Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Culture In The Classroom: A Study For Strategies For Bridging Classroom Divides, William Rolison

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers perceive the impact of socioeconomic class and culture on student/teacher interactions and to identify specific strategies that may be implemented to bridge cultural divides between students and teachers. To do this I employed a qualitative action research design incorporating semi-structured interviews, recorded dialogue, and researcher generated questionnaires. Together with two collaborating teachers, I examined teacher views of sociocultural influences on student/teacher interactions and identified cross-cultural strategies to implement in bridging sociocultural divides between students and teachers.

Study participants reported that participation in interviews and group dialogue made them more aware …

Leveling Up Instruction: Action Research Evaluating The Impact Of Gamification On The Intrinsic Motivation And Academic Performance Of Students Disaffected From High School English Language Arts, Michael Brian Jett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the impact of gamification on the intrinsic motivation and academic performance of students disaffected from high school English language arts (ELA). Three questions guided this study: (a) how does gamification affect the intrinsic motivation of students disaffected from high school ELA, (b) does gamification affect the academic performance of students disaffected from high school ELA, and (c) what recommendations can students offer after reflecting on their experiences with gamification?

The game elements of challenge, narrative, role-play, and teamwork were incorporated into the design of a five-week instructional unit focused on research …

Can The Curse Be Reversed?: An Action Research Study Of The Effect Of Constructivist-Aligned Instructional Strategies And Practices On The Mathematical Identity Development Of Fifth- Grade Students, Jennifer J. Ledbetter

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this mixed-methods action research study was to determine how my fifth-grade students were impacted by negative mathematical identity and/or math anxiety and to uncover the impact of constructivist-aligned instructional strategies on students’ mathematical identity. Grounded in a theoretical framework based on constructivist learning theory, identity theory, and communities of practice, the study used a convergent mixed-methods action research approach to investigate the following research questions:

How does negative mathematical identity and/or math anxiety impact my students? 2) What classroom practices contribute to the development of negative mathematical identity and how can those practices be replaced? 3) How …

Teaching Psychology In Secondary School: The Flipped Classroom Approach And The Arcs Motivational Model, Nicole Ritter

Theses and Dissertations

Motivational levels towards learning course content are low due to the lack of resources. This action research evaluated the impact of implementing a flipped classroom approach on students’ motivation to foster the content knowledge in a high school introductory psychology course. Using a flipped classroom approach, lecture-based activities were recorded and saved for the home where students could control the viewing Traditional lecture in the classroom was replaced with active learning strategies. This research answered the questions: (1) How and in what ways does implementing a flipped classroom approach affect high school students’ motivation to learn in an introductory psychology …

Helping College Mathematics Students Improve Their Mathematics Self-Efficacy And Self-Regulation Using Mymathlab, Allan C. Pangburn

Theses and Dissertations

A confident self-regulated learner knows how to effectively monitor their time management, motivation, help-seeking, self-efficacy, self-reflection, and strategic planning skills. These skills are components of a student’s self-regulation skills. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the impact of using self-regulated learning strategies embedded in the online homework platform, MyMathLab, on the students’ self-regulated learning and mathematics self-efficacy skills while taking College Algebra at a 2-year Regional College Campus in the southeastern United States. This study looked to answer (1) how, and to what extent, does the online homework platform, MyMathLab, impacts the students’ self-regulated learning skills and …

Lifting The Veil: A Critical Post-Intentional Phenomenological Action Research Study Of How African American Students Experience Science, Gina Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Research asserts the assimilationist nature of traditional science classroom practices undermines African American students’ intersectional race and science identity. Driven by a problem of practice embedded in the racialized system of science education, this study integrated action research with an innovative critical paradigm to explore how phenomenological data can transform practice. This post-intentional approach relies on experiential, phenomenological data of how African American students experience science to provide a critical analysis of instruction that leads to a change in science pedagogy. Qualitative interviews documented African American students’ experiences with science and an observation journal documented the resulting intervention. A post-reflexive …

The Struggle Is Real: Exploring Epistemological Change Through The Use Of The Next Generation Science Standards In A High School Chemistry Classroom, Nancy Nasr

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research study examines my resistance to implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in my high school chemistry classroom, which is not uncommon among teachers. This resistance highlighted my conflicting epistemological beliefs, which, as a product of my own experiences as a student, among other factors, are deep-rooted and difficult to change. The dilemma for many science teachers, like me, is that the NGSS approaches the teaching of science in a constructivist manner, which attempts to move science instruction away from traditional pedagogies. Science teachers whose epistemological beliefs are rooted in traditional pedagogies may understand the inherent …

