Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Collaboration Between Universities And Public Schools For Improved Student Achievement: A Report On The Progress Of A Developing Partnership, Paul T. Hackett, James E. Witte, Maria Martinez Witte, Iris Saltiel, Mike Johnson, Kathy Hesler

Perspectives In Learning

This article reports the progress of one project aimed at bringing together professionals from post-secondary and K-12 environments. The project is being implemented at Richards Middle (RMS) in Columbus, Georgia and involves a collaborative partnership between several universities and RMS, resulting in a school-based evaluation initiative with direct implications for strengthening leadership, training, and instructional practices in schools. Faculty researchers from three universities from two states, Troy University, Columbus State University, and Auburn University are working collaboratively with faculty and staff of Richards Middle School on an inquiry with a three-fold purpose. The primary goal is to evaluate the effectiveness …

Child And Adolescent Depression And Suicide: The Role Of The School Counselor In Assessment And Treatment, Naomi M. Hitchcock, Leigh Lovelette

Perspectives In Learning

Suicide is the third leading cause of adolescent death in the United States. This alarming statistic has been widely studied and debated for years. It has become a consensus that because adolescents spend more than a third of their time in school, suicide intervention strategies must be put into place school-wide. There has also been “heightened awareness of the need for effective crisis intervention in public schools” (Allen et al., 2002, p. 96) nationwide. Kennedy (1999) feels that teaching students about violence and prevention is just as important as teaching them to read and write. More of the responsibility for …

Measuring Christian Education Against National And State Standards: A Review Of The Literature, Beth Gordy Waddell

Perspectives In Learning

Almost all states within the United States have adopted state education standards as a tool to measure the knowledge and skills needed and the expected outcomes students should be achieving within a given school year (Juarez, 1999). There are two kinds of standards, content standards and performance standards. Content standards indicate what a student should know and be able to do. Performance standards incorporate content standards, but are expanded to include suggested tasks, sample student work, and teacher commentary on that work (Georgia Department of Education, 2004). According to Robert J. Marzano, a Senior Fellow at the Mid-Continent Research for …

School Transitions: The Impact On Middle School And High School Students, Nikki Earl, Kristy Adkin

Perspectives In Learning

Making the transition to a higher grade or new school is one of the most exciting and frightening experiences of an adolescent’s life. Many sixth and eighth grade students are full of hope and enthusiasm at the thought of going to a new school. Making a transition to a new school offers a multitude of opportunities such as creating a whole new identity, making new friends, being involved in new activities, starting over academically, continuing his/her academic success, and gaining independence from one’s parents. On the other end of the spectrum, many students enter a higher grade or a new …

Building A Framework For Change, Janet Lafortune, Carol Ann Wood

Perspectives In Learning

Change is never easy. Sustained change in education is particularly difficult. To get the desired results, all of the stakeholders must have a shared vision for learning. It is a process not a destination. Brewer Elementary School has been in the process of change in the past several years. Brewer is in the heart of Columbus, Georgia. The school opened in 1991. The building itself is a welcome focal point in a community of apartments, low rent housing, trailer parks and businesses. It is a safe, clean, happy place for children to learn. The school currently has approximately 520 students …

The Administration Of Senior Design Projects In A Distance Learning Environment, Isaac L. Flory Iv, John R. Hackworth

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A method for administering a senior level capstone design course in Electrical Engineering Technology in a distance learning environment is described. Several avenues are explored that help the students successfully conceive, develop, and present their design projects from off- campus locations that are consistent with the requirements placed upon their on-campus peers. Several problems that are unique to offering a senior project course in a distance learning environment are explored and solutions are described.

