Education Commons^™

Increasing The Participation And Success Of Struggling Students In High School Physics Courses, Ian O'Neill

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

O’Neill, I. Increasing the Participation and Success of Struggling Students in High School Physics Courses (2019) Physics is the most mathematically complex science course offered in the high school setting. Due to the higher level of mathematical proficiency needed to succeed in physics, it is common for school districts to place it as the final science course offered to high school students. Minnesota only requires students to take three years of science in order to graduate and has no specific requirement for physics. This has led to low enrollment and the negative stigma that physics is an unnecessary and difficult …

U.S. History Curriculum Project Using Blended Learning To Improve Formative Feedback, Timothy Kennealy

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Kennealy, T. U.S. History Curriculum Project Using Blended Learning to Improve Formative Feedback. (2019)

This capstone project leverages a 1:1 device classroom setting to create opportunities for effective teacher-to-student formative feedback. Classroom feedback is complex and proven effective but the practice of giving excellent feedback is rare, even for the most dedicated K-12 teachers. The implementation of effective feedback is rare but there is significant and specific research that identifies important characteristics and formats for offering effective formative feedback. A 1:1 classroom using blended learning offers opportunities to implement excellent feedback practices by allowing teachers more time for conversation with …

A Trauma-Informed Devised Theater Curriculum, Christopher Michael

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project seeks to understand how trauma affects the brain in order to inform more effective approaches for engaging high-school aged survivors of trauma in devising theater. By understanding how the brain responds in unfamiliar situations, a teacher can be more informed on how to prevent triggering the natural flight, fight, or freeze responses common to post-traumatic stress disorder. The realization that many trauma survivors need additional exercises and time to transition from survival mode to their more cognitive processes informs the processes necessary for creating theater from scratch. Planning for this results in a more carefully selected scaffolding of …

Improving Attention And Emotional Regulation For Middle School Students Through The Use Of Mindfulness Practices, Sean Mattner

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Mattner, S. Improving Attention and Emotional Regulation for Middle School Students Through the Use of Mindfulness Practices. (2019) Research has demonstrated that establishing a mindfulness practice has a range of mental, emotional, social, and educational benefits. The curriculum designed for this project focuses on using mindfulness techniques for 6th-8th grade students to improve attention, concentration, and emotional regulation. Mindfulness practices have been implemented in a number of settings, from hospitals to work environments for decades, but implementing it within the classroom, especially for children, is limited. The project involved creating a diverse curriculum that engages students with mindfulness through activities …

Curriculum Development Resources For Teachers In Adult Basic Education: Facilitating Learner Self-Advocacy, Erin Cary

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research questions addressed in this capstone project were, “What educational support do ABE learners need to develop and employ self-advocacy skills to respond to barriers in their lives? What tools will help ABE instructors facilitate that support in the classroom?” The author researched barriers that may be preventing learners in adult basic education programs from succeeding in their goals, including systemic social discrimination, a lack of understanding by instructors and administrators of their intersectional identities, and state and federal framing of ABE policy as an economic investment in workforce development instead of the provision of education as a fundamental …

Smartphones In The Classroom, Isaac Flynn Buggs

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that districts, schools, and teachers routinely ban students’ smartphones from the learning environment. Students see their smartphone as their most important possession. This project incorporates students’ preferred device within the academic environment. Bringing smartphones into the classroom, in a controlled way, can engage students and teach them to use their phones responsibly. The project involves modifying Pearson’s iLit ELL curriculum with Mentimeter presentations and G Suite for Education homework assignments. The Mentimeter presentations allow students to engage in the content and to launch class discussions using their smartphones. Homework is also assigned using G Suite for Education …

What A Waste! A Secondary Environmental Science Unit On Waste Reduction And Management, Megan Wagner

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This writing serves as an introductory unit to waste management and reduction to be used in a high school urban environmental education classroom. The research question for this capstone was, does teaching environmental science through waste reduction and management in an urban classroom affect student engagement and connection? The research outlined in this paper explores and examines the concept of an urban classroom environment, the importance of teaching environmental science, and tools and materials to incorporate a unit on waste into an environmental science course. The paper goes on to explain the importance of educating students about the waste crisis …

How Place-Based Education Increases Student Interpretation Of Minnesota's Landscape And Geologic Processes, Jessica Strom

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Gaining perspective on one’s surroundings comes in many ways. One method to connect students to their local area and help them develop a sense of place is through place-based education. Making scientific-based observations and interpretations of a physical landscape and also interviewing community members can help students build an understanding of an area’s past and can help students make better educated decisions about how to take care of an area in the future. This capstone paper and curriculum unit project addressed the topic of how place-based education increases student interpretation of Minnesota's landscape and geologic processes. Place-based education is a …

