Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Special Education Teachers' Self-Efficacy Regarding Improving The Reading Comprehension Of Students With Working Memory Deficits, Amy Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Significant discrepancies in reading comprehension rates exist for students with disabilities compared to their grade appropriate peers. Educational neuroscientists suggest that identifying breakdowns in the cognitive processes required for reading comprehension and applying specialized strategies have significant implications for improving the reading proficiency of students with working memory deficits. Despite the availability and implications of educational neuroscience, a significant gap between theory and classroom practice exists. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods research study was to examine special education teachers’ self-efficacy regarding their ability to increase the reading comprehension of students with working memory deficits. The quantitative phase, …

Climate Change Education And Environmental Education: Perceptions And Knowledge Among Environmental Educators In The Southeastern United States, Lauren C. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is a global environmental problem and issue. Mitigation and adaptation have been suggested for use in dealing with the impacts, both current and in the future. Climate change education as a mitigation and adaptation effort is one that could have great impact. This quantitative survey study examined the climate change and climate change education perception and knowledge of Southeastern Environmental Education Association members. This study segmented participants into one of six unique climate change groups: Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Doubtful, Dismissive, and Disengaged based on the Six Americas Survey developed by Maibach, Lesierowitz, Roser-Renouf, and Mertz. CC knowledge was …

Teacher Perceptions Of Intercultural Sensitivity And Their Classroom Management Practices: An Empirical Study Among Middle And High School Teachers In A Georgia School System, Nigel Lavar Walker

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have reported the existence of an achievement and discipline gap between Black and White students and examined factors that potentially influenced the outcomes. The researcher conducted a causal comparative study to determine if there were differences in teacher perceptions of intercultural sensitivity and classroom management practices based on gender, ethnicity, years of experience, and grade level. The present study was also designed to determine if there were differences in classroom practices based on levels of intercultural sensitivity. The data were collected using a survey instrument comprised of the following three parts: four preliminary questions to gather demographic information, the …

Examining Perceptions Of High School Science Teachers Regarding The Participation And Outcomes Of African American Girls In Advanced Science Courses, Shanica Cherie Poole

Theses and Dissertations

African American girls were underrepresented in STEM related education and careers. Social and historical factors caused African American girls to be double marginalized based on gender and sex. African American girls had the potential to fill STEM positions with a strong foundation in advanced science courses. The current study focused on the unknown relationship between science teachers, advanced science courses, and African American girls participating in advanced science courses. Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Black Feminist Thought (BFT) theoretical frameworks were used in an integrated approach to understand the unique experiences of African American girls enrolled in advanced science courses. …

Curriculum Change: A Study On Teacher Perceptions Of Curriculum Change On Content Standards, Tiffany Kessler-Hopek

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, curriculum has encountered frequent changes throughout years. The main initiative of educational change has three main components, and they are to increase the quality and rigor of the curriculum, have a common curriculum, and prepare students for secondary education. The standards in the state of Georgia have changed from Georgia Performance Standards and Common Core State Standards to the more recent Georgia Standards of Excellence. By the school year 2018-2019, the Georgia Standards of Excellence should be fully adopted. An explanatory sequential mixed methods study was conducted to examine the perceptions of teachers on curriculum change …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between High School Seniors And High School Seniors Participating In A Multi-Year, Looping, School-Based Mentoring Program, Devon Alaine Lassetter

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have indicated that secondary school students were more likely to be truant than primary school students which lead to students dropping out of school and becoming less productive citizens as adults. Researchers have also shown that participation in a school-based mentoring program can positively influence the students and help them make better life decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent a multi-year, looping, school-based mentoring program has on the attendance data, behavioral data, achievement data, and graduation rate of high school seniors at a rural high school in west Georgia. The researcher conducted a …

A Case Study Of A Technical College's Faculty Perceptions Regarding The Value Of Professional Development Activities, Kermelle D. Hensley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate technical college faculty members' perceptions of the professional development. Most of the literature was focused on four-year higher educational institutions. For the purposes of this qualitative case study, the researcher addressed the limited amount in the literature about professional development in two-year technical colleges. The researcher investigated faculty perceptions concerning the usefulness of professional development in a two-year higher education institution through survey research design with 8 participants. The main themes were 1) technical college faculty desired professional development; 2) technical college faculty needed for follow up from the professional …

