Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

An Inquiry Approach To Reading Instruction: A Case Study Of The Relationship Between Instruction And Motivation, Tammy Turri-Scodeller

Dissertations

This research is a qualitative case study analysis of the experiences of five fifth grade students who were involved in a classroom, action research project. The purpose of this action research was to measure the impact of this method of instruction on reading motivation of the fifth grade class as a whole. From the action research project, five, individual, student cases were purposefully sampled for further in-depth analysis. The objective of the individual student case study analysis was to explain how the behaviors of five students with a low level of reading achievement, activity, and motivation changed, or did not …

Equivalent Fraction Learning Trajectories For Students With Mathematical Learning Difficulties When Using Manipulatives, Arla Westenskow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study identified variations in the equivalent fraction learning of students with mathematical learning difficulties when using physical and virtual manipulatives. The study compared three interventions: physical manipulatives, virtual manipulatives, and a combination of physical and virtual manipulatives. The research used a mixed-method approach to collect and analyze data. Two types of learning trajectories were used to compare and synthesize the result. For this study, 43 fifth-grade students with mathematical learning difficulties participated in 10 sessions of equivalent fraction intervention.

Pre- to postdata analysis indicated significant gains for all three interventions. Effect size scores were used to compare the effects …

A Study Of Utah’S New Century Scholarship (Ncs) Program, Christine Kearl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This was a study about the New Century Scholarship (NCS) program offered to Utah high school students at commencement for earning an AA degree by the time of high school graduation. The scholarship paid 75% of the remaining 2 years of tuition over a 5-year period. The goal of the program was to assist students to bachelor degree completion faster than the traditional time.

This program has been in Utah for the past 20 years, but little to no information about the program exists. Annually, the cost to taxpayers is approximately $2 million dollars. This study was conducted to determine …

Educational Genocide: Examining The Impact Of National Education Policy On African American Communities, Christopher B. Knaus, Rachelle Rogers-Ard

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

Abstract This paper clarifies the cumulative impact of the current national education policy on African-American children, which ultimately aims to limit local control of urban schools. The authors argue that urban schools in the United States are increasingly required to rely upon temporary teachers who are trained to implement a curriculum focused on standardized testing. The No Child Left Behind Act and the current Duncan administration’s approach to closing (and re-opening) schools combines to further exclude low-income community involvement in local schools. These efforts to control the development, hiring, and evaluation of local educators further expands educational racism that silences …

Artist/Teacher: Toward A More Creative Curriculum, Matthew L. Auch Moedy

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

This thesis investigates the formation of my teaching identity. It seeks language for why I orient my teaching toward artistic thinking in my preparation and content. Features of artistic thinking discussed include students have personal interests, teachers need to expose and build on what students bring to class, artistic thinking is not linear and creativity invites the unexpected, play and creativity require both time and space and are best accomplished through situated freedom, process ought not be separated from product, making process visible and valuing process will make a positive difference in a student’s future. Vignettes from my teaching experiences …

Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences For First Year Students, Ann Marie Smeraldi, Claudia Lilie

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

With only 55.5% of U.S. college students graduating with a bachelor’s degree within 6 years there is an obvious need for interventions that will help students adjust to college culture and teach learning habits that foster students’ abilities to persist to graduation. This presentation will illuminate the process of weaving together study skills, a common reading book and life on a college campus to design a cohesive first year seminar that facilitates student success.

Changing The Assessment To Promote Deeper Learning, Jennifer Byrne

Conference papers

The Technological University Dublin is one of the largest multi-level higher education providers in Ireland. The Institute’s traditional mission has always been focused on teaching and learning in the field of advanced technical vocational education and training (TVET), and one of its agendas is to foster and encourage changes in teaching practice and methodology in order to enhance the student learning experience.

This paper is a result of the ever changing process which shows the evolution of the assessment process to its current format. It was driven by the fact that we as lecturers realised that the assessments promoted surface …

Core Competencies In Civic Engagement, Leila Brammer, Rebecca Dumlao, Audrey Falk, Elizabeth Hollander, Ellen Knutson, Jeremy Poehnert, Andrea Politano, Valerie Werner

Center for Engaged Democracy Publications

A review and synthesis of key competencies contained in national-level reports on Civic Engagement, academic programs engaged in community-based models of teaching, learning and research, including a review of the literature and almost 30 academic civic engagement programs around the country.

