Education Commons^™

Teacher Interactions, Teacher Bias And Child Behavioral Health, Ellen E. Edge

Doctoral Dissertations

TEACHER INTERACTIONS, TEACHER BIAS AND CHILD BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SEPTEMBER 2020 ELLEN ELLSBERG EDGE, BFA, THE COOPER UNION SCHOOL OF ART Post BA, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.ED, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph. D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Claire Hamilton This study utilized a mixed methods study design to gain a clearer understanding of the thoughts and feelings of Lead teachers in Head Start programs who work with children with perceived behavioral health challenges. Utilizing a semi-structured interview, 11 teachers employed in a New England Head Start program were asked about their views associated with child behavioral health, …

An Assessment Of The Professional Development Of Special Education Teachers In Saudi Arabia, Raja Almutairi

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess the current state of professional development activities of Saudi special education teachers in comparison to the research-based professional development practices of special education teachers. A survey of professional development evaluation and job satisfaction that describe three components was electronically collected from 613 special education teachers who were actively employed in Saudi public schools during the 2019/2020 school year. The results show that participating in professional development activities contributed to the study’s special education teachers’ satisfaction with their teaching profession. Additionally, the findings suggest that improvements to the professional development practices that are …

Building Capacity For Academically Productive Talk: The Development Of Teacher Leaders In Science Professional Development, Renee Affolter

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite decades of research on the type of classroom dialogue that supports collaborative student sensemaking and professional development efforts to support such dialogue, opportunities for students to incrementally deepen their understanding of science ideas through engagement in science practices and to engage in complex reasoning and argumentation through classroom talk is limited in most K-12 science classrooms (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000; Lemke, 1990; Michaels, Shouse, & Schweingruber, 2008; Mortimer & Scott, 2003; C. O’Connor, Michaels, & Chapin, 2015; Reinsvold & Cochran, 2011; Scott, Mortimer, & Aguiar, 2006; Weiss, Pasley, Smith., Banilower, and Heck, 2003; Wilson, Schweingruber, & Nielsen, 2015). …

“I Missed A Lot Of Childhood Memories”: Trauma And Its Impact On Learning For Formerly Incarcerated Adolescents In The Age Of Zero Tolerance Policies, Alberto Guerrero

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature makes abundantly clear that trauma has a detrimental impact on students’ academic and behavioral efforts. It also challenges the notion of zero tolerance disciplinary practices being effective in redirecting student behaviors, making schools safer, and creating an environment that is conducive to learning. Yet, our current school climate consists of educators who have not been exposed to trauma-informed learning, while also incorporating disciplinary practices that are both draconian in nature and push students out of their learning spaces. This unfortunate reality is felt even more harshly by students who return to schools following an incarceration. This phenomenological study …

“In Our Very Flesh, (R)Evolution”: An Exploration Of Secondary Education Teachers, Otherness, And Embodiment, Ryan Ambuter

Doctoral Dissertations

In education, the proliferation of a mind/body dualism leaves the pedagogy of the body undertheorized, and its impact on education disregarded. While there is not an absence of research on the body within the field of education, what exists is limited in scope. Little has been written about the connections between teachers’ bodies, pedagogy, and politics at the level of secondary education. This research specifically focuses on teachers who are visibly other, critically conscious of their bodies, and find power in their difference. The purpose of this study is to make meaning of the stories, experiences, and potential of teachers …

Examining The Specialized Math Content Knowledge Of Elementary Teachers In The Age Of The Common Core, Stephanie Purington

Doctoral Dissertations

Mathematical standards for students have increased with the development of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and its accompanying high stakes testing. Teachers need strong conceptual knowledge of the mathematics they teach in order to give students the opportunity to learn that math deeply. An earlier study (Ma, 1999) found that US elementary teachers lack the deep knowledge to teach math conceptually. Given the mathematics standards movements of the last two decades, it is plausible that the knowledge base of teachers has changed. Using the framework of Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK), which is the knowledge required to teach math …

“If You’Re Not Disrupting It, Then Who Is?”: Understanding The Effects Of Participating In Anti-Sexism Workshops On Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices, Kimberly J. Pfeifer

Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological-inspired study seeks to understand both how preservice teachers make sense of their roles as anti-sexist educators and what effects participating in anti-sexism professional development (PD) may have on preservice teachers’ beliefs and practices, specifically as they connect to gender. Through four video-recorded workshops centered on an anti-sexist curriculum, questionnaire data, and subsequent individual semi-structured interviews, this study found four distinct yet interconnected themes. The first two themes: (1) Hesitancies and (2) There, Not Here, elucidate the precariousness of the teacher candidate role. While the following themes: (3) Shifts and (4) More, demonstrate the effects of participating in this …

From Soap Bubbles To Cell Membranes, Peter Beltramo

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Have you ever blown a soap bubble and wondered - what causes the bubble to be so stable and produces those colorful reflections of light? The answer lies in a class of molecules known as surfactants, and they have remarkable similarities with the molecules that comprise the cell membrane of all living organisms. In this workshop, we will use the analogy of a soap bubble to describe cellular membrane properties such as chemistry, structure, membrane transport, and ion channel formation. The goals of this workshop are to 1) link initially intractable concepts in biology like intracellular transport to the intuitive …

Agenda, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Abstracts for six Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars.

Bubble Lab Exercise, Peter Beltramo

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

The cell membrane is a ubiquitous component in mammalian cells which control many vital biological functions. It consists of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded protein molecules which serve to transport molecules between the interior and exterior of the cell. Understanding what makes cell membranes so important and how they function requires concepts from physics, chemistry, and of course biology, but it is difficult to learn and conceptualize the structure and function of membranes due to their nanoscopic size and dynamic nature which can’t be properly appreciated in a static textbook. This activity draws analogies between the chemistry and structure of …

Arduino Microcontrollers In The Classroom: Teaching How To Phrase Effective Science Questions And How To Answer Them With Original Data, Tony Dinsmore

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Arduino microcontrollers in the classroom: teaching how to phrase effective science questions and how to answer them with original data. Prof. Tony Dinsmore, UMass Physics This workshop will develop course modules that address a challenge in the science curriculum: how do we teach basic problem-solving and curiosity-based research skills in a classroom setting? The standard science curriculum teaches concepts and theory quite well but leaves rather little opportunity for students to take the lead in designing and implementing their own investigations. The workshop will use the Arduino, an inexpensive microcontroller that is simple to set up. A huge range of …

Agenda, Revised, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Materials from the seminars. The agenda was revised to include online sessions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Modeling Epidemics, An Introduction, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

• Group discussion of videos watched – Mainly focus on 3Blue1Brown videos

• Discussion of known facts about Covid-19/SARS-CoV-2

• Joint look at news articles and websites – Discussion of exponential growth

• Introduction to SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) model

• Excel demonstration of SIR model

• Other models: SEIR, others

• Modeling using python (time-permitting)

Step Up Workshop, Michael J. Wadness, Savvy Lodge-Scharff

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Did you know that teachers are the reason that most undergraduate women in physics chose that degree? That's right. You are key to encouraging women to pursue prosperous careers in physics! The STEP UP project provides access to downloadable research-based lessons about physics and a nationwide community of teachers engaged in changing the future of physics. This insightful and interactive workshop invites participants to join a national movement designed to empower teachers with resources specifically focused on leveraging high school physics teachers' pivotal role in influencing the career choices of women and contributing to the culture change needed to inspire …

Bits, Knits, And Knots:Using Knitting As A Tool To Teach Stem Concepts, Mary Elizabeth Lee-Trimblee, Daria Atkinson, Michelle Berry

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Knitting is an ancient technology as well as an enjoyable pastime that is often overlooked as an object of scientific study. However, knitting can be used as an accessible, low tech tool to teach coding fundamentals, higher level mathematics, and even concepts in physics. In this seminar we will do all three, as well as teach you to knit. We will divide this into 5 modules:

1. Overview of knitting as technology

2. Learning to knit (and teaching it too!)

3. Knitting as coding

4. Tangles, knits, and knots: the knot theory of knitting

5. Recent developments in the physics …

Adolescent Mental Health Training For Middle School Educators, Sarah Minton

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Background: Adolescent mental health disorders are an increasing concern in the United States. School systems, specifically educators, are in the unique role to aid in early identification of mental health disorders, as well to intervene in mental health distress. However, mental health training for educators is lacking, leaving educators unprepared to manage mental health concerns within their classroom.

Purpose: The purpose was to utilize an evidence-based training, the “Teacher Knowledge Update Guide” from TeenMentalHealth.org to train middle school educators on the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions in the adolescent population with the intent to increase awareness, knowledge, …