Making Elearning Engaging: The Effect Of Technology Strategies On Student Engagement And Content Knowledge Development In A Secondary Mathematics Digital Classroom, Allison Knapp

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study employed a mixed-methods design to examine the effect of technology strategies on secondary students’ engagement and development of geometry content knowledge in an eLearning setting. Seeking to understand student preferences of the technology tools, this two-week study was conducted during a geometry unit on quadrilaterals and employed the following technology tools: student response systems (SRS), computer-assisted instruction (CAI), gamification, and teacher-made screencasts. Quantitative data was collected on student engagement, the usefulness of the technology, and student self-efficacy through a Likert-scale survey after each day of using technology. Qualitative data were collected through purposeful interviews with students …

Bifurcated Elementary Sister-Schools: Do They Affect Student Growth During Transition Years?, Victoria Gelbert

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students who attend a sister-school modeled elementary school experience a negatively disproportionate amount of academic growth the year students transition from the primary school to the elementary school in third grade. This study looked at two different elementary grade span configurations, the traditional PreK–5 model and the 3–5 sister-school model, to determine if there is a difference between third grade student academic growth in different grade configurations. Four sample schools agreed to participate in the study and were paired based on their grade span configuration and demographics. The sample schools provided …

Math Workshop And Its Impact On Higher-Level Thinking Skills, Elizabeth Ross

Theses and Dissertations

This paper addresses the problem of students not using problem solving and critical thinking skills in high school mathematics classes. It describes an action research project that looked at the impact of Math Workshop on higher-level thinking skills, number of attempts to demonstrate proficiency, and students’ feelings/attitudes about mathematics in a high school Algebra II setting. In a small high school, 20 students enrolled in an Algebra II course were selected to complete a pre-test, post-test and tasks framed by Math Workshop. A triangulated mixed-methods design was used to compare quantitative and qualitative data to answer the research questions. Descriptive …

The Impact Of Blended Learning On Student Motivation And Achievement In Reading And Writing, Kimberly Eish Tiedemann

Theses and Dissertations

This action research project, based on 15 days of study, examined the impact of blended learning on student engagement and achievement in a high school Reading Seminar classroom. This action research study answered three research questions: 1) What impact do blended learning strategies have on student motivation in a Reading Seminar elective course classroom? 2) How does the implementation of blended learning strategies in a Reading Seminar elective course affect student writing skills? 3) How does the implementation of blended learning strategies in a Reading Seminar elective course affect student reading skills? The participants included 13 high school freshmen in …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Interventions Provided To At-Risk, Ninth-Grade Students, Staci Dreher

Theses and Dissertations

In this mixed-methods study, the researcher set out to identify factors that affect the overall success of students during their first year of high school, thereby directly impacting the graduation rate. In my state when a student enters high school, they are assigned a 9GR (9th grade Graduation) code. This code is determined by looking at the year of the spring semester of the ninth-grade student’s first year of high school, and this represents the year the student should graduate. When a student does not graduate during the year of their assigned 9GR code, it can have repercussions not only …

Going Digital With Peer Review: Using Action Research To Explore The Effect Of Digital Peer Review On Student Writing Composition And Student Attitude In A Rural Primary School, Kemberly Jean Owens

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to explore the use of peer review on student writing composition and student attitudes toward writing for third grade students at Little Rural Primary School. This study focused on two research questions. The first research question explored how and to what extent the use of digital peer review effects student writing composition. The second research question explored how and to what extent digital peer review effects student attitudes toward writing. The study took place in the third and fourth grade gifted and talented classroom at Little Rural Primary School in South Carolina and …

Dialogue Sessions On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Topics: A Phenomenological Action Research Study In An Independent School Setting, Erica Forniss Wiltshire

Theses and Dissertations

Administrators and teachers play an integral role in creating educational spaces where all students can feel safe, welcome, and appreciated. Inspired by the unique responsibility of educators and guided by the work of noted proponents of cultural competence, this exploration is approached through a triplicate lens including phenomenological philosophy, critical race theory, and social reconstructionism. This critical social reconstructionist-hermeneutic phenomenological action research study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of early elementary, independent school teachers’ views on cultural competence before and after three targeted dialogue sessions.