The Impact Of Flipping An Educational Psychology Classroom On Learning At Different Levels Of Bloom's Taxonomy, Mona Ibrahim 2993299, Itohan Agbenin

Perspectives In Learning

This study examined the effects of the flipped classroom (FC) on overall learning in an undergraduate educational psychology course. Learning in the FC at the different levels of learning in Bloom’s Taxonomy (BT) was also investigated. We predicted that students in the FC would learn more than students in the traditional class and that students in the FC would initially score higher on items assessing lower BT levels (LL), but as they get more FC experiences would score higher on items assessing higher levels of BT (HL). Results indicated that there were no differences in exam scores between the traditional …

Volume 17 Issue 1 Preliminary Pages, Jennifer Brown

Perspectives In Learning

Volume 17 issue 1 preliminary pages, including table of contents

The Implementation Of Reading Circles In An Educator Preparation Program Course, Yvonne Hefner

Perspectives In Learning

This study examined the effectiveness of the implementation of reading circles along with a wiki in an undergraduate special education methods course as a way to increase understanding and retention of course content. Reading circles offered a direct way to encourage reading of course content. In addition, the use of the wiki allowed the students to construct, discuss, revise, and fine-tune their understandings and interpretations of assigned readings. Both the reading circles and the wiki emphasized collaboration through an ongoing process and, as such, complemented each other in very powerful ways. The results of this study support the implementation of …

“You Can’T Know Until Someone Tells You Or You Experience Something”: Talking Back To Deficit Discourse With Digital Photo Stories And The Not-Ice Teacher Discussion Protocol, Jennifer K. Allen

Perspectives In Learning

This practitioner research study explored the use of student-created digital photo stories combined with focused teacher conversations guided by the NOT-ICE protocol (Author, 2016) to provide insight into why Latin@ students’ talents may be overlooked by classroom teachers. Digital photo stories, created by emergent bilingual elementary Latin@ learners, were used to elicit the primary data from the study. Teacher co-researchers participated in small-group, collaborative discussion sessions to investigate and understand how schooling labels carry potential biases that obscure students’ gifts and talents. Findings indicate that digital photo stories can act as counter-stories by disrupting teachers’ commonly held (mis)perceptions about emergent …

Informal Advocacy As A Way To Deeper Learning Of Adult Development And Aging Processes, Part 2, Dean D. Vondras

Perspectives In Learning

To enhance engagement and deepen learning in undergraduate courses that focus on adult development and aging, two informal advocacy classroom activities were created and surveyed. The surveys were brief empirical assessments of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) activities, and contained closed- and open-ended questions. Results from Study 2 suggested students’ enjoyment of the informal advocacy discussion and the creation of a public service announcement to be positively associated with survey ratings of increased insight, enhanced understanding, broader awareness, and the gaining of new knowledge about the concerns of older adults. Narrative responses from both studies suggest informal advocacy for older adults to …

An Examination Of Teacher Perceptions Of Credit Recovery In Three South Georgia School Districts, Brooks Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

The present study was an exploration of the credit recovery program in three school districts in Georgia. The researcher explored the implementation of the credit recovery program used as a tool for improving graduation rates and college and career readiness of students in three purposefully selected school districts in Georgia. Three research questions were used focusing on the implementation process, the reason why the credit recovery program was implemented, and the outcome of the credit recovery program after implementation. The methodology was a qualitative comparative research design, which included data from three school districts in Georgia. Data were collected via …

A Mixed Method Descriptive Study Of High School Graduates' Dual Enrollment Experiences And The Influence On College Readiness, Sherry W. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the perceptions of graduates regarding the benefits of participating in Dual Enrollment and how their participation influenced their college readiness. Dual enrollment programs have become prominent nationwide. Several studies show positive outcomes including increased high school completion, improved postsecondary persistence, and higher college degree completion. This study will evaluate dual enrollment participants at one high school located in central Georgia. Data is analyzed and presented based on relevance to the effectiveness of the dual enrollment program. The study was important because the success of Dual Enrollment could provide a possible remedy …

Universal Design For Learning: Is Training Making A Difference In Teacher Pedagogy, Michelle D. Sizemore

Theses and Dissertations

David H. Rose and his colleagues at the Center for Applied Specialized Technology (CAST), a non-profit organization specializing in educational research and development, worked for over one quarter of a century to improve learning opportunities for all individuals (Rose, 2012). In the late 1990s this work led to a set of principles known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a research-based instructional framework grounded in neuroscience and educational research that allowed teachers to proactively identify barriers that might exist between students and learning and account for those barriers during lesson development and implementation (CAST, 2015). One school district in southwest …

