Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Bridging The Divide: Improving Digital Humanities Pedagogy By Networking Higher Education And Secondary Education Faculty In St. Louis, Geremy Carnes, Margaret K. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

In 2021, faculty at Lindenwood University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) led the formation of a Saint Louis Digital Humanities (STL DH) Network of faculty and scholars at area universities, schools, and cultural institutions.1 The Lindenwood and SIUE campuses bookend the St. Louis metro area, a region whose strong geospatial presence offers fruitful opportunities for digital humanities (DH) education but which also suffers from long, deeply ingrained economic and racial segregation. While other regional DH networks exist, the STL DH Network is unique in taking undergraduate education and secondary education— and particularly equitable access to education—as its chief focus. …

Unshackling Our Youth Through Love And Mutual Recognition: Notes From An Undergraduate Class On School Discipline Inspired By Ta-Nehisi Coates And Bell Hooks, Gene Fellner, Mark Comesañas, Tahjuan Ferrell

Publications and Research

This research essay challenges educators to embrace mutual recognition when interacting with students. Our data are the words of the young people who participated with us in one particular undergraduate class on school discipline at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, in the United States in the fall of 2022. Tahjuan, who had been our student in the 7th grade in 2011, co-taught the class with us. In writing this essay and in teaching the class, we were inspired by a short passage fromTa-Nehisi Coates about the shackling young people of color endure and another, by bell hooks, that proposes …

Content Area Language And Literacy, Saadia Ali, Margaret A. Berg

Open Textbooks & Reviews

Content Area Literacy courses have long been a requirement in teacher education programs for pre-service teachers for the secondary level and, sometimes, for the elementary level. The 2020 World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Framework takes a genre approach that aligns well with the traditional Content Area Literacy courses in teacher preparation programs. WIDA argues for an educational approach that fosters (a) equity of opportunity and access, (b) integration of content and language, (c) collaboration among stakeholders, and (d) a functional approach to language development. This textbook examines the elements that make up the Simple View of Reading with adjustments …

Pre-Calculus: Thinking Deeply About Simple Things, Jacob Carter

Graduate Research Showcase

“Pre-Calculus: Thinking Deeply About Simple Things” is a research-based creative endeavor focused on designing a high-school pre-calculus course. This course aims to foster deep, meaningful thinking, as well as an appreciation of the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the math classroom. The course leverages students’ funds of knowledge to employ culturally responsive teaching methods to connect mathematical concepts to the students’ backgrounds, interests, and real-life situations. This course also integrates social-emotional learning to create an engaging and supportive learning environment for all students. By combining Peter Liljedahl’s “Building Thinking Classroom in Mathematics” approach with problem-based learning, the course …

"I'M Really Just Scared Of The White Parents": A Teacher's Perceptions Of Barriers To Discussing Racial Injustice, Shimikqua Elece Ellis, Christian Goering

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose - This study explores the perceived barriers that a Secondary English teacher faced when attempting to discuss racial injustice through young adult literature in Mississippi.

Design/methodology/approach- The authors rely on Critical Whiteness Studies and qualitative methods to explore the following research question: What are the barriers that a White ELA teacher perceives when teaching about racial injustice through The Hate U Give?

Findings- The authors found that there were several perceived barriers to discussing modern racial injustice in the Mississippi ELA classroom. The participating teacher indicated the following barriers: a lack of racial literacy, fears of discomfort, and an …

The World Around Us: Physical And Chemical Changes, Erica Carpenter

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

The following article describes a lesson that provides students with a better understanding of the world around them. Specifically, the students investigate real-life examples to expand their learning about physical and chemical changes. This lesson is appropriate for middle school students. Within the lesson, the teacher provides readers with resources and activities that can be used to cultivate a culturally relevant pedagogy. Students are provided with a variety of activities to spark their interest in science.

Using Multiple Modes Of Learning In A High School Genetic Engineering Lesson, Hannah Stuart

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

The goal of this article is to discuss a genetic engineering lesson presented to high school biology students to obtain mastery of the Biology Standard of Learning (BIO.5e) associated with genetic engineering products and practices. The lesson described in this article follows the 5E lesson plan model. Therefore, the article will describe the 5Es used in the creation and implementation of this lesson: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. This article focuses on the use of resources and activities that appeal to students with varying learning styles and looks at the effectiveness of individualized teacher-student attention during individual practice time. …

Microscope Investigations: An Inquiry-Based Cell Lab, Joshua Whittaker, R. Whitlow

