Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Reported Long–Term Value And Effects Of Teaching Center Consultations, Wayne Jacobson, Donald H. Wulff, Stacy Grooters, Phillip M. Edwards, Karen Freisem

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

We regularly ask clients for feedback on their recent consultations with Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) staff, but in the past we have not systematically assessed our longer-term contributions to the teaching of our clients. We recently surveyed faculty and teaching assistants who consulted with CIDR one to five years ago and found that many former clients highly valued CIDR’s contribution to the development of their teaching. However, some of the most highly valued benefits they identified were not limited to what they did each day in class. This chapter identifies benefits of consulting with a teaching center …

G09-1450 Sampling Manures For Nutrient Analysis, Charles S. Wortmann, Charles A. Shapiro

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Animal manure has long been recognized as a source of nutrients that are normally supplied in fertilizers. Farmers need to know the amounts of nutrients supplied to crops in manure to properly adjust commercial fertilizer rates to meet crop needs while minimizing contamination of water supplies through leaching or runoff. Guidelines for sampling manure for nutrient content to improve crop and soil management is contained in this 2009 NebGuide.

Engaging The Catholic Intellectual Tradition - Sacred Heart University's Common Core: The Human Journey, Michelle Loris

Mission & Culture Publications

At Catholic universities we have lofty and ambitious learning outcomes for our graduates. We want to provide our students with the knowledge, ideas, skills, and critical abilities needed to understand} reflect upon, and act with purpose and effect in our increasingly complex, ever-changing, global-world. We want to equip our students with the intellectual abilities, spiritual discernment, and moral and ethical principles that will enable them to distinguish between those things which inspire the mind, satisfy the soul, and advance the human good - and those things which do not. We want to develop in them the intelligence and compassion needed …

Welcome, Patricia R. Renick Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2009 Edition of The Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education. The conversation concerning inclusion continues to reflect and international representation. However in this edition we have a number of voices unique to this culture and this perspective.

Kimberly Rombach of State University of New York College in Cortland provides a synthesis of the research concerning inclusive education. Additionally, the article introduces an Inclusion Definition Instrument (IDI) to help researchers identify specific characteristics of inclusion aid in their research.

Norma S. Blecker, Richard Stockton, and Norma J Boakes of Stockton college of New Jersey survey both general and …

Implementation Of Inclusive Education In Brunei Darussalam: Review Of Possible Implications For School Counselors, Lawrence Mundia Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The paper looked at the provision of counseling services to students in government schools after the implementation of inclusive education in Brunei Darussalam. The creation of the Special Education Unit and the Division of Counseling and Career Guidance (both in the Ministry of Education) to coordinate the respective services was a welcome decision in the right direction. Inclusion, however, may have expanded the role of school counselors in many ways and possibly brought other unforeseen problems. Thirteen identified and selected factors that may impact negatively on the work of school counselors under inclusion are discussed. In addition it was observed …

"Welcome To Holland: Characteristics Of Resilient Families Raising Children With Severe Disabilities", Thomas Knestrict Ed. D., Debora Kuchey Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

This descriptive study sought to examine the resiliency factors families developed when faced with the challenges of raising a child manifesting a severe disability. The study compares and contrasts how families managed the additional responsibility and stress of raising a child with special needs. The study seeks to identify, the key characteristics present in resilient families allowing them to not just survive but thrive.

The study found that there is relationship between resilience and Socio Economic Status (SES). The study also found that having the time and the ability to reflect was key to reconfiguration, which is seen as crucial …

Guiding Principles For Educational Programming, Randy L. Seevers Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

This article presents the outcome of a reflective study where pre-service teachers created visual representations of principles that guide their teaching in the inclusive classroom. Based on evaluations and reflections of the activity, results suggest that creating the visual representations served as an effective tool in helping pre-service teachers recognize and support children with disabilities in the inclusive classroom. Examples of the completed projects are included.

Promoting The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning At Community Colleges: Insights From Two Learning Communities, Stanford T. Goto, Andrei Cerqueira Davis

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a powerful vehicle for professional development. Faculty make their teaching public as they investigate phenomena in their classes. This process encourages sustained discussions of teaching. In conducting SoTL, community college faculty face substantial hurdles: heavy workloads, few institutional supports, no employment rewards, perceived irrelevance, and weak peer networks. Can these challenges be overcome within existing institutional structures? This chapter explores this question by examining how SoTL is pursued in two learning communities. Evidence from these institutional case studies suggests that SoTL programs are viable in community colleges, despite major challenges.

