Education Commons^™

Urban Gardening Grows Relationships: The Importance Of Urban Gardening To The Self And The Earth, Ashley King

Graduate Student Independent Studies

There are many texts for young readers that focus on gardening and the pleasant experiences it can bring. However, there is a distinct lack of texts that address urban gardening specifically as well as the reasons why gardening, in and outside of cities, is so important. This independent study had a purpose of providing a book for young readers that will engage them in a celebration of gardening and the environment around them. The text of the book follows a young girl who gardens not only to build relationships with her peers, but also to take care of and appreciate …

Integrating English And Social Studies Through The Lens Of Tokugawa Japan: An 8 Week Curriculum For Sixth Grade, Mollie Sandberg

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The following curriculum is intended for sixth grade students in a general education, integrated English and social studies classroom. This curriculum is based on the foundational ideas of child-development, concept-based, constructivist learning, and the integration of the language arts and social studies curricula as a way to deepen students’ engagement with the curricular material. Through these central pillars the curriculum immerses students in a historical era while allowing them to develop their own understanding of the past and create connections to the world in which they live. The aim of this curriculum is for students to explore the world of …

The Examination, Analysis, And Implications Of Educational Research Studies Conducted On Orton-Gillingham, Katharine Potter

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Orton-Gillingham is an intensive reading program often utilized in schools across the United States for instructing children with reading difficulties or dyslexia. The current literature review aims to examine the question: What kind of educational research has been has been conducted on Orton-Gillingham's effectiveness and what is lacking amongst the research? Uhry & Clark (2007) write, "One difficulty with Orton-Gillingham programs is that there is relatively little research with focuses on the specific components of this complex and well integrated instruction" (p. 146). This paper investigates and analyzes the research studies that have been conducted on Orton-Gillingham and also examines …

Bringing Families In: An Examination Of Family Programs At The Museum Of Chinese In America And Other Cultural And Historical Museums In New York City, Dianne Choie

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This independent study includes family program survey research and planning processes completed during my Master of Science in Museum Education fieldwork at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City in the spring of 2017. This information is compared to data gathered from surveys with ten other cultural and historical museums and with the Cool Culture community program. This study also includes a literature review of studies and theories concerning child development and family learning in museums. With information from all these resources assembled, analyses of strengths, challenges, and potential areas for growth are outlined for family programs …

A Study Of Story Stones In Informal Learning Environments, Nina Berch

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper aims to provide context for the use of an open-ended tool called Story Stones for engaging young students in creative discussion. Story Stones are a collection of palm-sized rocks with transposed images attached. Student ages within this discussion range between two and seven years old, accompanied by adult caregivers in the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling in Harlem, New York and Not Just Art childhood enrichment center in Oyster Bay, New York. The method of observation and analysis consisted of presenting Story Stones in an open-ended, hands-on invitation to visitors of the museum and enrichment …

Education As Counter Terrorism In Iraq, Thanaa Sulaiman

English (TESOL) Master Theses

There is not much research written about the relationship between education and the rise of terrorism. Some scholars have urged for educative response to end terrorism (Krueger and Maleckova, 2003; Brockhoff et al., 2015; Malazada, 2016; Illiteracy rates drop in Iraq: Government, 2014) In his study, Brockhoff et al., (2015) found that when country specific factors like the economic situation and political representation were unfavorable, education is the reason some individuals become terrorists. Abrifor (2008) concluded that abuse of students in Nigeria lead them to get involved in criminal activities, suicide bombing and terrorism. In light of these studies, it …

The Importance Of Using Information Communication Technology For Learning And Teaching The English Language In Kurdistan Of Iraq, Nabaz Noori Kareem

English (TESOL) Master Theses

Kurdistan as a region in north of Iraq has undergone significant changes regarding its educational system, and using ICTs (information communication technologies) for teaching and learning English has been given a great role in the system. There are many researchers who wrote about the benefits and the challenges of using ICTs. As the term ICT includes many kinds of devices and applications, students and teachers in Kurdistan are using various types of ICTs inside or outside of the schools. Students and teachers use ICTs for teaching and learning the skills of the English language such as reading, writing, speaking, and …

By The Numbers

Business Exchange

Infographic offers statistics on the growth of DePaul's Driehaus School of Business under the leadership of Dean Ray Whittington.

College News: Misty Johanson Appointed Interim Dean

Business Exchange

Misty Johanson, PhD, an associate business college dean, professor and director of the School of Hospitality Leaders, has been named interim dean of the Driehaus College of Business.

Professional Development: Double Demon Scholarship Offers Alumni New Opportunities

Business Exchange

DePaul offers scholarships to alumni who return for graduate study at their alma mater. Jeanette Gerger, who graduated with a business degree in 2009, returned for her MBA to learn how to run a business.

College News: Alumnae Named To Kellstadt Leadership Roles; Depaul Joins Chicago's 1871 Business Incubator

Business Exchange

DePaul Alumnae Christa Hinton and Jennifer Kopczynski have assumed leadership roles as director of the Kellstadt Graducate School of Business and director of the Kellstadt Career Management Center, respectively. The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center has partners with DePaul's College of Law, College of Computing and Digital Media, and Office of Academic Affairs to join 1871, Chicago's premier business incubator.