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

This lesson is a collaborative effort between a student teacher and a cooperating senior teacher to design and implement an engaging and exploratory microscope lab for 7th-grade students. The goal of this lesson is to cultivate excitement, interest, and exploration in students who are new to using microscopes, aligning with the Virginia 7th Grade Life Science Standards of Learning on cells and cell theory. This lab incorporates two microscope stations—one focusing on fundamental skills and the other on inquiry-based exploration. By employing the 5E model of instruction, this paper details how students progress through engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation …

Multiplying And Dividing Fractions And Mixed Numbers Using Multiple Models, Pavithra Sridhar

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

This lesson is based on the study of Multiplying and Dividing Fractions using multiple representations, and the subsequent application of these concepts to real-life situations. In this lesson, we demonstrate/model multiplication and division of fractions (proper or improper) and mixed numbers using multiple models. We solve single-step and multistep practical problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with and without models. The sum, difference, product, and quotient of fraction and mixed number problems are determined. We also determine the sum and difference of fraction, mixed number, and fraction, division, and product of mixed numbers. This lesson focuses on the use …

Teaching Cells To Diverse Learners In The Modern Classroom, Avery Tully

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

During this lesson, my main focus was to engage students in deeper learning about the importance of cells and all the aspects of structure, function, and history. My classroom is extremely diverse as I teach in Northern Virginia, a true melting pot. I have attached the population of minorities in Northern Virginia. This shows that over half of the population is minorities, well over the national average. You will also see the graph of ESOL homes in Northern Virginia. This graph shows that over 35% of homes in Northern Virginia speak another primary language other than English in their homes.

A Cellular Division Called Mitosis, Betsy Kent

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

In biology, cellular reproduction is a fundamental process that ensures the growth and repair of living organisms. This article will detail the lesson that meets the needs of students with disabilities by applying several Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. The plan will be taught over a span of five days and focus on the fundamental process that allows living organisms to grow, repair damaged tissues, and reproduce. The students will have several hands-on activities that will enhance the lecture part of the lesson. Understanding cellular reproduction is crucial in comprehending the complexity and resilience of life itself.

Noticing Instructional Challenges In Artifacts Of Teaching, Tara Barnhart, Elizabeth A. Van Es

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study investigates challenges of enactment teachers notice when analyzing artifacts of teaching in a professional development focused on supporting the enactment of NGSS-aligned modeling instruction. Five secondary science teachers participated in a semester-long video club. Transcripts of the segments of their meetings in which they analyzed artifacts of practice were coded to characterize what they noticed in videos and student work samples from their own and others’ classrooms of students engaging in sensemaking. Through an inductive and iterative approach, three main linguistic challenges were identified related to the teachers’ noticing of students’ disciplinary thinking: learning how to communicate with …

Translanguaging In World Language Higher Education, Alessia Barbici Wagner

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today’s universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching. One of the ways that teaching can better serve today’s multilingual and multicultural student population is through translanguaging. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the intentional and unintentional use of translanguaging by multilingual language learners and world language instructors in higher education. Additionally, this qualitative case study …

Developing Mental Health And Wellness Awareness In Schools, Leah Wood

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic increased concerns for anxiety and depression in adolescents (Jones et al., 2021). As these concerns increased, students’ coping skills and mental health declined (Meherali et al., 2021). This mixed-methods study based in improvement science sought to develop mental health supports for teachers and students in a secondary setting. A mental health team convened for the purpose of this study completed a root cause analysis for a high school to determine the barriers to mental health supports. We identified the problem and potential barriers preventing proper mental health education and supports for teachers, students, and parents. The analysis …

I Grew Up Indoctrinated, Consuelo Ferschweiler

Whittier Scholars Program

My capstone project is looking at homeschooling as an educational path. I started with researching homeschooling and studies done to show the affects, outcomes, and comparisons of homeschooling with other methods commonly used such as Public or Private schools. I then read a few books and material that fall into the memoir and researched memoir genre, such as Educated, to understand how the voice and gain familiarity of memoir writing and the process of researching into your own life and history.

