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2017

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Adult Education

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Connecting Graduate Level Non-Native English Speakers To Language Support Resources, Kathryn Korchik Oct 2017

Connecting Graduate Level Non-Native English Speakers To Language Support Resources, Kathryn Korchik

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project addresses the question of how to build the capacity of student services staff and university faculty to connect graduate level English language learners to appropriate language-based resources. Because student support resources on larger university campuses are often dispersed and frequently targeted to undergraduate populations, it can be difficult for students to have knowledge of and access to resources and services. This project, utilizing previous research to support the foundational assumptions that international graduate students require special attention, documents the creation of a website to serve the needs of students, staff, and faculty at a large research university. The …


From Small Talk To Academic Dialogue: An Online Professional Development Course For The English Language Proficiency Standards For Adult Education, Debra H. Cargill Oct 2017

From Small Talk To Academic Dialogue: An Online Professional Development Course For The English Language Proficiency Standards For Adult Education, Debra H. Cargill

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project was to explore the English Literacy Proficiency (ELP) Standards for Adult Education (AE) (AIR, 2016). I studied the ELP Standards for AE in order to understand how to integrate academic language learning into instruction in order to support adult English language learners in transitioning to careers and postsecondary education. This knowledge was used to design an online professional development course that supported the use and implementation of the standards. The four-week online course engaged participants in course content through integrated discussions, assignments, and materials that utilized a constructivist approach to learning.


The Benefits Of Experiential Learning In An Outdoor Expedition Setting, Luke Kimmes Oct 2017

The Benefits Of Experiential Learning In An Outdoor Expedition Setting, Luke Kimmes

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Experiential learning has been around for hundreds of years. This is one of many pedological methods that teachers use today. Technological advancements in the classroom, and in modern day society, is creating withdraw from these experiential hands on learning tactics in an outdoor setting. To understand the extreme importance and benefits of college level students to have interest and incorporate an experiential learning experience in their lives, presented below in the literature review there is content backing this approach. Through the literature review findings, my personal experience on expeditions, and in the field teachings, the Rediscovering North America experiential learning …


Political Speech, Doublespeak, And Critical-Thinking Skills In American Education, Doris Minin-White Oct 2017

Political Speech, Doublespeak, And Critical-Thinking Skills In American Education, Doris Minin-White

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The idea for this project was born during the 2016 US presidential election campaign, after noticing that my students did not seem to find anything questionable about statements of politicians, while at the same time it seemed apparent to me that not all the candidates spoke in a straightforward fashion. This disparity led to my research question: What patterns of doublespeak characterize selected discourse samples of the two most recent US presidents? In this project, I presented the analysis of the candidates’ styles of doublespeak based on the number of occurrences and a technique that I called “The Beguilement and …


Website​ ​Resource​ ​For​ ​Strengthening​ ​The​ ​Relationships​ ​Of​ ​Fathers And​ ​Their​ ​Children​ ​To​ ​Increase​ ​Academic​ ​Achievement, Adam Barlow Oct 2017

Website​ ​Resource​ ​For​ ​Strengthening​ ​The​ ​Relationships​ ​Of​ ​Fathers And​ ​Their​ ​Children​ ​To​ ​Increase​ ​Academic​ ​Achievement, Adam Barlow

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project is, how can empowering fathers in their child’s life increase student academic achievement? The Capstone provides literature supporting the value of father in the lives of their children, providing them with optimal success in academics and beyond the classroom. It brings together characteristics and statistics of fatherhood, detailing how a father impacts: family roles, child’s behavior, child’s needs, learning tasks, daughters, a child with special needs, mother and father differences, and early child development. The author brings forth research to support fathers staying engaged with their child, from before birth to adolescence, providing …


Training Adult Esl Volunteers In College And Career Readiness Standards, Cara Berger Oct 2017

Training Adult Esl Volunteers In College And Career Readiness Standards, Cara Berger

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

A significant number of instructors in adult education programs are volunteer, and the volunteer-led classrooms in which these volunteers serve face difficulties and challenges that staff-led classrooms do not (Belzer, 2006; Gomez, 2012). This project sought to answer the question: how can College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) be incorporated into lesson plans for an adult ESL intermediate volunteer-led class so that students may benefit from the same standards of instruction that staff-led classes follow? Research on the CCRS and various volunteer training methods was addressed to develop a project artifact intended to aid volunteers in their lesson planning. The …


English Language Learner Considerations For Equitable Identification Of Needs And Referrals To Special Education, Melissa Persons Oct 2017

English Language Learner Considerations For Equitable Identification Of Needs And Referrals To Special Education, Melissa Persons

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Identifying learner needs for an English learner (EL) student has various factors to consider that a non-EL student may not. To explore what is needed to be analyzed prior to determining an EL student’s learner needs, the question being researched is: What are considerations to take into account when an EL student begins the Student and Teacher Assistance Team (STAT)? The framework the research was performed was analyzing resources from school districts and state departments of education, as well as guidance from personal communication with professionals in related fields. Taking all of the data from literature and information from currently …


Lesson-Plan​ ​Delivery​ ​Before​ ​Lesson-Plan​ ​Design: Defining,​ ​Sequencing,​ ​And​ ​Teaching​ ​The​ ​Essential​ ​Skills​ ​Of​ ​An​ ​English Language​ ​Teacher​ ​Development​ ​Program​ ​At​ ​Induction, Joel Hanson Oct 2017

