Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Teacher Preparedness And Professional Development On Fourth-Grade Students' Science Achievement, Craig L. Mayo, Faye Bradley

Journal of Research Initiatives

Science scores among US fourth-grade students have declined compared to their international counterparts in recent years. Recent results show that teachers are the most impactful influence on student success and accountability. Teacher preparedness and professional development are two key areas that serve as indicators of providing relevant and essential information for students' success. A correlational quantitative study was conducted to assess the relationship between teacher preparedness and professional development on fourth-grade students’ science achievement. The TIMSS 2019 data were secured from the Boston College, TIMSS, and PIRLS International websites. The data was evaluated using the SPSS 27 Hierarchical Linear Regression. …

Teaching To Develop Perspective, Skills, Confidence, And Identity As Problem-Solving Engineers, Russell Kirk Pirlo

Research and Reflection on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

The “core” of an engineering degree program typically comprises the concepts, equations, and technical skills needed, as well as their practical application to common problems of the profession. This core is then divided into the “content” that must be covered in each course. It is widely recognized, however, that successful individuals do not thrive as professionals on content alone. Thus, there is significant and increasing emphasis across higher education to “educate the whole person.” These efforts aim to develop “deep” qualities like grit, critical thinking, perseverance, learning from failure, valuing diversity, teamwork, leadership, curiosity, recognizing opportunity, creating value, and acting …

Developing A Learning Progression For Teachers To Support Effective Thinking And Self-Regulation, Hannah Campos Remon, Adam Kuss

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Brisbane Grammar School has undertaken four years of systematic research to develop a learning progression to support teachers in the development of their students’ capacity for learning, including self-regulation. The learning progression offers a comprehensive, learning-focused tool for teachers to consider how their students are developing as learners over time. Whilst it is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive, or to produce a grade for ‘learning’, it offers a purposeful sampling of important components of effective thinking.

An Analysis Of The Suitability Of Philosophy As A Core K-12 Public School Subject, Mark Christopher Blythe

Doctor of Education (EdD)

In 2005 Michael Katz invited philosophers of education to reinvigorate the inquiry into what is required to provide a proper education for everyone to lead a productive life. In the literature review, I analyze the suitability of philosophy in teaching K-12 students how to think and reason logically—essential abilities for a productive life. I also examine the educational landscape through the philosophy of Nicholas Rescher’s Cognitive-Values Theory and address the value of learning philosophy. I present a Philosophical Dialectic that shows how epistemic diversity (aporetic clusters) justifies making philosophy a K-12 core subject while analyzing philosophers’ reasons for including philosophy …

What Are They Thinking?: A Qualitative Study Of Secondary Students’ Critical Thinking In Online Classes, Scott Allan Nolt

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study emerged in response to students’ struggle to understand what critical thinking is and teachers’ corresponding struggle to develop students’ critical thinking skills. In my role as an instructional designer, I studied student and teacher reactions to interdisciplinary course design that used disciplinary inquiry, problem-posing, and concept-based online learning. The primarily qualitative study focused on students’ reflections across five different social studies and English courses, along with interview data from their teachers and post-course survey data. Exploring how students experience instruction designed to develop their critical thinking skills and how instruction in critical thinking impacts students’ critical …

The Effect Of Reflection On Retrieval Practice To Self-Regulated Learning, Janean Heyboer

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the relationship between reflection on retrieval practice quizzes and its effect on students’ ability to self-regulate their learning. Participants in this study included 33 students from a school in California in an honors anatomy and physiology course. Students took an initial survey about self-regulation and participated in retrieval practice quizzes for eight weeks. The experimental group also intentionally practiced reflection during and after the quizzes. The same self-regulated learning survey was conducted at the conclusion of the study and the results were analyzed. The results of the study show reflection on retrieval practice had no …

Annotations Of Awareness: A Framework For Externalizing Thinking To Promote Metacognitive Discourse In High School English And Social Studies Classrooms, Todd Howard

All Dissertations

Teachers find it challenging to integrate metacognition into the classroom to promote critical thinking, but such rigorous instruction is one way to improve access to quality education for all students, no matter their access to outside-of-school resources. To help teachers find more comfort and confidence in designing for increased critical thinking and metacognitive discourse and to help close the theory-practice gap in metacognition research, I conducted a mixed-methods case study focusing on assessment-design interventions. Using the Metacognitive Framework for Assessment Design and Annotations of Awareness, both designed in response to my literature review, my 90-day action research included three Plan-Do-Study-Act …