The Interactive Question Protocol: Examining The Relationship Between Feedback, Cognitive Development And Student Achievement, G. Simon Richmond

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Feedback is an essential component of effective learning. The advent of the internet as a delivery mode for distance education has expanded the access many people have to higher learning. Despite many advantages that online courses provide for distance learning students, they often lack real time feedback. A software intervention called the Interactive Question Protocol was designed for this study to provide automated, real time feedback. That treatment was then contrasted against changes in student achievement, satisfaction and participation. Learners can be categorized by Perry's scheme of mental maturity according to how they understand and interpret the knowledge they acquire. …

Qualitative Analysis Of Aaup Principles And Ihep Benchmarks And The Policies Of The Six U.S. Regional Accrediting Bodies On Distance Education, Julia Ann Hypes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study strives to identify the differences and similarities among the accrediting policies on distance education of the six regional accrediting agencies for two-year and four-year institutions. Levels of incorporation of the American Association of University Professor (AAUP) principles and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) benchmarks regarding distance education are identified and listed as either detailed, partial, or none. The growth of distance education programs in higher education must have direction and focus and the distance education policies of the accrediting agencies provide that guidance. The method employed in the gathering of data was a qualitative document analysis. …

Raising The Bar: Encouraging High Level Thinking In Online Discussion Forums, Mary M. Christopher, Julie A. Thomas, Mary K. Tallent-Runnels

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

More universities are offering online instruction for students though we know little about effective online learning. Some have found online instruction increases student participation while others have reported that students prefer the traditional face-to-face format This study of gifted education graduate students follows the expectation that online students ought to have time to be more thoughtful with online course interactions as compared to the time-constrained interactions in a face-to-face course. Researchers evaluated students’ thinking levels (as per Bloom’s Taxonomy) in the online discussion forums required by a graduate course in gifted education. Results indicate there was no relationship between the …

Constructivist Versus Traditional Methods In Language Education, Emma Agola

Perspectives In Learning

My experience as a teacher in a British oriented system of education equipped me with the skills needed to approach teaching from what is called the traditional classroom curriculum. I was introduced to constructivism as an alternate method of teaching through a course in Improved Teaching of Secondary School Language arts. At first I thought this was a great idea and felt that we ought to toss all traces of the traditional approach out the window and fully adopt the constructivist approach. However, this was before I was faced with the practicality of applying all that I had learned in …

Addressing Diversity Through The Utilization Of Team-Teaching In Teacher Education Field Experiences, Rita Mitchell, Bonita Williams, Paulina Kuforiji

Perspectives In Learning

The inclusion model for the delivery of special education services, the services of support personnel, reading, media, and technology specialists for example, and the use of paraprofessionals and volunteers in the classroom are common structures in place in elementary and middle schools today. Pre-service teachers should be prepared to work in such increasingly more collaborative settings. The growing diversity of the student population in public schools also sets the stage for team-teaching and other collaborative models if indeed we achieve the educational goal of “no child left behind”. In an age of specialization and individualization, some form of teacher collaboration …

Webquests : An Online Strategy For Web-Based Inquiry Learning, Chieko Homma

Graduate Research Papers

This review discusses the WebQuest format, a strategy to support web-based inquiry learning, from both inquiry learning and web-based learning perspectives. The purpose of this review is to reveal what elements in WebQuests support learning effectively in a school setting while using resources regarding inquiry, web-based learning, and the implementation of WebQuests. The result shows WebQuests can be a solution for teachers to integrate inquiry learning and the Internet into the classroom effectively, and also for students to go through the inquiry process by using appropriate information. WebQuests require the inquiry process and significant elements to support web-based inquiry learning. …

The "Huggy Bear" Program: An Effective Means Of Educating Teacher Education Candidates For Diversity, Doyin Coker-Kolo, Paulina Kuforiji

Perspectives In Learning

The “Huggy Bear” program uses a triad approach that links university professors with supervising teachers and teacher candidates to develop effective strategies for mentoring atrisk students. The program is carried out at the primary school level with pupils who have been identified by their teachers as having some deficiencies in social and academic skills. Additionally, the program has a multicultural component. It offers college students the opportunity to work with pupils of different cultural and social economic backgrounds. The “Huggy Bear” program seeks to change how teacher candidates think about working with atrisk students and to provide them with the …

Re-Engineering Public Education: Developing New Technologies In Teaching And Assessment, Paul Hackett

Perspectives In Learning

In the nineteen-nineties, I was principal of a middle school when the accountability issue burst into prominence in the state of Alabama in the form of norm-referenced testing as the main tool to evaluate school performance. Designed by well-meaning educators to meet the requirements of Alabama legislation, the accountability program in Alabama was developed to put some teeth into the curriculum. Schools and systems that performed poorly faced state takeover. The Alabama accountability issue was one face of a national movement predicated on the idea that the public schools in the United States have failed egregiously and that more stringent …

