Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Teaching Acceptance Of Differences And Equality Across General Education Curricula: Changing Perspectives On Multiculturalism And Social Acceptance Through Transformative Learning, Merrill Andrea Mayper

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As the United States becomes more diverse nation, institutions of higher learning continue to promote diversity education on their campuses. The purpose of this study was to go beyond courses designed to teach cultural diversity specifically, and to discover how higher education faculty could include lessons on acceptance of difference and equality in the various disciplines of general education taught in today's colleges and universities. Faculty could thereby create an opportunity for students to challenge their mental models and, through transformative learning, change their perceptions on how they view the world. Using the Delphi method, this study brought together a …

Efficacy Of Cultural-Based Psychoeducational Group Therapy For Increasing Marital Satisfaction Among Latino Couples, Maria Jesus Ampuero

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research has indicated the importance of providing marriage education to ethnic minority couples who are struggling with their marital relationships. Despite this known importance, significantly fewer resources are available for Latino couples, who have a high rate of divorce. The purpose of this quantitative, randomized, wait-list control group trial design was to determine whether Couples in Contact, a culturally-based, psychoeducational intervention group program for Latino couples, increases marital satisfaction, as measured by the Marital Satisfaction Inventory, Revised (MSI-R). This study drew on cognitive behavioral therapy applied to couples, and the supportive theories underlying family systems theory and Gottman's theory. …

How (And Why) Nclb Failed To Close The Achievement Gap:Evidence From North Carolina, 1998-2004, Roslyn Mickelson, Jason Giersch, Elizabeth Stearns, Stephanie Moller

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Recent state and national policy changes for public education are premised upon the idea that high-stakes tests can improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps. Opponents maintain that such policies fail on both counts. Using a unique longitudinal dataset from North Carolina, we find that high-stakes tests have failed to close achievement gaps associated with social class and race, and that the persistence of these gaps is related, at least in part, to academic tracking. Such findings add to the questions being raised about such policies as No Child Left Behind.

Catalog, 2013-2014, Anderson University - South Carolina

Catalogs

The 2013-2014 graduate & undergraduate academic catalog and introduction to the university.

A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Teachers Who Have Persisted In The Teaching Profession, Shana Market Norton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of 12 secondary school teachers from public secondary schools in northern Georgia regarding their feelings about self-efficacy and why they have persisted in the teaching profession. The research questions centered around their perceptions on how self-efficacy influences the academic achievement of their students, on what personality characteristics they feel teachers add to their positive or negative self-esteem in teaching, and on what factors they identify as influencing their professional self-efficacy in teaching. Teacher self-efficacy, the belief in oneself to succeed at completing a task, is a key factor in retaining teachers. Four data …

Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy: A Study Of Its Effect On Student Academic Progress And End Of Course Test Performance In A Rural Alternative High School, Jan Singletary

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Meeting the needs of all students is a continuing challenge for educators. Schools across the nation are designing programs to foster student achievement and graduation. Alternative education programs are gaining in popularity among students who have not succeeded in traditional schools and would previously have dropped out of school. It is essential that teachers connect with students so that students believe teachers care about them and their education. In this quantitative study, a significant correlation was found between students' perception of teacher immediacy, determined with the Nonverbal Immediacy Scale - Observer Report (NIS-O), and their rate of academic progress as …

Cultural Exposure For Cal Poly Orientation Programs: Training Orientation Leaders To Promote An Inclusive Environment And Creating Respect And Diversity Programming For Incoming Students, Sofia Rodriguez Mata

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo is home to the largest student run orientation program in the nation. The success of the program is due to a combination of student volunteer involvement, comprehensive topic coverage, campus and community involvement, and dedicated leadership. Topics to ensure student success are carefully researched, conceptualized, and implemented to construct programming for Soar and Week of Welcome. As an Executive Board Member, supervising a committee focused on student and student supporter transition and awareness topics, one has the option to specialize on projects. Improvement of respect and diversity training and programming needed to …

Building And Strengthening Ties In The Community Through Service-Learning Opportunities, Lori Auletta

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The author gives an overview of the activities of a service-learning club she formed at an independent school as well as the expansion of the service-learning into the curriculum and the efforts to integrate the community into the events at the school.