Examining Assumptions About Student Engagement In The Classroom: A Faculty Learning Community’S Yearlong Journey, Marjolein Oele

Philosophy

Over the past twenty years, the term “student engagement” has become a primary means for orienting faculty and administrators around pedagogic improvements and curriculum development. The increasing prevalence of technology in educational settings and the ways it alters more traditional classroom formats, student-teacher interactions, and research methods suggest that engagement may now look and function differently than in the past. This article describes the reflective journey of a yearlong Faculty Learning Community (FLC) at a private, urban Jesuit university on the topic of student engagement. It investigates and debates current thinking on the topic, assesses methods of measurement, and shares …

Civic Engagement And Service Learning For Medical Students: A Phenomenological Study Of Transformation, Roy Rodriguez

Theses & Dissertations

Service learning is an effective academic technique that emphasizes integration of course instruction with outside community service and allows for a more enriched learning experience by promoting critical reflection. With medical students encountering a growing diversity in patients, service learning is essential in linking academic learning with their community experiences. This study was conducted at a local medical school using service learning programs in underserved communities. The purpose of this study is to understand the experience medical students had in a service learning program involved in some underserved communities. This study implemented a phenomenological research design in which semi-structured interviews …

An Exploration Of The Math Names For Numbers: An Early Childhood Mathematics Intervention, Suzanne Magargee

Theses & Dissertations

A longitudinal study of the effects of an early childhood mathematics intervention was conducted in 2 private elementary schools in a large city in central Texas. The study included 377 participants in prekindergarten through fifth grades. Explicit non-inverted number names were taught in English and Spanish to prekindergarten and kindergarten students, with formative assessments conducted during this timeframe. Summative assessment results from standardized achievement tests were collected in grades 1 through 5 from 341 of the participants. Normal curve equivalent scores of total mathematics achievement, problem solving, and mathematics procedures were compared among groups of children with no or up …

English Language Learners: English Language Proficiency Level Effect On Testing, Martha Alonso

Theses & Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 served as a refueling agent for education reform. It added the mandate of Title I, which focuses on aid for disadvantaged students. NCLB mandates that states set high academic standards with quantifiable goals. This challenge has been highlighted for states because subpopulations, such as English Language Learners and students with special needs, have become focus groups in trying to bridge the achievement gap. The purpose of this correlation research study was to determine the correlation between the students’ English Language Proficiency level and their performance on the STAAR reading assessment. There was …

Exploring The Educational Experiences Of Students Of Mexican Descent With Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals Status, Elizabeth A. Holbrook

Theses & Dissertations

In 2012, an Executive Order created DACA, providing some youth with undocumented citizenship status access to post-secondary options and a way to avoid deportation. With DACA, a student population previously hidden and lacking entrée became more visible and gained ways to seek post-secondary options. The newness of this population created a lack of research about students who have experienced the transition from having undocumented to DACA immigration status. Researchers, educational practitioners, and non-profit organizations needed knowledge of how this impacted their student identity development and how they navigated education processes. This study examined the unique strategies these students used to …

A Basic Interpretative Study Of Educators In The Childcare Profession: Collegiality As A Base Of Job Satisfaction, Lynda Yvonne Cavazos

Theses & Dissertations

This basic interpretative study explored 12 childcare teachers’ perceptions of job satisfaction and how their motivation has had an instrumental impact on their 10 years or more of job sustainability. In examining the childcare teachers’ perceptions of job satisfaction, the primary research question guiding this study was, “What are the motivational factors that childcare teachers perceive to have contributed to their job satisfaction and retention?” The theoretical framework underlying this study was the Self-Determination Theory, a theory that describes how interactions between early childhood teachers and the system within their work influences motivation in their teaching and their authentic well-being …

Remedial Reading Strategies, Anna Dispensa

Education: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

From Augustana College's partnership with Longfellow Elementary School, I was able to examine strategies that work with struggling readers. More specifically, I was able to use the close reading strategy when working with a small group of students to read grade level texts. From this intervention, the students were able to enhance both their comprehension and their accuracy when reading.

Education In The South: 1870-1930, Joe S. Mixon

Student Research

The fight for better education in the South after the Civil War was a long, arduous process. Illiteracy was at extreme levels as Reconstruction was under way. Many people in the South saw this and tried to remedy the problem as best they could. This paper will look at how education levels in the South increased through the eyes of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the United Confederate Veterans, the Cherokee Indians, and most important of all, Anne Bachman Hyde.