Traditional Versus High-Performance Cooperative Learning, Todd Applegate

Perspectives In Learning

Through the years, millions of students have participated in some version of cooperative learning. As evidenced by the numbers of published papers, several educators have reassessed and revised their cooperative learning techniques, but perhaps very few have done more for the refinement of this form of teaching than Roger and David Johnson, professors at the University of Minnesota and founders of the Collaborative Learning Center. These two educators have been training teachers to use small groups for instructional purposes since 1966 and seem to have the most productive approach to collaborative learning. Cooperative learning has been misused or undervalued, a …

Martin Studies Bigotry, 1939-1995, James Brewbaker

Perspectives In Learning

Martin's grandmother teaches Martin his superiority.

The Taylor County High School Prom Of 2003, Edward Howard

Perspectives In Learning

Deep in Georgia's agricultural heartland sits the small town of Butler. This town of only 1,900 residents is the county seat for Taylor County, which has a population of only 8,800. Butler appears as the classic example of a rural county seat in the South. Surrounding that are a few dozen pre-war brick buildings that comprise most of the businesses in town. A few pick-up trucks parked at the curb, and some people walking about at a leisurely pace complete the picture of a town where time seems to stand still. Some would say the atmosphere reminds them of the …

Guidance And Counseling Issues In South Africa's Non-Racial Schools, Joyce Hickson, Donna Pascoe

Perspectives In Learning

Guidance teachers and school counselors in non-racial schools in South Africa need to assess the relevance of their services for individuals from different cultures. The importance of providing relevant crosscultural guidance and counseling in school settings has been underscored by numerous empirical studies which indicate that traditional psychotherapy and counseling are often inappropriate for meeting the needs of culturally different clients. Atkinson, Morten, and Sue (1993) assert that despite recognition that cultural diversity requires multicultural rather than monocultural counseling practices, the systematic study of cross-cultural communication only took root in the late twentieth century. Only recently has the term “counseling” …

Preparing Teacher Candidates For Success In Diverse Settings, Cynthia Benator, Tina Butcher

Perspectives In Learning

Field experiences and clinical practice are essential elements in the preparation of teacher candidates. The College of Education (COE) at Columbus State University (CSU) understands the important role these components play in the development of successful teachers. Field experiences and clinical practice must adhere to the guidelines set forth by the governing bodies that accredit educator preparation programs. They must also reflect the philosophy of the individual institution.

Six Best Practice Structures, Two Disciplines, One Instructor, James Brewbaker

Perspectives In Learning

A common perception about teacher educators is that they preach better than they practice. Too many accomplished elementary and secondary teachers recall an education professor’s tedious class on the limitations of the lecture—delivered, sad to say, in a traditional lecture format. Too many accomplished teachers recall courses in which learning was measured solely through pencil-and-paper, short-answer recognition-and-recall tests that promoted cramming, test taking, and, too soon thereafter, forgetting the material in question. Too many accomplished teachers learned their craft in spite of faculty who were anything but pedagogical role models.

Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom, Jose' Villavicencio

Perspectives In Learning

The United States is going through great demographic changes in the diversity of its population that does not only include ethnic and racial diversity but, also, linguistic diversity. People with limited English proficiency are entering schools in greater numbers. (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002). These demographic changes require that the schools prepare citizens who are knowledgeable of other cultures, who are more accepting of cultural differences, and who can communicate with people of different backgrounds (Cushner, McClelland, & Safford, 2003). In agreement with the above proposition, the foreign language national standards suggest the need to develop citizens with cultural understanding and …

Discipline Based Art Education: One Classroom Approach, Ashley Byrd Kittrell

Perspectives In Learning

In many school districts across the country, the arts are no longer confined to a room in the far wing where students draw, paint, and, if they are lucky, make some pottery or jewelry. Instead, art is front and center in every subject taught in the classroom thanks to the teachings and research of Dwaine W. Greer, director of the Getty Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts. Known as Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE), this concept is being developed and implemented in schools all across the nation. DBAE treats art as an actual subject for study, rather than as …

The Potential Of Elearning In The Spatial Information Sciences: A Resource For Continuing Professional Development., Kevin Mooney, Audrey Martin