The Case For Anti-Bias Preschool And Curriculum For Teachers, Children And Families : Thriving And Learning In A Diverse Child-Led Environment, Nicole Robbins

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Attempts to make the case for the design of an anti-bias preschool. The paper looks at the specific age when young children begin to notice similarities and differences pertaining to physical characteristics, social-economic characteristics, cultural characteristics and developmental variations. It explores the impact formal anti-bias education can have in the preschool setting. This includes impacts on children, families, and teachers. Recommendations are provided in the form of a teacher -training module that includes practical tips as well as an example of an anti-bias curriculum.

Cooking Up A Course: Food Education At Pomona College, Christina A. Cyr

Pomona Senior Theses

Cooking skills are important but declining, with significant health, social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental implications. Food and cooking education can begin to address some of the negative effects of the cooking skills decline. This thesis makes the case for cooking classes in the education system, especially in higher education. The paper begins with a history of cooking education and skills, outlines the implications of the decline in skills, and discusses the potential for cooking education in higher education. The second part consists of a course syllabus, designed for Pomona College. The third section includes a discussion of the implementation …

The Effect Of Metacognitive And Self-Regulatory Strategy Instruction On Impoverished Students' Assessment Achievement In Physics, Jaunine Fouche

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this nonequivalent control group design study was to evaluate the effectiveness of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategy use on the assessment achievement of 215 9th-grade, residential physics students from low socioeconomic status (low-SES) backgrounds. Students from low-SES backgrounds often lack the self-regulatory habits and metacognitive strategies to improve academic performance. In an effort to increase these scores and to increase student self-regulation and metacognition with regard to achievement in physics, this study investigated the use of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategies specifically as they apply to students' use of their own assessment data. Traditionally, student performance data is used …

Developing A Curriculum For African American Pastors And Church Leaders In Crescent City, Florida, Cornelius Golden

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

It is the writer's premise that there is a great void, particularly within the African American Church of academic training in theology amongst clergy and church leaders in rural areas. However, training is disparately needed. The training should be very practical and engaging. The writer proposes to develop a curriculum designed to develop the non-seminary trained pastor in six vital areas of ministry: (1) Church History, (2) Church Administration, (3) Theology, (4) Ethics, (5) Evangelism, and (6) Pastoral Care. This project would be useful to the life and work of the church because it makes available a researched curriculum especially …

Indiana, Susan R. Adams

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th state on December 11, 1816. Corydon, Indiana, located in southern Indiana, was the first state capitol until 1825, when the capital was moved to a more central location in Indianapolis. Indiana, located in the midwest, was formerly part of the Indiana Territory, dissolved in 1798. The first governor of the territory was William Henry Harrison, who served from 1800 until 1813. Harrison later became the into president of the United States, in 1840. Two constitutions have been ratified in Indiana: the first in 1816, and the current constitution in 1851. Indiana …

English Proficiency / Fluent English Proficient Students, Susan R. Adams

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

K-12 students whose first language is not English are identified upon enrollment in U.S. schools through a home language survey and are immediately assessed to determine whether English as a second language (ESL) services are required. Students who do not pass this initial screening assessment are classified as English Language Learners (ELLs), or as limited English proficiency (LEP) students, and are identified to receive school-provided English language development (ELD) and accommodations. Students who pass the initial screener or who demonstrate English proficiency two years in a row on state-mandated annual assessments are deemed fluent or fully English proficient (FEP) students …

Characteristics Of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools, Jan Ware Russell

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Progressive education has a long history within the American K-12 education system dating back to the late 1800s. During this period, two very distinct ideologies represented progressive education: 1) administrative progressives supporting standardization as a means of efficiency and 2) pedagogical progressives supporting child-centered learning based upon a well-rounded education. This study looks at 82 contemporary pedagogical progressive schools to identify common characteristics. Child-centered learning, community integration, and democratic decision-making were the three overarching philosophies covered in this study. Data was collected through an online survey of school leaders. The majority of research surrounding progressive education is qualitative and focuses …