I have been looking back on my education of growing up homeschooled and writing scenes from those memories, …

Reframing Coaching Success: Mentorship And Ethics In The Era Of Increased Competition And Exploitation Of High School Athletes, Thomas Andres Auten

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The research inquiry asked the question, what methods do athletic coaches employ to improve academic performance and skills of their high school student athletes? The research method chosen for this investigation, influenced by the teachings of Dewey and Freire, is constructivist grounded theory. This research method used intensive interviews with 17 former high school athletes ranging in age from 19 to 68. The responses from these interviews uncovered three main coaching concerns: eligibility based on maintaining minimal grade point average; improving academic performance through peer tutoring; and mentoring for life skills and success. Based on my co-construction of meaning with …

Multiple Case Study Of Science And Engineering Integration In Secondary School Across Six School Districts, Elizabeth Hasseler, Elizabeth B. Lewis

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

A multiple case study was conducted to investigate six districts’ approaches to integrating science and engineering curricula in their secondary education programs. Data collected included classroom observations, interviews with teachers and administrators, college transcripts, professional development, and curriculum, as well as how, and how district personnel supported, and teachers enacted classroom instruction to align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Six districts were chosen due to their ranges in their size, urban or rural context, and demographics. There were 25 participants in the study who were either district personnel or secondary teachers. All school districts in the study incorporated …

Multilingual Zambia - Language Issues In Primary/Secondary Schools Of The Eastern/Southern Provinces, Kenzie Steiner

NUTR/GLST 498b: Global Research Experiences in Nutrition and Health

Introduction: Zambia is a multilingual country that uses 8 different languages for instruction including English and 7 other indigenous languages.

Methods: Survey research conducted between May-June 2022 on 6-7th graders within 9 Zambian schools. Classroom observations made and teachers interviewed.

Results: In Eastern and Southern Provinces, Zambian teachers speak an average of 5 languages while students speak an average of 2. Both teachers and students say English remains the most important language followed by first languages.

Conclusion: Continued research on language-in-education policies and impacts on student performance must be conducted if “One Zambia, One Nation” is meant to promote all …

知源育利用のガイド, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

知源育を応用するための様々な角度からのヒントを学ぶことができるガイドです。実勢んをしながら、時々このガイドを参照することで、より高いレベルでの実践が可能になるでしょう。

Introduction To A Universal Performance Improvement Method (Chigen-Iku), Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

This brief article introduces a universal performance improvement method called Chigen-iku, which has been developed carefully and extensively over more than 25 years through more than 100 individual and group projects based on the principles that were selected through my doctorial study in the field of Instructional Psychology and Technology.

A Collection Of Calculus Lesson Plans: Deriving The 'Why' Behind Derivatives, Kasey Brabec

Honors Theses

The traditional mathematics classroom is led with a focus on procedural understanding, with deep conceptual understanding considered to be unimportant or too difficult to teach within the allotted time. Both levels of understanding are important mathematical competencies, as it is rare for either of them to function well without accessibility to the other. The disparity between conceptual understanding and procedural understanding in the mathematics classroom is no larger than in courses like Calculus. This project is a collection of fifteen lesson plans constructed with an emphasis on conceptual understanding and the connectivity of Calculus. Each lesson plan’s overview contains the …

Comparison Of Rural And Urban High School Science And Engineering Integration In Two School Districts, Elizabeth Hasseler, Elizabeth B. Lewis

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

A comparative case study was conducted in an urban and rural district, focusing on how science and engineering were integrated into the high school programs. This led to the recommendation for districts to provide collaboration and mentorship opportunities that support teachers integrating engineering into their classrooms.

Session presider: Omah Williams-Duncan

Advisor: Beth Lewis

Committee members: Gwen Nugent, Justin Olmanson, Heidi Diefes-Dux

Libraries As Determinants Of Guided Inquiry Learning Approach In Social Studies, Favour O. Atubi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is an attempt to determine how school libraries can be used to provide a guided learning approach to social studies. The case study was carried out using a group study approach, supervised by three social studies teachers and a school librarian. The population of this study comprises of one hundred and sixteen (116) Junior Secondary Three (3) students from a state owned school in Delta state, southern Nigeria. A sample of fifteen (15) students, made up of three (3) groups of five (5) students each were drawn through a purposive sampling technique. Three teachers of social studies and …

The High School In The Middle Of Everywhere: Nebraska’S Lincoln High, Edmund T. Hamann, Janet M. Eckerson, Mark Larson

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

In 2002, world-renowned author Mary Pipher published a book about her home city, Lincoln Nebraska, playfully titled “The Middle of Everywhere” a tongue-in-cheek rejoinder to the idea that Nebraska is ‘the middle of nowhere.’ But word play aside, her title was empirically apt, as her volume documented how immigration and refugee resettlement were demographically transforming Nebraska’s capital city. As in other cities, resettlement was concentrated in some areas of Lincoln, placing differential burdens on different parts of the community’s institutional infrastructure. Of interest to readers of this volume, Lincoln’s refugees and immigrants were concentrated in the city’s oldest high school. …