#Goals: Library Partnerships For Instruction Strategic Planning Success, Melissa Dennis

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The Research and Instruction Department of UM Libraries has worked closely with campus units to create a longstanding partnership of library skills embedded into first year classes called the First Year Instruction Initiative (FYII). Incorporating information literacy and critical thinking skills into these curriculums has allowed us to expand our reach to teaching students, both synchronously and asynchronously. In particular, the Center for Student Success and First Year Experience and the campus Qualitative Enhancement Plan became library partners for inclusion in the classroom. Through academic advising, academic support services, first-year initiatives, military and veteran support and all things student success …

Using Historical Thinking Strategies For Improving Elementary Students’ Content Knowledge And Attitudes Towards Social Studies, Lydia Burnett, Joshua Cuevas Dr.

Georgia Educational Researcher

Instructional time spent on elementary social studies is often marginalized due to the emphasis placed on other content areas. Therefore, social studies teachers must employ meaningful instructional strategies that will engage students while promoting content acquisition. This quasi-experimental study responds to this challenge by guiding a sample of 44 fifth grade students to use the historical thinking skills of sourcing, contextualizing, and corroborating that encourage engagement with a variety of primary sources through the lens of Jerome Bruner’s learning theories. The control group used traditional instructional methods including close-note taking, vocabulary review, and independent reading from social studies texts. Both …

Integrating Media Literacy Into General Education Core Courses For Undergraduates, Christen Embry

Dissertations

This study aimed to understand the essential nature of media literacy, evaluate pre-developed higher education classes for existing media literacy context, and recommend best practices for incorporating media literacy into an undergraduate curriculum. This mixed-methods study of media literacy in undergraduate college courses explored the presence and absence of media literacy lessons within core classes by auditing 15 online course shells accessed through the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Specifically, all the courses surveyed included the first skill of media literacy, Access; 33% of the classes included Analyze; 27% included Creation; 20% included Reflection; and 20% included Action. Once the …

Historical Inquiry: Who Has The Power? Using Film To Introduce Students To Medieval Social Class Structures, Megan Todd, Janie Hubbard

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Using film in the classroom to teach history has long been endorsed as an effective pedagogical method when the lessons’ purposes and goals are clearly supported with facts. This article, which includes a National Council for the Social Studies C3 inquiry-based lesson plan, is targeted for educators who aspire to help students understand basic European Medieval history and engage in critical thinking. Medieval history is listed in many U.S. state curriculum standards and international teaching benchmarks; thus, this lesson contributes a teaching-ready source, particularly to introduce students to historical concepts, geographies, and politics (i.e., power structures). Clips from A Knight’s …

Critical Analysis Of Critical Thinking, Jim Potter

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study provides an analysis of how the term “critical thinking” has been defined by authors of articles published in the Journal of Media Literacy Education. It provides answers to three questions: (1) How frequently is the term “critical thinking” mentioned by scholars who write about media literacy?; (2) In what ways do scholars convey the meaning of the term?; and (3) To what extent is the term presented with a consistent meaning? While the term “critical thinking” appeared in more than half of the articles examined, there was a great variety in the way authors presented their meanings …

Improving Assessment Outcomes In Algebra And Functions Through Concrete Materials And Direct Instruction, Sandra Deacon, Courtney Pillers

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Critical thinking consists of the mental processes, strategies, and representations individuals use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. We observed our 6th-year students struggling with algebra functions and problem-solving. These observations motivated us to engage in active research to improve the students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We administered interventions that supported the language transfer between traditional mathematical language and Montessori mathematical terms. We utilized direct instruction with concrete algebra materials to lead the students to abstract work in algebra. We also used formal assessments and observations to decide what lessons the students should get next. Our …

Community College Geoscience Faculty Perspectives On Critical Thinking Instructional Tools, Mariela Salas Bao