An Undergraduate Seminar On Irish Musical Culture In Ireland And The Irish Diaspora In America, Including The Influence Of Irish Music On Appalachian Folk Music Culture, Frieda Eakins

Masters Theses

The following project establishes a concise, yet multifaceted design for a seminar on Irish musical culture. While it was initially developed as a course for its author to teach in the undergraduate, on-ground classroom, this project provides a framework adaptable enough for use by other instructors and/or for additional music seminars. This project is unique in its two-fold purpose in that the design and resources are directed to assist the instructor with streamlining course curriculum preparation, while the course content specific to the project when utilized offers students in the undergraduate college classroom a better understanding of Irish musical culture …

Catalog, 2012-2013, Anderson University - South Carolina

Catalogs

The 2012-2013 graduate & undergraduate academic catalog and introduction to the university.

Digital Immigrant Teacher Perceptions Of Social Media As It Influences The Affective And Cognitive Development Of Students: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe how digital immigrant teachers perceive the influence of social media on the affective and cognitive development of students at three high schools in Alabama. As the prevalence of social technologies is increasing, educators must understand how it is affecting students in order to instruct students and utilize technologies in an effective manner. Thus, a phenomenological study should inform teacher practitioners on how to address concerns and issues associated with social media in order to positively influence the learning environment. Ten teachers were selected from one private and two public high …

La Herida De Moctezuma, Mark K. Warford

Spanish Model Lesson Plans

A Sociocultural Model Lesson Plan centered on a folktale about the demise of Moctezuma. La Herida de Moctezuma comes from John Bierhorst's Cuentos Folclóricos Latinoamericanos. A Google search will yield an excerpt, but it is recommended that you use the entire tale. Targeted to Intermediate-High learners.

Investigating The Instructor's Role In New Student Sense Of Classroom Community, Alix E. Davidson

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study is to determine whether an instructor’s intentional effort to build community in his/her classroom results in a higher sense of classroom community among students. This study also examined what types of community building activities were conducted by each instructor and measured the students’ responses to each different activity. This was intended to establish a preliminary set of best practices for creating classroom community. A two-part questionnaire, including an adapted version of the Classroom Community Scale, was administered to instructors (n=5) and students (n=113) enrolled in two or four unit courses at California Polytechnic State University. …

A Phenomenological Study Of Motivations, Experiences And Reflections As Related To Teacher Training And Development In Tanzania, Melinda Ingiaimo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In third world countries where education often takes a back seat to survival, teachers struggle to prepare themselves to shape the destiny and future of the upcoming generation. This study examined the phenomena of Tanzanian teacher preparation with special emphasis on the motivating factors, common experiences and reflections of participants concerning their preparation process for teaching in a government funded school. This study inquired into the immediate teaching environment and the ongoing teacher development processes. Fifteen Tanzanian teachers were purposefully chosen for this study and data was gathered utilizing a semi-structured interview, a survey and a focus group. The teacher …

Effective Science Teaching In A High Poverty Middle School, Georgette Meyer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study described the characteristics of science teachers in a high poverty urban middle school whose 2010 scores on South Carolina's Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) ranked second in the state. Data was obtained through classroom observations, open-ended interviews, school documents, and photographs taken inside the school from ten participants, who were seven science teachers, a science coach, and two administrators. Findings revealed a school culture that pursued warm and caring relationships with students while communicating high expectations for achievement, strong central leadership who communicated their vision and continuously checked for its implementation through informal conversations, frequent …

Exploring German And American Modes Of Pedagogical And Institutional Sustainability: Forging A Way Into The Future, Lindon N. Pronto

Pitzer Senior Theses

Rooted deep in Germany's past is its modern socio-political grounding for environmental respect and sustainability. This translates into individual and collective action and extends equally to the economic and policy realm as it does to educational institutions. This thesis evaluates research conducted in Germany with a view to what best approaches are transferable to the United States liberal arts setting. Furthermore, exemplary American models of institutional sustainability and environmental education are explored and combined with those from abroad to produce a blueprint and action plan fitting for the American college and university.