Teaching Chemistry Through An Environmental Science Lens And The Effect Of Student Understanding And Motivation In Learning High School Science, Sara Peterson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that on average, student motivation for secondary sciences, especially physical sciences, decreases from ages nine to seventeen due to a perceived lack of connection to content. The curriculum designed for this project focuses on using socio-scientific issues (SSI) to relate an introductory knowledge of chemistry to environmental examples. Using SSI and real world, environmental examples has been shown to increase student understanding and interest in secondary science content. The project has combined the two to create a curriculum which lends to both socio-scientific issues and environmental examples to increase scientific relevancy in students. The curriculum will be …

Discovering Who We Could Become: Culturally Responsive And Rigorous Resources For Middle-Grade Theatre Teachers, Rachel Brady

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Brady, R. Discovering who we could become: Culturally responsive and rigorous resources for middle-grade theatre teachers. (2019) Theatre education can be a powerful tool at the middle school level in terms of providing students the opportunity to think creatively and find autonomy in their learning. However, the dearth of resources appropriate to the middle-grade drama classroom create challenges for teachers in terms of designing a curriculum that is both culturally responsive to the students within it, and artistically and academically rigorous. This capstone aimed to address this challenge by developing a middle school drama resource library and examines relevant research …

Changing The Surgical Residency: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Residents’ And Faculty Experiences One Year After Implementation, Sarah B. Cairo, Wendy Craig, Caitlin Gutheil, Paul K. J. Han, Kristiina Hyrkas, Lynda Macken, Jim Whiting

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Objective: To evaluate a reformed surgical residency curriculum aimed at addressing emerging practice models, enhancing residents’ educational experience, and improving the quality/continuity of patient care by reducing the service size and enhancing attending-resident interactions.

Methods: A mixed-methods study of the surgical training program following curriculum reform including: 1) focus group and individual qualitative interviews with residents, attendings, nurses, and advanced practice providers to explore stakeholder perspectives on curriculum reform, 2) time study of surgical resident activities, and 3) quantitative assessment of surgical case logs.

Results: Qualitative interviews demonstrated disparate knowledge and attitudes regarding the goals of the curriculum with emergence …

Teaching Data Literacy For Civic Engagement: Resources For Data Capture And Organization, Brandon T. Locke, Jason A. Heppler

Jason Heppler

Endangered Data Week emerged in the early months of 2017 as an effort to encourage conversations about government-produced, open data and the many factors that can limit its access. The event offers an internationally-coordinated series of events that includes publicizing the availability of datasets, increasing critical engagement with them, encouraging open data policies at all levels of government, and the fostering of data skills through workshops on curation, documentation and discovery, improved access, and preservation. The reflection provides an outline of the curriculum development happening through Endangered Data Week and encourages others to contribute.

Developing Interactive Curricular Elements With Teams Of Faculty, Staff And Students, Betsy J. Becker, Sara Bills, Robert H. Fuchs, Kellie Gossman, Tessa Wells, Peggy Moore

Posters and Presentations: Physical Therapy

Students are continually searching for new resources to augment their learning. Online resources have become highly favored, especially by the millennial age group, for convenience, self-paced content, and versatility across learning styles. It has been reported that e-learning platforms are as effective as traditional face-to-face instruction, but may be best utilized when used as an adjunctive resource for teaching psychomotor skills.1,2 In a study about student confidence, results showed an increase in self-efficacy following the use of online learning materials.3 Blended learning, the next generation of web-based education, mixes advances in technology with creative faculty to fuse effective delivery methods …

Assessment Of Antimicrobial Pharmacokinetics Curriculum In Schools And Colleges Of Pharmacy Across The United States, Gary Fong, Elias B. Chahine, Julie Ann Justo, Navaneeth Narayanan, Emily Heil, Kayla R. Stover, Jonathan C. Cho, Zach Jenkins, Conan Macdougall

Pharmacy Practice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Blueprint Of Reform, Social Justice Questions, And The Missing Perspective Of African Americans, Raymellia Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

American schools were successful in assimilating European immigrants and their descendants, this has not been the case for nonwhites. Orfield points out the fact that Native Americans, African Americans, and people of Mexican origin in the United States received little education until well into the twentieth century is an indication of historical educational barriers facing nonwhite people (2013). The purpose of this study is to raise awareness to the evidence of the historical roots of racial inequality in failing schools and how it relates to Black and Latino students locked into inferior schools today. I provide a historical background …