Military Children And Holistic Education: A Narrative Reflection On Classroom Practice, Edith Allison

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation uses autobiographical narrative inquiry as a source of knowledge-generating reflection to examine how the educational needs of military children might be met through the use of holistic educational practices rather than a (well-intentioned) traditional, standardized curriculum. Data were gathered through observation; personal experience as a military child, military member, mother of military children and teacher of military children; journal entries and vicarious experiences shared by students, parents, educators and other invested in this population of learners. Experiences were compiled into fictional composites to protect the identity of all parties as well as national security. These composites were then …

High School Transformation: The Lived Experience Of Teachers Moving To Small Learning Environments, Reginald Lawrence

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: Educators faced with a decline in student achievement and increases in dropout rates are seeking ways to provide the best possible educational environment for students (Oxley, 2005). High school transformation, also known as the small schools movement, is a reform that is gaining currency in the world of education (Meier, 2006). Alien (2001) observed that high school transformation is the process of altering the makeup of a large comprehensive high school, also known as a traditional high school, into small high schools or small learning communities at the same location. The teacher is the most important component of …

Strategy Instruction And Lessons Learned In Teaching Higher Level Thinking Skills In An Urban Middle School Classroom, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

Through a compilation of standards-based lesson plans for small- and whole-group instruction, this chapter offers a humorous and heartbreaking perspective of the author's experiences during a yearlong university partnership “Book Bistro” in a 7th grade classroom with urban adolescent struggling readers. Using a combination of leveled, fictional, nonfictional, and culturally relevant text, the chapter is written as a personal narrative to address higher level thinking through systematic instruction in comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and structural analysis. A step-by-step implementation procedure for each of the research-based strategies is presented, including concept of definition, discussion web, probable passage, pointed reading, semantic feature analysis, …

Paraprofessionals Who Work With Elementary Grade Students With Significant Disabilities In Inclusive Settings, Regina Moreno

Dissertations and Theses

The use of paraprofessional services is an established and crucial aspect in the pursuit of a free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities. Paraprofessionals are often the primary providers of instruction for students with severe disabilities yet are the least trained instructional personnel in schools. Identified competencies and necessary training content for paraprofessionals who serve students with severe disabilities are nearly absent in the professional literature.

This study extended the current literature regarding paraprofessionals who serve students with disabilities in public schools by focusing specifically on those paraprofessionals who serve students with severe disabilities in inclusive general education …

Saying Yes To Freestyle Volunteering: Doubting And Believing, Judy Lightfoot

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

My formerly academic interest in Peter Elbow's work developed fresh relevance a few years ago after a member of my family was diagnosed with schizophrenia. To volunteer "outside the box" with individuals who suffer from mental illness or homelessness, I needed a skeptic's doubt as well as an enthusiast :S belief But the first step was believing.

Reflections From A Grateful Guest Edit, Peter Elbow

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Jaepl, Vol. 15, Winter 2009-2010, Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Linda T. Calendrillo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Peter Elbow - Reflections from a Grateful Guest Editor

Sheridan Blau - Believing and Doubting as Hermeneutic Metbod: Reading and Teaching Paradue Lost

Tim Doherty - Lessons from tbe Believing Game

Anne Ellen Geller - The Difficulty of Believing in Writing Across the Curriculum

Shelly Sheats Harkness, Catherine Pullin Lane, Sue Mau, Amber Brass - The Believing Game in Mathematics: Stories in a Discipline of Doubt

Judy Lightfoot - Saying Yes to Freestyle Volunteering: Doubting and Believing

Clyde Moneyhun - Believing, Doubting, Deciding, Acting

Irene Papoulis - A Refiection on Habitual Belief and Habitual Doubt

Stephanie Paterson - Friday …

The Difficulty Of Believing In Writing Across The Curriculum, Anne Ellen Geller

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

What would happen if we tried to consider writing-acrossthe- curriculum work through the lens of Peter Elbows methodological believing? If we were to believe that every faculty person in the university is a writer, thinks about writing, and teaches writing in his or her own way, what virtues would we find that doubting leads us to disqualify?

The Effects Of Block Scheduling On Ap Calculus Ab Student Achievement, Larry A. Lightner

Mathematics Graduate Theses

Student achievement on the AP Calculus AB Exam is always a concern for teachers and school districts that offer the exam. A factor of concern that also arises is a school’s schedule. A school’s schedule may have an affect on achievement. This study examines the comparison in achievement of students who take the AP Calculus AB Exam under a block schedule and a traditional schedule system. Block Scheduling is defined as a class period of 80-90 minutes with 4 periods each day, allowing a full year’s curriculum to be offered in one semester. Traditional scheduling is defined as a class …

Cooperative Learning In The Mathematics Classroom, Janine Regnier

Mathematics Graduate Theses

Student interactions are important which provokes the idea that cooperative learning should be incorporated into classrooms. Research states many benefits for incorporating cooperative learning and are included in the literature review. Cooperative groups were introduced and studied by the author, who ultimately concluded that cooperative learning does have a place in Mathematics classrooms and should be used when the lesson lends itself to a cooperative environment. The study results can be found in this paper following the literature review.

To What Degree Will Differentiated Instruction Impact Student Grades In A Middle School Classroom?, Maureen K. Wilke

Mathematics Graduate Theses

The middle school student population encompasses one of the widest ranges of diversity in the educational system. Besides cultural, religious, educational, economical diversity, the middle school student copes with physical and psychological changes as well. It is important to understand that reaching students successfully is not teaching one way, but providing a learning experience based on students’ needs. The five key differentiated strategies in the classroom are: knowing the student, the environment, meaningful lessons, tiered assignments, and assessment. Gather as much information on the students, such as data from past standardize tests, conversation with students, student journals about success and …

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's Message.