Effect Of Extra-Curricular Activities On Students' Spiritual Growth, Alexa Groen

Master of Education Program Theses

The primary purpose of Christian schooling is to teach Biblical principles to our youth as we prepare them to live and serve in God’s kingdom. Even though over three quarters of our youth in America participate in extra-curricular activities, little to no research has been done on the effect of extra-curricular activities on a child’s spiritual development. Yet, Christian schools continue to put time, money, and energy into extra-curricular programing. To determine whether academic, personal, and athletic extra-curricular activities have kingdom implication, this study collected qualitative data from twelve students, 8th Grade to junior year of high school. Coding the …

Teaching Kindergarten Reading Comprehension Using Transactional Strategy Instruction, Heather Schultz

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study investigated the improvement of reading comprehension by implementing two strategies: question generation and think aloud in the context of transactional instruction. A kindergarten class of 28 students at a charter school in east Michigan was used as an experimental group. The control group was made up of 27 kindergarteners from another class. All students, both in the experimental and control groups, were given a pre-test to track the application of all strategies before teaching began. The experimental group was taught two strategies: how to generate questions and how to observe and think aloud about what they …

Meaningful Instruction Of Basic Multiplication Facts: Applying Constructivist Concepts To Basic Fact Acquisition, Donna Stille

Master of Education Program Theses

In the United States, third grade students are expected to be fluent in the 100 basic math multiplication facts by the end of the school year. This action research project investigated the correlation between the use of constructivist principles for learning the 100 basic math multiplication facts and its impact on student understanding of mathematical reasoning concepts. The study involved twenty-two students in a midwest suburban third grade Christian school classroom for a 30-day period. An average of one hour a day was spent in math class with varied use of individual, partner, small group and large group work and …

Sjsu Erfa Board Minutes, May 1, 2017, San Jose State University, Emeritus And Retired Faculty Association

SJSU ERFA Minutes

SJSU ERFA Executive Board Minutes May 1, 2017

Native Science In Practice: Cases For Broadening Understanding And Engagement Of Science In Education As A Plea For Future Generations, G. Sue Kasun, Dave López

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

We make a departure from the U.S.’s traditional “science education” in recognition of several stark realities—from the genocidal practices that have eliminated so many indigenous populations in the U.S. to the problems our planet faces, such dire environmental degradation. We are faced daily with a dissonance of knowing our planet needs our respect and care while at the same time bearing witness to “modern” lifestyles based in property rights and individualism. We engage Native science—which encapsulates all of Western science and expands upon it by including the spiritual and emotional realms as well as the physical and mental dimensions of …

Just-In-Time Education For Intensive Care Nurses, Rosemary D. Soriano

Nursing Masters

Background: Continuing education is fundamentally necessary to ensure ongoing competency of nurses in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). There are many effective methods of continuing education, but there is a gap in continuing education for ICU nurses for high-risk low-frequency therapies (HRLFT).

Objectives: The purpose of this project was to determine if the implementation of Just-in-Time Education (JITE) for HRLFT in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) improved nurses’ feelings of competence, comfort, and safety when utilizing these interventions.

Methods: JITE checklists for nurses were developed for HRLFT in the PICU. The checklists were reviewed by the staff …

Teacher Self-Efficacy In Classroom Management Amongst Novice Middle School Teachers, Kentyl C. Byrne

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

There is a lack of research pertaining to classroom management solely related to self-efficacy. This dissertation seeks to contribute to the field of literature and understand what support, if any is being offered to pre-service teachers and novice teachers in the area of classroom management. Rooted in Bandura’s (1997) Social Cognitive Theory, this dissertation examines how novice middle school teachers demonstrate teacher self-efficacy in classroom management, and how the teachers achieved their level of teacher self-efficacy in classroom management. Using a blind survey and face-to-face interview, participants demonstrated self-efficacy in classroom management by focusing on routine and procedures within their …

Ufa Aac Library Sub-Committee Meeting Minutes, May 2017, Barbara Swartzlander

UFA AAC Library Sub-committee Meeting Minutes

Meeting report from the University Faculty Assembly Academic Affairs Committee's Library Sub-committee meeting at the University of New England.

Where Are Our Students, Developmentally?, Cristi Burrill, Jennifer Nissen

Faculty Creative and Scholarly Works

Overview of student development theory specific to first-year students and helping first year students be successful. Presented at summer 2017 training for all Gateway course instructors.

Coming To College Twice: The Impact Of First Semester Freshman Study Abroad Programs On Student Transition To A Residential Campus, Ryan G. Hawkins

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

For many American college students, the first major life transition they face is moving from their parents’ home into a university residence hall in the fall following high school graduation. During this period of transition, students must learn how to live in a new place, develop friendships, and figure out how to navigate a new academic environment (Kneipp, Kelly, & Cyphers, 2009). What happens to that transitional process when a student does not begin his or her college career on their home campus? According to the Open Doors Reports from the Institute of International Education (2015), approximately 10,331 college freshmen …

Lived Experiences Of Black Bahamian Students At A Faith Based Institution, Rachel Mcgregor

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological research design to gain understanding of the experiences of Black Bahamians at a small, private, residential, liberal arts, faith-based university in a rural part of the Midwest. In an attempt to validate interview findings, interview data was coded, themed, and then triangulated in a focus group. The Bahamian student experience is, in essence, shaped by Black identity development, integration processes, campus racial climate, and the students’ sense of belonging. Despite many challenges, the growth that occurs on campus makes the experience worthwhile. Implications for practice include investing in faculty training, providing microaggression training for …