Dual-Career Couples: A Coup Or To Cope In Academia, Kendall D. Isaac

Theses and Dissertations

Dual-career couples are common in academia. Indeed, anyone presently working at a higher education institution can likely make a cursory and informal inquiry to see if there are couples on his campus and quickly realize that several exist. Couples working on the same campus can bring with it certain positives such as increased institutional loyalty and productivity, as well as certain negatives such as departmental frustration at a trailing spouse hire and possible discord at times when the couple’s relationship lacks harmony. In an attempt to delve deeper into this phenomenon and to explore the pros and cons associated with …

To What Extent Do Teachers And Administrators Perceive They Impact Student Engagement In A Rural Southwest Georgia School System, Priscilla G. Yarbrough

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of engagement emerged to understand and improve outcomes for students whose academic performance in school was marginal or poor. The importance of student engagement for achieving success in school was proven in many studies. Lessons designed to engage students helped to improve student achievement at all levels including lower academic performing students and helped to create positive school cultures and classroom learning environments. Very little was known about how teacher beliefs (perceptions of student engagement) influenced student engagement within the classroom. There were only a few studies in which student engagement was examined from the teacher’s perspective. To …

Latina Women At Columbus State University: The Struggle To Persist, Sharon Seneca

Theses and Dissertations

The Hispanic population in the United States increased tremendously over the years and Latinos are now the largest ethnic minority in the United States. The growth of the Latino community changed the face of the nation. Latina women are projected to account for a third of the total female population by the year 2060.

This growing segment of society represented untapped human capital, much of which has yet to be discovered and utilized. The Latino population at Columbus State University has also increased over the years. While the numbers of Latino students continued to increase, the fact that Latino students …

A Natural Pairing: Social Justice And Theatre Education, Danielle Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Social justice curricula are often solely geared toward middle and high school students. I intend to prove that a social justice curriculum can be creatively paired with a theatre curriculum. I also intend to prove that social justice can be taught as young as pre-kindergarten. I will design a social justice curriculum for various grade levels, beginning with pre-kindergarten. Through research and age-appropriate strategies, I will develop curriculum goals and learning experiences for all grade levels. The curriculum is not an end point for teachers, but rather a starting point for theatre teachers who want to integrate social justice into …

Perceptions Of Relationship‐Oriented Leadership Behaviors: A Descriptive Case Study, Akeishia J. Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship-oriented leadership behaviors teachers and principals perceive as being most important to the role of principal leadership. The study also focuses on how the perceptions between teachers and principals differ. Research indicates principals as being the catalyst behind and building and maintaining effective relationships with teachers. The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders serve as a framework for principals by providing them with standards that convey relationship-oriented characteristics leaders need to possess in order to be effective. The following study uses a mixed methods research design to collect data through online surveys and interviews. The surveys and …

Examination Of Job Satisfaction For Middle School Teachers In Georgia: Traditional And Charter Schools, Angela S. Kauffman

Theses and Dissertations

The growing demands placed on teachers has had a negative effect on the profession (Balu, Beteille, & Loeb, 2010). Teacher burnout, stress, and dissatisfaction may be imminent unless administrators arrive at preventions for these issues (Balu, Beteille, & Loeb, 2010). The aim of this quantitative study was to survey middle school teachers in Georgia to determine their level of job satisfaction as it related to different elements of their jobs. The survey included items designed to collect data on overall level of teacher job satisfaction in relation to the areas of age, years of experience, intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, school …

Literacy Connection: An Examination Of The Instructional Practices Of Fourth Grade Reading Teachers In The Dougherty County School System For Struggling Readers, Jamaul Rashard Kennedy

Theses and Dissertations

Societal expectations center upon the belief that children in grade four should be competent in terms of literacy skills and having acquired the necessary foundational skills to be successful in grade four. Instructional practices, reading programs and resources are linked to reading achievement and literacy acquisition of students. In Southwest Georgia, teachers’ instructional practices from twelve schools in urban Dougherty County were examined. The researcher examined the instructional practices of fourth grade reading teachers in the Dougherty County School System to determine the perceived impact on reading achievement and literacy acquisition of struggling fourth grade readers. The fourth grade reading …