Believing And Doubting As Hermeneutic Method: Reading And Teaching Paradise Lost, Sheridan Blau

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Using a variation on Peter Elbow's believing game, I help students discover the degree to which Milton in Paradise Lost succeeds in his explicit attempt to justify God's ways to man and in that success also offers us an account of human happiness and misery that is psychologically sophisticated, spiritually illuminating, entirely rational, and supremely wise as a guide to living a humanly satisfying life. Such an approach to Paradise Lost also fosters an experience of the text through which many students undergo a modern version of the spiritual transformation and enlightenment that Milton explicitly aimed to make possible for …

Before Belief: Embodiment And The “Trying Game”, Donna Strickland

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I use my experience of teaching "Mindful Writing" to reflect on the pre-cognitive act of "trying out" new ideas. It seems that there's an important piece of the believing game that happens before the cognitive act of belief and that involves the body as much as the mind.

Reviews, Julie J. Nichols, Charles Suhor, Edward Sullivan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reviews

Julie J. Nichols - Meaning and The Evolution of Consciousness: A Retrospective on the Writing of Owen Barfield

Charles Suhor - The Great Transfonnation: The Beginnings of Our Religious Traditions

Charles Suhor - The Chalice and the Blade

Edward Sullivan - The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance

Believing, Doubting, Deciding, Acting, Clyde Moneyhun

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I used Peter Elbow's believing and doubting games and cooked up two games of my own, to structure a first-year writing class aimed at teaching students to read and reason critically. The first new game has been hinted at by Elbow himself: the deciding game, in which students used their exercises in believing and doubting to make up their minds about a topic. The second new game, which my students called the living game, asked them to extend their intellectual decisions into the world and take or recommend actions based on them. This was all enacted through a series of …

Friday Writes: An Exercise In The Believing Game, Stephanie Paterson

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I introduce the basic principles for the practice of proprioceptive writing and describe the experience and outcomes of incorporating this ungraded writing into three undergraduate compostion classes. I offer this as a case study of a writer, teacher, and reflective practitioner emboldened by Peter Elbow's believing game, and I point out some of the intellectual and pedagogical discoveries that emerged in my fourteen-week experiment.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Andrew Statum, Vic Kryston, Jie Li, Dominique Zino, Joonna Smitherman Trapp

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting - Helen Walker

Andrew Statum - The Question

Vic Kryston -Conflict Resolution

Jie Li - Teaching with Accent

Dominique Zino - Space

Joonna Smitherman Trapp - Composition Class 7:45 AM

Effects Of Applied Behavior Analysis On Teaching Social Skills To Young Children With Autism, Michelle Yeggy

Graduate Research Papers

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 166 children are born with autism (Falco, 2008). With this continual increase of children being diagnosed there is a lot of pressure put on schools to provide the quality programming for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD have delays with their language and communication skills, social skills and theory of mind, and also these children have challenges with sensory processing. Rogers (2000) wrote that social dysfunction is the single most defining characteristic of autism, and it is also one of the most important to overcome. …

Interactive Writing In A Kindergarten Classroom, Amy Henze

Graduate Research Papers

This research study focused on the use of interactive writing as the primary method of writing instruction in a kindergarten classroom. The purpose of the study was to find out the extent to which and in what ways interactive writing supports the needs of all students at various emergent writing stages. The study also examined students' writing samples to see if there was carryover of skills from the interactive writing lessons to the students' independent writing. Results indicate a variety of skills were taught during the interactive writing lessons, and all of the students showed growth in the use of …

Implementing Supplemental Course Material Websites For Higher Education Technology Courses, Mark W. Bromwich

Graduate Research Papers

Supplemental websites have the potential to assist students in gathering course materials, encouraging topic exploration, and increasing the ability for students to communicate in a traditional face-to-face technology college classroom. This project description presents the results of a supplemental website's development and deployment into a traditional face-to-face college technology course, and measures its success. The research focuses on successful Internet employment within traditional classrooms to ensure that the content of the supplemental website has value to the students. The methodology used to develop the website and select materials was based upon the Dick and Carey Instructional Design Method (Dick & …

Graphic Practice : A Strategy For Developing Fine Motor Skills In The Early Childhood Setting, Kathleen A. Eichelberger

Graduate Research Papers

Graphic practice provides children with an opportunity to develop, not only fine motor skills, but also self-regulatory and alphabet knowledge skills. Research has indicated that a child's fine motor development can predict his or her educational achievement, specifically in the areas of reading, math, and attention. The purpose of this project is to organize thirty weekly lessons that will familiarize teachers with the components necessary to introduce, integrate, and extend graphic practice strategies within their early childhood classrooms. These lessons will be compiled into a step-by-step guide for teachers. An outline for professional development is included.