Dissertations and Theses

Research has shown that modern courses and programs designed to foster critical thinking vary in both content and delivery, in turn leading to differences in their effectiveness. Few studies have investigated critical thinking among nontraditional students at community colleges taking STEM courses, especially within the geosciences. Furthermore, such research has focused primarily on the students with few if any studies involving faculty. This study examined the perceptions held by community college geoscience faculty regarding critical thinking and how such perceptions influenced their choice of instructional strategies. This study used a basic qualitative methodology and a maximum variation sampling to select …

Using Sociological Images To Develop The Sociological Imagination, Georgiana Bostean, Lisa A. Leitz

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

We present a two-assignment series that developed students’ sociological imaginations and that could be done in a face-to-face or online course. The series used the Sociological Images blog and students’ own visual images (e.g., photographs) to meet course learning goals: (1) link sociological theories and concepts to social events/trends, (2) apply these ideas to real life by identifying sociologically relevant images in daily life, and (3) communicate sociological analysis in academic and popular written forms. The use of a blog encourages students to embrace public sociology. We present faculty and student assessment data (pretest from nonequivalent comparisons group) from six …

The Implementation Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And Socratic Seminar: The Effect On African American Students’ Reading And Their Critical Thinking, Amy Christina Waddell

Theses and Dissertations

Achievement gaps have been an ongoing issue among African American students for years. The continuation of low achievement scores has been the downfall of African American student success throughout their educational history (Royle & Brown, 2014). So much time has been spent helping students achieve grade-level mastery, while little was being done to ensure continuous academic growth for students that were already reading on-grade level. Over time, these on-grade level students remained stagnant or tended to regress. This research study presented two instructional intervention strategies that demonstrated how critical thinking could improve the growth in reading, among rising sixth-grade on-grade …

A Pilot Investigation Of Critical Thinking In Undergraduate Students Of Communication Sciences And Disorders, David M. Rehfeld, Tracey N. Sulak, Deborah Rainer, Janice Stewart, Nadine Welch

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Speech-language pathologists use critical thinking on a daily basis to identify, evaluate, and implement evidence-based practices with their clients. Currently, however, there are minimal data describing the critical thinking of undergraduate students in the field of communication sciences and disorders. Without these data, it is unclear if and how students’ critical thinking differs at various points during their pre-service training. In the present study, we used the Cornell Critical Thinking Test – Level Z to describe the general critical thinking skills of 142 undergraduate students enrolled in two lower- (n = 95) and upper- (n = 47) level courses at …

Critical Thinking As A Pedagogical Approach: Using Critical/Cultural Studies To Analyze Music Videos, Lukas John Pelliccio, Timothy Brown

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

Teaching undergraduate students how to critically analyze a text is an important experience. However, it is not easy to do this because readings are often dense, and the process of writing and presenting a critique can be challenging for some students. In light of this, we have developed an assignment where students critically analyze music videos for their ideologies. In the assignment, students select three specific overt or latent content pieces from a music video and explain how those manifestations influence a particular ideology in a paper. Then they are asked to show the music video to their peers and …

Valuing Children’S Natural Thinking In The Classroom, Supriya Rawal

Art of Teaching Thesis - Written

This thesis discusses the importance of valuing children’s natural thinking in the classroom. Our education places a significant emphasis on literacy and math and recognizes human capacity mostly just through performance on standardized assessments in these two fields of study. But human capacity is much more than just math and literacy. Moreover, even math and literacy are taught in a very process-oriented, rote fact-based curriculum that does not allow children to learn through their own natural way of thinking. This contrived way of thinking and limited support for creative avenues leads to a very narrow definition of success, a fixed …

Research On Effects Of Grading, Heather J. Leslie Phd

Learning Design Center: Staff Scholarship

I believe we have shared goals for our students to become happy, ethical, caring, compassionate, independent, self-motivated, curious critical thinkers and lifelong learners. Decades of research on the effects of grades and grading undermines those goals. This executive summary presents just some of research on how grading affects students’ mental health, intrinsic motivation, critical thinking, and relationships with teachers and peers. Student survey results are included from a course taught without the use of grades.

Promoting Thinking Routines In Indian Classrooms, Divya Kapoor

Teacher India

In this article, Divya Kapoor shares some examples of thinking routines that practitioners can introduce in their own classrooms.

Teacher Resources On Higher Order Thinking Skills, Anannya Chakraborty

Teacher India

Teaching higher-order thinking skills right from school can bridge the education and employment skills gap. Our ACER experts share a list of free teaching resources on higher order thinking skills.