Introduction To Construction Tools And Equipment Course Concept, Jason Kenneth Wahlund

Construction Management

The current Cal Poly Construction Management curriculum covers nearly all areas of the construction industry with a wide range of materials along with how, where and why they are used. However, no class is specifically geared towards educating students to learn about the tools and equipment that are required to complete most of the jobs in these industries. By offering a technical elective course that allows students to not only visualize but recognize what tools and pieces of equipment are most effective and acceptable for various applications, we can enable students to further understand issues of constructability and safety on …

Tolkien’S Allegory: Using Peter Jackson’S Vision Of Fellowship To Illuminate Male Adolescent Catholic Education, Adam P. Zoeller, Thomas E. Malewitz Ph.D.

Journal of Catholic Education

With many of the Catholic student population disengaged from regular ritual experiences their working vocabulary of the prayers and knowledge of the Church is limited. A beneficial bridge for many of these disconnected students, specifically male adolescents has been the use of storytelling in connection to Catholic themes to lay the foundations of ritual and deeper concepts through a more familiar setting. Through media literary, multi-modal instruction and Scripture exegesis adolescents can begin to recognize, understand, and feel a connection with the severity of the sacrifice of the Apostles in following Jesus of Nazareth. This article will offer some insights …

Are You Listening? How Listening Skills Help Students Become Informed And Engaged Citizens In A Culturally Diverse World, Nicole Schwaben

Honors Projects

The ability to listen is vital for good communication to exist and flourish. Without properly developed listening skills, one may unintentionally create roadblocks when communicating with others. Good communication will allow for the spread of differing ideas and perspectives. The social studies classroom is a place in which students have the opportunity to develop skills to become good citizens. These skills include the ability to make reasoned and informed decisions and interact with a culturally diverse and interdependent world. In order to achieve these skills, students must engage in discussion with their peers. While there is a focus on the …

The Effects Of Universal Pre-Kindergarten On School Readiness, Megan Royek

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Universal Pre-Kindergarten (Universal Pre-K) refers to government-funded preschool programs by the state (Rock, 2018). Universal Pre-kindergarten is an initiative to enhance children’s cognitive development and learning before entering kindergarten (Atchison, Parker & Diffey, 2017). Universal Pre-Kindergarten is a controversial topic due to the cost of sending students, which requires funding from the government (Rock, 2018). By conducting research through a literature review, I hope to discover the pros and cons of the effects of universal Pre-K on children’s educational trajectories as well as their cognitive development and social/emotional skills. Through research I hope to come to a concrete conclusion supported …

See And Be Seen: Young Adult Refugee Literature In The High School Curriculum, Patrice Splan

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 25 million refugees in the world today, over half of whom are under the age of 18. As these young people adapt to new schools and communities, it is essential that all students have opportunities to see themselves represented in literature and to develop understandings of the experiences of others. This project provides an analysis of young adult refugee literature with a unit plan for application of texts in a ninth-grade Virginia English classroom, stressing the importance of education as a tool for awareness, reflection, and empathy.

Failure To Launch?: Advancing The Case For Financial Literacy Interventions In Postsecondary Education, Cathleen Snyder

Dissertations, 2014-2019

For college undergraduates, the thought of managing money is often new, exciting, and terrifying in the same breath. Some students have learned well from their parental and prior academic influences, and yet others may be overwhelmed by a lack of those same resources. As postsecondary institutions endeavor to level the proverbial playing field, helping college graduates launch into meaningful, financially independent lives, it begs additional consideration on the intervention methods that might be most impactful.

This study examined a for-credit, curriculum-based intervention specific to personal finance topics. It attempted to answer several key questions: How knowledgeable are students relative to …

Importance Of Combining Physical Activity And Health And Wellness In To Physical Education Within Schools., Chandler Mckean

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone project brings to light the importance of physical activity and health and wellness education in connecting a child’s mind and internal body, to their physical outer body. This project examines the physical education curriculum in its entirety and displays the current pros and shortcomings in physical education within schools. Today, the education system strives to educate its students to the best of their abilities. This focus has begun to push away non-academic classes, such as physical education, to devote more time and resources in other areas, e.g. math, sciences, and language arts. Through the use of literature …

A Comparison Of The Curricula Of The Top-Ranked Prelicensure Baccalaureate Nursing Programs In The United States, Silvia Imanda