Preservice Elementary Teachers Conceptions And Self-Efficacy For Integrated Stem, Deepika Menon, Deef A. A. Shorman, Derek Cox, Amanda Thomas

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

Educational reform efforts have emphasized preparing highly competent and confident preservice teachers to deliver effective K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instruction. Self-efficacy is a key variable that influences motivation and performance, and therefore it is necessary to support the development of preservice teachers’ integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy. This mixed-methods study investigates how preservice elementary teachers’ integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy is shaped during their participation in a newly redesigned STEM semester consisting of three concurrent methods courses (science and engineering, mathematics, and technology methods courses). The quantitative data sources included the Self-efficacy for Teaching Integrated STEM instrument administered as …

Understanding The Implications Of Work Based Learning For Students Pk-12 School Systems Institutions Of Higher Education And Hosting Organizations, David Naff, Amy Corning, Meleah Ellison, Albion Sumrell, Zehra Sahin Ilkorkor, Jennifer Murphy, Ciana Cross

MERC Publications

This literature review by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) and Institute for Collaborative Research and Evaluation (ICRE), in partnership with the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP) and State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) explores work-based learning and its implications for PK-12 institutions, institutions of higher education, and hosting organizations (e.g. employers). The report also provides background information about the foundations of work-based learning and concludes with a series of recommendations for practice, policy, and future research related to work-based learning. There is also an accompanying podcast episode where report authors discuss the key takeaways with …

The Importance And Implementation Of Kinesthetic Learning In The English Classroom, Emma Crandall

Senior Honors Theses

This paper examines different educators’ and researchers’ activities for kinesthetic learners and discusses how they can be applied to the English classroom in literature, writing, and language. The first section delves into the difficulty associated with but ultimate importance of including kinesthetic learning activities for both kinesthetic and non-kinesthetic learners due to the benefits of active learning. Subsequently, it looks for synthesis between different types of kinesthetic activities, dividing them into the categories of manipulatives, commonly accepted classroom activities with kinesthetic add-ons, and kinesthetic-centered activities. The ways each activity can be used, including its benefits and disadvantages, are discussed, and …

Restorative Pedagogies In Primary And Secondary Education: A Review Of Selected Literature, Gwynn Alexander

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Student Scholarship

Purpose

Restorative justice is a philosophy and set of practices aimed toward centering student well-being and positive social relationships in the classroom. Restorative pedagogies offer an approach to teaching/learning that seeks to remedy persistent patterns of punitive and exclusionary school-based practices.

Design, Methodology, and Approach

In this literature review, I employ a constructivist grounded theory approach to first define restorative pedagogies, then offer key themes that emerged across the body of literature. I introduce key foundational texts with a focus on the proliferation of research in the last decade. Lastly, I present critiques and limitations in the body of literature …

Discourse In Inquiry Science Classrooms, Diisc, Version 2.0 (User’S Manual For An Observation Research Instrument), Elizabeth B. Lewis, Dale R. Baker, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler, Ana Rivero, Brandon Helding

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

This is a user's manual for the externally validated Version 2.0 of the Discourse in Science Inquiry Classrooms (DiISC) instrument. The instrument is best suited for use in conducting research in secondary (grades 6-12) science classrooms that focuses on teachers' instructional practices, but can also be used as a professional development tool for teacher self-reflection and identifying goals for instructional change. The DiISC Version 2.0 is aligned with a model of a scientific classroom discourse community and articulated characteristics of social constructivist lessons in the categories of inquiry, oral and written discourse, and academic language development and essential learning principles.

Efficacy Of Audio-Visual Aided Instruction For Improving Students’ Interest And Achievement In Stem Subjects: Implications For Library Practice, William Onu, Anthony Uchechukwu Uzoigwe, Fakolade Benjamin Ayodele, Oluwatoyin Comfort Oluwatosin, Deborah Dele

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Considering that science and technology is key to comprehending and providing solution to problems plaguing humanity, STEM education is vital to a great future. With this being so, students are encouraged to develop skills and competencies needed to become educators, innovators, researchers, and leaders in different STEM domains, who can solve the most pressing problems facing humanity, now and in the future. However, there seem to be shortage of interest from students to pursue STEM careers. In a bid contribute to raising the level of interest in STEM subjects, this study, conducted in Nsukka education zone of Enugu state, sought …