Conference Papers

National mapping agencies have at their disposal a number of resources for the continuing professional development of their staff. These range from attendance at full-time University programmes to short in-house tutorials and workshops. The Technological University Dublin has recently developed an eLearning course in ‘Co-ordinate reference systems for spatial information’ and piloted it with staff of Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Department of Lands and Surveys, Nicosia, Cyprus. This paper evaluates the performance of eLearning in the delivery of the pilot courses pointing to its weaknesses and its strengths. The need for considered and careful use of interactive tools such …

Synchronous Text-Based Chat Vis-À-Vis Asynchronous Threaded Discussion: An Instructional Strategy For Providing An Option In Two Course Delivery Schemes, Shin Yi Lin

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an instructional strategy of providing students an option of two types of online text-based discussion (chat vs. threaded discussion forum) had significant effects on student satisfaction, cognitive achievement, and self-efficacy. In an effort to identify any differential effects associated with student characteristics, students' age and learning preferences were used as blocking variables. The study sample was teacher education students. Statistical procedures employed were MANOVA; MANCOVA, regression analysis, chi-square, and correlation were employed. The findings show that such an instructional customization—providing the online discussion forum option—has positive impacts on student satisfaction and …

Choice And Support: An Individualized Approach To Student Empowerment And Involvement In Combating Procrastination In The Internet Learning Environment, Han Liu

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study was designed to explore effective approaches that could help online students overcome online academic procrastination, raise their satisfaction ratings, and improve their academic performance.

The research was conducted at Old Dominion University, Virginia, with a sample of 165 undergraduate and graduate students (mean age = 30.67, SD = 8.98; male = 33, 20%, female = 132, 80%; undergraduate 95, 58%, graduate 70, 42%). The participants were taking an online course, Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education, required for teacher licensure. The treatments included the Choice Package (choice of assignment due dates, choice of rewards and punishments, and …

Education In Costa Rica: Best Practices And Beyond, Trey Fitch

Perspectives In Learning

Costa Rica is considered to be the most developed of the Central American countries because it has a relatively high Gross Domestic Product per capita as well as best indicators of life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, and adult literacy rate (United Nations Development Program, 1999). Much of this success has been attributed to its progressive education system. Costa Rica is one of the few countries in the world to exist without a national military system, consequently, more money can be diverted into educational programs. The adult literacy rate is near 95% and rivals the United States where the …

Story-Based Foreign Language Learning, Jose' Villavicencio

Perspectives In Learning

Foreign language education has transitioned from a grammar-based approach, with an emphasis on form, to a communication-based approach, with an emphasis on meaning (Brown, & Vidal, 2001). Although both approaches are philosophically juxtaposed, the knowledge of grammar is required to accurately communicate in the target language. This review will clarify the distinctions between programs based on meaning and form, and then show that story-based learning improves the teaching of grammar as well as the learning of the target language. Story-based learning bridges meaning and form instruction by contextualizing both. This approach, known as “Language Arts” in English education, has surfaced …

Constructivism In Online Learning : A Literature Review, Zishan Hong

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to look at the interaction of constructivist-based approaches, adult learning characteristics and six online learning issues. Constructivist learning environments allow learners to build their own meaning and understanding from learning resources and circumstances. Constructivists claim that learners accumulate new knowledge by themselves and use this to pile up previous knowledge and experiences. The learner is the learning focus, and the instructors act as facilitators or guides, which provide appropriate and enriching supplies. This theory supports well the adult style of learning. Based on constructivism, the online instructor is a facilitator to monitor and provide …

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Perspectives In Learning

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Beyond Diversity: An Academic Infusion Model (A.I.M.) Of Multicultural Teacher Education, Rita Mitchell, Bonita Williams, Paulina Kuforiji

Perspectives In Learning

Teacher Education Programs provide the knowledge, skills and experience that enable pre-service teachers to become effective educators. Multicultural Education should be a significant part of the academic foundation for preservice education programs. This article examines the rationale for the utilization of the Academic Infusion Model (A.I.M.) of Multicultural Education in Teacher Education Programs. Teachers are ultimately responsible for establishing and maintaining an educational environment where students are provided opportunities to develop to their full potential. Therefore teacher quality is the most important factor in considering the effectiveness of a school. Educational administrators are faced with the responsibility of hiring qualified …