Lesson-Plan​ ​Delivery​ ​Before​ ​Lesson-Plan​ ​Design: Defining,​ ​Sequencing,​ ​And​ ​Teaching​ ​The​ ​Essential​ ​Skills​ ​Of​ ​An​ ​English Language​ ​Teacher​ ​Development​ ​Program​ ​At​ ​Induction, Joel Hanson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research questions addressed in this project were: 1) What are the essential set of teaching skills/practices at the induction portion of teacher training that are applicable to my EFL teaching context? 2) In light of the specific teacher preparation and development needs of the staff in a 12-school network in Morocco, how should these skills be sequenced and taught during the induction portion of an English language teacher development program? Answering these questions involved an investigation—and integration—of four teacher development frameworks proceeding from the macro- to micro-level of teacher training, unpacking what Feiman-Nemser calls the central tasks of learning …


All Good People: Professional Development Sessions For Educational Equity At The High School Level, Mauri B. Deer Oct 2017

All Good People: Professional Development Sessions For Educational Equity At The High School Level, Mauri B. Deer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project shares the journey of a white educator towards greater cultural competence, and provides guidance for those beginning an equity journey. It was developed as a series of five, one-hour professional development sessions with supplementary materials. The project was created to address gaps in education for a school district increasing in diversity, but without an equity framework or district-wide initiative that addressed educational equity. The professional development sessions are intended for small groups of educators at the secondary level who have little to no experience with concepts of educational equity. Each session uses concepts in culturally responsive teaching to …


Effective Vocabulary Instruction And Study Strategies For Adult Efl Learners, Daniel Todd Place Oct 2017

Effective Vocabulary Instruction And Study Strategies For Adult Efl Learners, Daniel Todd Place

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

In this capstone I seek the answers to two questions. What are some effective ways to teach vocabulary in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom? What are some effective ways students can use to study vocabulary outside of the classroom to help them learn and retain target vocabulary items? I start by explaining who my students are. I include information about the students, the university I teach at and the town where the university is located. I continue to explain: what recent research says about adult EFL learners` needs; the importance of vocabulary improvement for EFL learners; and …


A Family Approach To Emergent Reading And Writing, Amanda Jones Oct 2017

A Family Approach To Emergent Reading And Writing, Amanda Jones

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how can adult education programming be developed to support parents of emergent readers and writers? It discusses the importance of emergent literacy, brain development, and the role of parents in their child’s development. The stages of emergent literacy, including milestones of child’s development are included. The research of Malcolm Knowles is the framework used in order to create a presentation that supports literacy in the home. Specifically, the six assumptions of andragogy (adult learning) from Knowles’s theory are identified and described.


Creating Conversation Guides To Help Parents And Children Communicate Effectively Of Sexual Health Topics, Emily R. Russo Oct 2017

Creating Conversation Guides To Help Parents And Children Communicate Effectively Of Sexual Health Topics, Emily R. Russo

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project was created to increase student knowledge of sexual health topics through engaging parents and children in conversation. While most parents wanted to be the primary source of information on sexual health for their student, they did not engage in effective communication about sexual health topics. This lead me to the following research question: How can creating conversation guides on sexual health topics can help parents communicate more effectively? Using Family Communication Patterns Theory and Adult Learning Theory I developed concrete and scaffolded communication structure focused on practicing communication skills. I created a 3-part parent presentation series on …


Implicit Bias And The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Phenomenon And Their Affects On Literacy Performance In Elementary Students, Anna K. Quirk Jul 2017

Implicit Bias And The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Phenomenon And Their Affects On Literacy Performance In Elementary Students, Anna K. Quirk

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The author’s inquiry was: How do implicit bias and the self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon affect literacy performance in elementary students. Implicit or unconscious bias is known for causing issues with judges and police officers, but new awareness has been brought to the realm of education and how these biases can widen the achievement gap in literacy and other academic areas. The self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon or Pygmalion Effect, can hinder growth in academics when an educator fails to identify student strengths, only focusing on deficits. This project brings awareness to how implicit bias and the self-fulfilling prophecy through the use of a …


Curriculum For Teaching Relative Constructions To Somali-Speaking Learners Of English, Kelly M. Rynda Jul 2017

Curriculum For Teaching Relative Constructions To Somali-Speaking Learners Of English, Kelly M. Rynda

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how do relative constructions in Somali compare to relative constructions in English, what difficulties do Englishlanguage learners have acquiring relatives, and what teaching strategies are most appropriate for these learners? It documents one teacher’s creation of a unit focused entirely around the acquisition of relative constructions, using strategies that have been identified as most effective, such as learning subject relatives and object relatives in sequence and utilizing repeated timed reading. The author provides lesson plans and activities that align with the best practices outlined in the research, with particular consideration given to …


Giving English Language Learners A Paddle: Idiom Usage In Two Undergraduate Texts, Michael John Heine Jul 2017

Giving English Language Learners A Paddle: Idiom Usage In Two Undergraduate Texts, Michael John Heine

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project was to answer the research question of: What types of idioms are common in two undergraduate texts and how often do they occur? Idiom definition and type were first explored based on several different factors. A text analysis was used in order to identify the frequency and typology of idiom occurrence within two undergraduate texts. The identified idioms’ were looked at for non-compositionality, and they were then categorized based on their level of transparency. The findings reinforced the idea that idiom instruction should be informed by corpus-based lists created from authentic language. The findings also …