practice at this school involved the lack of an instructional program to enhance organizational and study skills at the middle school level. The participant-researcher wondered if the HOPS program would be an effective program to use …

A Professional Learning Community For Novice Teachers At A Title I Elementary School: An Action Research Study, Marie Putnam Havran

Theses and Dissertations

The present study describes the effect of a professional learning community (PLC) for novice teachers at Greenville Elementary, a Title I elementary school in the southern United States. The identified problem of practice at this school involves novice teachers who are required to participate in a district-approved Assisting, Developing, and Evaluating Professional Teachers (ADEPT) model as the teacher evaluation program in addition to maintaining a portfolio of their work experiences. The participant-researcher wondered if this affected novice teacher’s self-efficacy in the classroom with children of working-class poor, and if a PLC aimed at increasing their feelings of self-efficacy would be …