The Impact Of Guided Practice In Argument Analysis And Composition Via Computer-Assisted Argument Mapping Software On Students’ Ability To Analyze And Compose Evidence-Based Arguments, Donna Lorain Grant

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative action research study was to document the impact of the use of computer-assisted argument mapping (CAAM) upon high school students’ ability to analyze and compose evidence-based arguments. The study used a one-group pretest posttest design with a convenience sample of the participant researcher’s seventy-one high school sophomores. During the six-week study, each participant generated four sets of artifacts, each consisting of two argument analysis maps from provided source arguments and one argument composition map representing the participant’s position on the given topic. Artifacts were generated at four separate benchmarks, the pretest, week four, week five, …

Becoming Independent Readers: A Toolbox Of Close Reading Strategies For Young Minds, Kimberly Anne Petersen

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored the practice of close reading for reading comprehension in a classroom of fourth grade students for a duration of six weeks. This study was driven by the problem of practice identified by the researcher’s own observations and a look into the data of her own students. The purpose of this research was to provide students with reading comprehension tools to help them take charge of their own reading experiences and apply strategies that help guide them into a better understanding of the text. The teacher-researcher chose to employ a set of six close reading strategies, …

Swept Away Before Learning To Swim: Social Studies Subject Area Literacy For High School Students, Aaron K. Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

History education provides a valuable asset in the education of youth from the integration of disciplines to the opportunity to stimulate higher order thinking in high school students. However, little research before the 1990’s had been done to improve the century old pedagogy of presentation and memorization. This study looked at the historical thinking skills of sourcing, contextualization and corroboration, presented in Sam Wineburg’s (1991b) research comparing high school students with professional historians. This mixed methods study explored the impact of focused instruction in high school social studies classrooms using the three historical thinking skills to determine the effectiveness …

Task Focused In The Age Of Distraction: High School Avid Students Use Of Digital Learning Logs To Support Self-Regulated Learning In A One-To-One Chromebook Setting, Era Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the impact of digital learning logs to support self-regulated learning (SRL) for high school students of average achievement who have individual access to digital connectivity within the classroom. Increased student access to and use of digital connectivity within school settings has resulted in access to high-interest material and off-task behavior. A small, rural, Southern high school provided each student a Chromebook. Additionally, this school implemented the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program to provide instruction for academic strategies to increase achievement. This setting was selected to provide SRL strategy support in …

“How Did You Get Here?”: Using Counter-Narratives And Critical Race Theory To Explore The Placement Experiences Of Black Males In Self-Contained Special Education Settings, Xandria Renata Sutton

Theses and Dissertations

The special education system in the United States is disproportionately overrepresented by Black males. This is increasingly true for high-incidence disability types, such as emotional/behavioral disorders and specific learning disabilities. It also rings true that those same disability types are those that are most often placed in restrictive special education settings such as the self-contained classroom. Based on research, students placed in restrictive settings often have limited educational opportunities and poorer lifelong outcomes (Rueter, 2011). It is for those reasons that it is important that we examine the reasons for the decades long continuation of the overrepresentation of Black males …

The Impact Of Culturally Relevant Coaching On The Retention Of First And Second Year Teachers, Fraronda D. Green

Theses and Dissertations

Culturally relevant coaching (CRC) is a support system that centers the individual and specific needs of the teacher. Understanding that support has to be layered and differentiated, it focuses on coaching the whole teacher rather than the sum of their parts. Inclusive of building and developing the emotional resilience of novice teachers while at the same time helping them to grow their instructional practice and skills. CRC attends to both the professional and personal side of what makes a teacher effective in their classroom practice.

The Cultural Relevance Of Music Education As It Relates To African American Students In South Carolina, Felicia Denise Denise Myers Bulgozdy

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, Critical Race Theory is used to examine the current curriculum that preservice music teachers are taught, and are consequently teaching K-12 students, in an effort to illustrate the need for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Documents such as the S.C. All-State Choral rubric, as well as a list of required courses for future music educators at a local university, are studied to show the overwhelming European influence on the curriculum that is being taught in music classes daily across the state, and demonstrate the lack of cultural relevance to the African American students in those classes. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy …

Exploring The Experiences And Needs Of Faculty When Implementing Active Learning At A Public Southeastern Regional University: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Michael Lampe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to identify participant experiences and needs of faculty when teaching in the active learning classrooms at a public regional southeastern university. This study aimed to determine what were the experiences of faculty members who have taught in the active learning classrooms, what were the experiences of students who have taken a course in the active learning classrooms, and what are the faculty development, classroom technology, and technical support needs of faculty members who have taught in such classrooms. With the five-year Federal grant cycle ending in 2019, the university needs to create a …

Exploring The Effects Of An Asynchronous Professional Development With The Samr Integration Model On High School Teachers’ Technology Integration In The Classroom: An Action Research Study, Taylor J. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the effects of an asynchronous PD on teacher technology integration in the classroom as measured by the SAMR integration model. Teacher professional development is one of the most significant factors in student technology use in the classroom (Hall & Martin, 2008; Murthy, Iyer, & Warriem, 2015). Within a school day there are a number of requirements on teachers in addition to teaching their classes, such as attending parent conferences, department meetings, state mandated training, and many other initiatives that supersede teacher technology training (Garthwait & Weller, 2005). When provided with an …

The Impact Of A District Supported Mentoring Initiative On Reading Achievement Of African American Male Students, Brooke Wray-Fisher Rowe

Theses and Dissertations

This action research seeks to examine the impact of a district supported mentoring program and its effect on the reading achievement of a group of African American male students. The participants received routine, sustained mentoring during a three-year period of time. All of the schools involved are Title I and within the same county.