The Use Of Formative Instructional Practices To Improve Student Performance, Courtney L. St. John-Wacker

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores teacher and school leadership perceptions on the use of Formative Instructional Practices (FIP) in classroom settings located in a large urban school district. Research indicates that using formative assessment can increase student achievement; however, professional learning of such practices is needed (Frey & Fisher, 2013; Harrison, O’Hara & McNamara, 2015; Wiliam, Lee, Harrison & Black, 2004). Research questions developed for this study included one main question and three secondary questions. The main question explored the participant’s perceptions of FIP implementation while the secondary questions focused on the development of student motivation and classroom assessments for students. Additionally, …

An Examination Of Factors Influencing Persistence At Columbus State University, Varonika Brown Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

The researcher designed the mixed method study to contribute to the field of study on persistence and provide information to CSU leadership, faculty and staff that may benefit efforts to reach and retain students. A better understanding of the factors influencing persistence may become vital for funding. Some form of performance-based funding is in place in 32 states. Georgia policymakers are considering factors such as student progression and degree completion.

For the study, the researcher asked:

1. What are the reasons graduating CSU students give for persisting at CSU? 2. What are the reasons incoming CSU students give for choosing …

An Examination Of First Generation Students And Program Administrators' Perceptions Regarding Academic And Social Support Offered At Albany Technical College, Wendy Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the perceptions of first generation students and program administrators regarding the academic and social support offered at Albany Technical College(ATC). This is a mixed-methods study that offered insight into the programmatic practices designed to improve the retention and graduation outcomes of first generation (first gen) students at ATC. This study complements the current body of literature about the challenges and conditions that influence the matriculation and graduation of the underserved population. Post-secondary institutions that enroll first generation students can benefit from learning about the experiences shared by student and program administrator participants.

Prospective participants were identified with …

Science Georgia Standards Of Excellence In Southwest Georgia: A Mixed Method Study Of Science Teachers' Perceptions Of Science And Engineering Practices And Administrative Support, Shereca R. Harvey

Theses and Dissertations

With the publication of A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (National Research Council, 2012), the dominant instructional approach for science education in the United States changed from teaching science as a process of inquiry to teaching science as a practice, using science and engineering practices. Middle and high school science teachers in the State of Georgia implemented the practices for the first time during 2017-2018 school year while teaching the new Science Georgia Standards of Excellence. Teachers who have been successful at making such instructional changes have done so with the support of their …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Benefits And Barriers About The Use Of Technology Within Individual Classrooms, Jodi Head

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated teachers’ perceptions of the use of technology within individual classrooms and how benefits and barriers in education affect their beliefs. The researcher conducted the study within a public, elementary school within the state of Georgia. A mixed methods approach was used to conduct the research, in order to collect the data. The quantitative method used was a Likert-type survey that was submitted to the researcher anonymously. The qualitative method used was a single, focus group with the participants that took part in the survey. They were asked a series of questions that pertained to the survey results. …

An Exploration Of The Influence Of Childhood Experiences On Servant Leadership Behaviors, Eva Marie Ahlquist Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

A long standing debate among leadership scholars is whether leadership can be taught and learned. The researcher’s experience, recognition that it is difficult to change behavior in adults, and limited leadership development research on early influences led the researcher to explore the influences of childhood experiences on servant leadership behaviors. A narrative research design was used, exploring the childhood experiences of participants through semi-structured interviews, followed by an interview of a family member. Two research questions guided the study:

Research Question 1: What are participants’ perceptions of how specific childhood experiences have influenced their servant leadership behaviors?

Research Question 2: …

Building Multicultural Competency Through Direct Experiential Contact: An Immersive Case Study Experience, Michael Baltimore

Perspectives In Learning

As American society becomes more diverse, counselor training programs have the responsibility for instilling multicultural competencies for counselors-in-training. Teaching multicultural competency is a requirement in professional counseling training programs through graduate level courses with the content infused throughout the program. In this case study approach, students were asked to immerse themselves within a different culture in order to become more aware of their own cultural values, become aware of other cultures and to learn appropriate relationship skills necessary for building helping relationships. Resulting writing and presentations show an increase in awareness, knowledge and skill for students. Recommendations for including an …

Teachers' Perceptions And Use Of E-Readers, Paulina Kuforiji, Bonita Williams

Perspectives In Learning

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