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What constitutes an ideal prelicensure nursing curriculum is not well understood. Specifically, what are the strategic curricular sequencing and curricular themes or focus might be included to contribute to producing high quality graduates? The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study investigation was to look at successful programs and identify effective curricular sequencing and curricular themes or focus that might be inferred to have contributed to producing high quality graduates. Seven top-ranked prelicensure baccalaureate nursing programs were selected based on three national college rankings services. Based on data from interviews and publicly accessible documents, seven case studies were compared and …

Curriculum Change: A Study On Teacher Perceptions Of Curriculum Change On Content Standards, Tiffany Kessler-Hopek

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, curriculum has encountered frequent changes throughout years. The main initiative of educational change has three main components, and they are to increase the quality and rigor of the curriculum, have a common curriculum, and prepare students for secondary education. The standards in the state of Georgia have changed from Georgia Performance Standards and Common Core State Standards to the more recent Georgia Standards of Excellence. By the school year 2018-2019, the Georgia Standards of Excellence should be fully adopted. An explanatory sequential mixed methods study was conducted to examine the perceptions of teachers on curriculum change …

Implementing Social Activism Into An Elementary Classroom, Chelsea Riotutar

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Social Activism is a key aspect to educating and being educated. For this Capstone, the researcher discusses on the outcomes to implementing a social activism curriculum into an elementary classroom. The participants for the Capstone Project included fifth-grade students in a public elementary school located in a small agricultural city. Through a literature review and detailed lesson plan, the researcher has further discussed and described implementations through multiple subjects which serve and acknowledge all students in the classroom. As a result, the researcher has found a need for a social activism curriculum in this problem-solving elementary school. With an arrangement …

Disability Awareness In Young Children, Guadalupe Y. Espinoza

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Young children who attend schools nowadays are likely exposed to many more types of diversity ranging from race, ethnicity, religion, and social class to name a few in comparison to the past. One area of diversity in specific is the inclusion of individuals with disabilities, and because children are so young in age, they may not be aware of disabilities or even identify when a peer or a surrounding adult has a disability. In schools the idea of raising disability awareness to an extent where students not only understand but recognize disabilities, perhaps, is one of the most challenging aspects …

A Curriculum Design For Emergent English Language Learners In Middle School Science, Allison Simpson

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of this Capstone project is to design a curriculum for emergent English Language Learners (ELLs). This subgroup of students typically comes from a different educational background and speaks a different native language than native English-speaking students. This presents a challenge for educators to include modifications to their current curriculum. While most curricula include modifications for educators to use, they are usually not at the level Emergent ELLs need to be successful in the classroom. This curriculum focuses on emergent level students in the middle school science classroom. The research question is How do we meet emergent ELL students …

Behavior Coaching; A Curriculum Design To Help Coach Today’S Teachers On How To Deal With Student Behavior In The Classroom, Maggie Swanson

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of this curriculum design project was to create a curriculum modeled after practices of literacy coaching, to help coach teachers on effective and inclusive methods and practices to offset disruptive, student behavior in their classroom. Using research from literacy coaching a curriculum was created into a handbook for behavior coaches to follow when coaching teachers in their building. The idea is to provide support and guidance to teachers that allow them to have a plan to address their specific student’s behavior within their own classroom. A test trial was implemented to test the coaching handbooks effectiveness and gain …

The Use Of Diverse Young Adult Literature In High School Classrooms, Lauren Mohler

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Although young adult literature (abbreviated YAL) is increasing in popularity, its benefits in the classroom are lacking in research, particularly in large-scale studies featuring both qualitative and quantitative data. Furthermore, as our world continues to become more diverse, students can not only connect with characters like themselves but also learn to appreciate others from diverse backgrounds through reading YAL texts, which are proven to increase students’ engagement with texts. To better analyze if young adult literature is being used in secondary English Language Arts classrooms and how frequently the various facets of diversity are being considered when choosing texts for …

The Exploration Of Multicultural Pedagogy On Rural Student Global Literacy And College Preparedness, Katelyn E. Kreis

Scholar Week 2016 - present

The study of the effectiveness of multicultural pedagogy on student global literacy and college preparedness is a topic of concern for educators and students. Multicultural education is a multifaceted pedagogical approach in which educators provide diverse experiences for students to learn to work within the global society. The purpose of this research study was to explore the influence multicultural pedagogy has on rural student global literacy and college preparedness. The quantitative approach examined: differences between urban and rural samples, multicultural pedagogy, global citizenship, college preparedness, U.S. interconnectedness, and confidence of new literacies between students in a traditional instructional setting (N …