Critical Media Literacy In Social Studies : A Case Study, Lauren Collet-Gildard

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

There have been many efforts to address the importance of media literacy in schools, but little research has focused on critical media literacy (CML) in social studies curricula or classrooms. This is the first case study to examine the planning and implementation of a school wide CML lesson designed by teachers, and it traces this process from inspiration and collaborative conception of the lesson through its enactment within the classroom. In addition, this research provides unique insight into how teachers arrive at CML as a means of empowering students in the face of widespread disinformation and political polarization. In my …

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy And Writing Achievement For Native High School Students, Angelia Christine Greiner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the effects of culturally responsive pedagogy as it is implemented in a high school classroom with Native American students. This mixed methods case study collects, analyzes and synthesizes both quantitative and qualitative data within an overall formative and experimental design approach to measure the effects of culturally responsive pedagogy on students’ writing and their attitudes about writing. The study identified specific approaches to literacy instruction that hold promise for engaging Native students. Furthermore, findings from the study reveal the use of visual art as a particularly powerful tool that extends students’ meaning-making skills, leading to more …

The Type Of Questions Being Promoted In A 3rd Grade Reading Textbook, Suzanne Olivero

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Asking questions is essential for checking student understanding and keeping them engaged with the task at hand. It is crucial to the way students receive and process information and it encourages independent and critical thinking. Statistics show that the average teacher asks between 300 and 400 questions per day. To have the desired effect, these questions need to be effective, well-considered, and challenging.

Effective, cognitively complex questioning involves using questions in the classroom to open conversations, inspire deeper intellectual thought, and promote student-to-student interaction. Effective questions focus on eliciting the process, i.e. the ‘how’ and ‘why’ in a student’s response, …

Explicit Teaching Of Critical Thinking Skills In Communication Science And Disorders, Dana Battaglia

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Critical thinking requires one to be abstract, continually raise questions, independently obtain and reviews evidence, and converge these experiences to offer open-minded solutions. These same traits are required for speech-language pathology students to become successful clinicians. This work describes a mixed method investigation of explicit and infused instruction of critical thinking skills in the context of one graduate-level course in a program accredited from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. While quantitative findings only demonstrate significant positive change on select items using a Likert scale, qualitative data describe deep learning and growth in the areas of broad life-impact, expansion of knowledge, …

Critical Thinking During A Pandemic, Cheryl Comeau-Kirschner

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article explores how a sudden shift to distance learning created unique challenges in a co-requisite course for English language learners. Focusing on critical thinking and advanced ESL composition during the COVID-19 Pandemic required course adjustments and a new way of thinking about how to teach and learn in unprecedented times.

Assessment Of General Capabilities: Skills For The 21st-Century Learner. Final Report, Claire Scoular, Dara Ramalingam, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard

Assessment and Reporting

This report describes a project of the Centre for Assessment Reform and Innovation (CARI) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to develop an approach for teaching and assessing general capabilities, also known as 21st century skills, in the classroom. The report is divided into two parts. Part one presents an overview of ACER’s approach to skills development. This approach is underpinned by the identification of three evident needs: to understand development, to monitor growth, and to ensure alignment across curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. Part Two outlines how the approach is applied in the context of assessment. An assessment …

Critical Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo

Assessment and Reporting

The ACER critical thinking framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing critical thinking. While there are many definitions of the skill, which are outlined in the first part of this document, few provide a means to operationalise critical thinking in the classroom. This framework outlines critical thinking processes along prescribed strands and aspects informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment. This paper is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores the development of critical thinking as an …

Is Critical Thinking Really Critical? A Research Study Of The Intentional Planning For The Teaching Of Critical Thinking In The Middle Grades, Michelle Smith

Dissertations

Critical thinking is an integral part of human life. However, it is not intentionally planned for and implemented in most public educational institutions. Due to this lack of planning, not everyone thinks critically. Critical thinking is a skill that must be fostered and developed over a period for it to be applied consistently. Individuals who exhibit critical thinking are increasingly likely to be successful in life.

This study focused on the teaching of critical thinking and was conducted at Wildcat Middle School, located in a suburb of Chicago, IL. The research examined the extent to which teachers intentionally planned for …