Enhancing The Team Experience In Service Learning Courses, Audrey Falk

Education Faculty Publications

Service learning is pervasive in higher education today, with 31 percent of students at Campus Compact member schools engaging in service activities (Campus Compact, 2009) and universities’ missions and strategic planning documents increasingly aimed at developing engaged citizens. Service learning has many potential benefits for college students; among those benefits is the opportunity to develop and practice teamwork skills. The present paper describes the strategies used in a team-based service learning course to support positive team experiences for students.

My Community, Their Community Our Community: "Musings" On Development, Grace Leonard

VA Engage Journal

This reflection explores the collision of anthropology and civic engagement, a combination that has come to define my senior research. My fieldwork at educational NGOs in Northern Richmond and Northern Ghana caused me to question the local relevancy of NGO management strategies. How can white, middle class teachers appropriately improve educational outcomes for low-income black students in Richmond? Is compulsory education appropriate training for Ghanaian farmers? Academic theories criticize “development” for furthering power against the oppressed, while the qualitative work of NGOs is quantified to fit the needs of grant writers. I find policy can never prescribe perfectly. In order …

Study Guide For United In Anger: A History Of Act Up, Matt Brim

Open Educational Resources

The United in Anger Study Guide facilitates classroom and activist engagement with Jim Hubbard’s 2012 documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Study Guide contains discussion sections, projects and exercises, and resources for further research about the activism of the New York chapter of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The Study Guide is a free, interactive, multimedia resource for understanding the legacy of ACT UP, the film’s role in preserving that legacy, and its meaning for viewers' lives.

Investigating Young Children's Music-Making Behavior: A Developmental Theory, Paul G. Morehouse

CGU Theses & Dissertations

We have many developmental theories contributing to our understanding of children as they meander steadfastly toward maturation. Yet, none have reported on how young children interpret the qualitative meaning and importance of their own music-making experiences. Music created by average, not prodigious, young children is perceived by adults as “play” music rather than “real” music. But do young children take the same view as adults? When Piaget speaks of the young child’s qualitatively unique view and experience of the world (Ginsberg & Opper, 1988), can we assume that his statement encompasses young children’s predispositions related to music-making?

Music is understood …

How Porous Are The Walls That Separate Us?: Transformative Service-Learning, Women’S Incarceration, And The Unsettled Self, Coralynn V. Davis, Carol Wayne White

Faculty Journal Articles

In this article, we refine a politics of thinking from the margins by exploring a pedagogical model that advances transformative notions of service learning as social justice teaching. Drawing on a recent course we taught involving both incarcerated women and traditional college students, we contend that when communication among differentiated and stratified parties occurs, one possible result is not just a view of the other but also a transformation of the self and other. More specifically, we suggest that an engaged feminist praxis of teaching incarcerated women together with college students helps illuminate the porous nature of fixed markers that …

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, Volume One, Issue One, Shane Willson, Landon S. Bevier, Rachael E. Gabriel, Taylor Krcek, Alaina Elizabeth Smith

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

It is with great pride that we present to you the inaugural issue of Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum. Here we have attempted to create an innovative, peer-reviewed space in which people from numerous disciplines, or even those claiming no discipline, can present research, multimedia, and art aimed at furthering the ideals of social justice, broadly defined. Social justice is not a concept owned by the academy, for attempts to create a more just world can come from many professions, or even from no profession at all. By applying the traditionally academic peer-review process to work done by activists, artists, …

Research To Practice: Improving Job Development Through Training And Mentorship, Alberto Migliore, John Butterworth, Derek Nord, Amy Gelb

Research to Practice Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Prior research suggests that employment consultants who provide job development support do not consistently use the most promising practices in their field1. These practices include involving family and friends in the job search, using job restructuring or job creation to expand employment opportunities, negotiating with employers, and using planning strategies that emphasize choice, empowerment, and an effective job match. The purpose of this study was to validate a curriculum based on these promising practices for a training and mentoring program that targeted employment consultants.