The action research involved the collection of various forms of achievement data such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®) assessment, Fountas and Pinnell benchmark assessment, and the South Carolina College- and Career- Ready assessment, specifically in the area of reading. These assessments allowed the researcher …

Strategies And Methods Used To Improve Engagement: Mixed Methods Action Research In An Online Computer Applications Course, Yvette Newton Sands

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research is to evaluate and examine the strategies and methods that were used to improve interactions and engagement of students enrolled in a computer applications course at a large university in the southeast part of the United States. A mixed methods research model that included both quantitative and qualitative measures was used. Quantitative data were collected from 162 students who participated in the course discussion boards and forums and from 124 students who took part in the Online Student Engagement survey (OSE). Qualitative data were derived from interviews with five student focus groups and from …

Motivating Critical Thinkers In Fourth Grade Science: Action Research Promoting 21st Century Skills Through Technology Integrated Project-Based Learning., Diane Lawson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the integration of technology with project-based learning to determine its effect on critical thinking, science content knowledge, and motivation for science learning for fourth grade students. There is increased motivation for student-centered learning environments that engage students in critical thinking, motivating students to learn in active ways that relate to the real-world applications. Project-based learning is based in constructivist learning theory, where students construct knowledge through active learning strategies. This research explored three questions related to increasing science content knowledge, critical thinking skills and motivation to learn science content through the …

Increasing Relevance And Impact: Using Action Research With Middle Level Teachers’ Insights And Perceptions Of Technology Professional Development, Janet Dedmon

Theses and Dissertations

To move beyond technology use and realize the full benefits of technology integration, school districts need to provide effective technology professional development experiences. The purpose of this action research was to describe middle level teacher attitudes and perceptions regarding technology training and professional development in Woodcreek School District in order to recommend more effective technology professional development offerings. The research questions of this study focused on (1) the attitudes middle level teachers have toward technology professional development and (2) factors that may influence those attitudes. Going deeper into the influences on attitudes toward technology professional development, this study also explored …

Digital Distractions: Using Action Research To Explore Students’ Behaviors, Motivations, And Perceptions Of Cyberslacking In A Suburban High School, Kristy Self Rykard

Theses and Dissertations

Digital technology saturates the personal and educational lives of high school students who are accustomed to continuous connectivity; consequently, students are often distracted by technology in the classroom. When students use technology for non-class related activities during class time, this behavior is commonly known as cyberslacking. The purpose of this action research was to describe students’ understanding of cyberslacking and its academic and social effects in my English 3 Honors and Film Studies classes at Carraway High School. The research took place in the spring semester of 2019 with 59 students in Grades 10 through 12 who were enrolled in …

Ready Coder One: Action Research Exploring The Effects Of Collaborative Game Design-Based Learning On Gifted Fourth Graders' 21st Century Skills And Science Content Knowledge, Mary Kathleen O'Grady-Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to describe the impact of digital game building on fourth grade gifted and talented (GT) students’ growth in problem-solving, creativity, collaboration, and science content knowledge. Traditionally, gifted education has focused on acceleration of content, disconnected enrichment activities, and thinking skills practiced in isolation of real-world problems. Increasingly, there is a call to involve students in real world experiences through projects that explore real issues using technology in ways that could transform the field. The ability to create rather than consume technology has gained attention linking creativity and collaboration to using coding languages.

Data …

Teachers’ Needs And Preferences Vs. Administrators’ Perceptions: Recommendations For Educational Technology-Focused Professional Development Using Action Research In A Suburban High School, Lori Latham

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to identify and describe teachers’ needs and preferences and administrator perceptions of teachers’ needs and preferences for educational technology-focused professional development at a public southeastern high school in a suburban school district in order to make recommendations for future professional development. In our fast-paced, ever-changing digital landscape, professional development should emphasize the effective use of educational technology while also catering to goals and ability levels of educators. Teachers are tasked with instilling digital literacy skills with their students but need quality professional development to do so. This study focused on two research questions. …