The History And Impact Of A College‐Level Field‐Based Course On Learner And Community Development, David M. Harwood, Leilani Arthurs

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Providing students with inquiry‐based learning experiences was a key recommendation made in the National Academies' 2007 report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, and this presentation is about a model for providing such experiences to college‐level students through a field‐based geology course. GEOL 160 – Fundamentals of Geosciences in the Field was developed 10 years ago for undergraduate students preparing to be K‐12 science teachers. The goals of the course are to enhance undergraduate pre‐service science teachers’ (i) knowledge of geoscience and the nature of science, (ii) attitudes about science, and (iii) …

The Journey Home From Ecuador: A Reentry Guide For Tandana Foundation Volunteers, Heidi Bohn

Capstone Collection

The Tandana Foundation is a small, non-profit organization that works with communities nestled in the Andes of northern Ecuador, providing service-learning opportunities for students and professionals in the Otavalo region. The Journey Home from Ecuador: A Reentry Guide for Tandana Foundation Volunteers (The Journey Home) is a self-directed guide that serves to prepare interns and volunteers with the Tandana Foundation (Tandana) in Ecuador for reentry after their work abroad with the organization. In addition, it introduces the concept of reverse culture shock and provides tools and resources for a successful transition home. Living in rural Ecuador generally between …

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

Interactive Bulletin Boards That Support Writing, Julie Patterson

Articles

Great writing instruction = student created bulletin boards. Here are some ideas.

“Teach To The Middle”: A Double Case Study Of Two Multilevel Efl Classes In The Middle East, Teresa Hernandez

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive understanding of multilevel classes. It examines the pedagogical challenges that teachers often face in this teaching context, but it also considers the implications for what multilevel classes indicate about access to education in the EFL teaching field. The author has opted to examine two distinct cases of multilevel classes in the Middle East that she taught from 2010-2011 and in 2012. The first was a remedial 7^th grade English class called 7F in an international school in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The second …

Digital Media's Transformative Role In Education: Beyond Potential To Essential, Ming-Tso Chien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Achieving effective learning via digital media continues to be a major concern in contemporary education. The daily use of all forms of digital media is part of our lives and therefore becomes a key component of education. Educators must consider the process of digital media curriculum as a learning model and form of experience adapted to education. This means the significance is on how to learn as well as what to learn. This study demonstrated how the implementation of digital media curriculum via the Scratch game-making project contributed to middle school students' interaction with the entire educational process. The goal …

Tell Us More: Reading Comprehension, Engagement, And Conceptual Press Discourse, Dot Mcelhone

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examines interactions between teachers and students during reading comprehension instruction to determine how certain patterns of teacher-student talk support student comprehension achievement and reading engagement. The central focus of the study is conceptual press discourse, a pattern of teacher response that includes requests for evidence, examples, clarification, and elaboration. Hierarchical Linear Modeling analysis of data from 21 fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms (495 students) indicated that in classrooms where teachers more frequently used discourse patterns that reduced conceptual press, students demonstrated weaker comprehension and engagement outcomes.

Insects As Teaching Tools, Doug Golick

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

In this talk I will present on projects in which insects were used as instructional tools. This presentation will give an overview of how insects can be used for teaching with a variety of student age groups and how inquiry instruction can be promoted with insects. I will present overviews of 3 projects including Bumble Boosters, Bugs in the Classroom, and Web‐based insects identification tools. Bumble Boosters created a community of researchers that studied bumble distribution and abundance and artificial nesting domicile preferences. Forty Nebraska high schools were involved in this project.

Bumble Boosters’ teaching objectives were to raise public …

Variation In Standards In Pakistani School Examination Boards, Thomas Christie

Examination Board

No abstract provided.

Learning Global Citizenship: Students And Teachers In Belize And The U.S. Take Action Together, Sara Fry, Shari Griffin, Jean Kirshner

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

We are a group of educators who have taken our passion for literacy and commitment to active citizenship to a global level. As part of a small, teacher-led non-profit organization called the Belize Education Project, we have made a long-term commitment to improve literacy and education in the Cayo District of Belize, Central America. For each of the past five years, we have travelled to Belize for a week in October to work with children and provide professional development for up to 40 teachers at three primary schools in the Cayo District. We also bring Belizean educators to the United …

A Multi-Site Case Study Investigating Teacher Perspectives Of Standards Based Reform And Gifted Students, Amy Valadez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The push by the Federal government to directly increase and positively impact achievement since the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2001) gave rise to the educational design known as standards based reform (SBR). This legislation impacted all sub-groups by measuring growth for sub-populations to determine yearly adequate progress. The growth of the sub-population of gifted students, however, was not included in the determination of a school's or county's success, so the impact of standards based reform on the gifted student is lacking. Therefore, this case study examined educators' perspectives of standards based reform on the gifted child in …

The Effect Of An Instructional Model Utilizing Hands-On Learning And Manipulatives On Math Achievement Of Middle School Students In Georgia, Kara White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The concepts and ideas of mathematics is a major element of educational curriculum. Many different instructional strategies are implemented in mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an instructional model utilizing hands-on learning and use of manipulatives on mathematics achievement of middle school students. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control-group design was used to examine 145, seventh-grade students from a North Georgia middle school. Data was collected to analyze if changes were experienced in pretest/posttest scores. A Mann-Whitney test was run and revealed initial group differences between the whole control and whole experimental groups, and also …

Augustinian Philosophy: Between Critical Pedagogy And Neo-Scholasticism, Emad Francis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Augustinian thoughts have been widely revered for their great influence on the development of Western philosophy. While most of St. Augustine's ideas were adapted in various fields of modern thought, his ideas on education have been rarely discussed. In reality, one should recognize that St. Augustine, being one of the greatest teachers of the church and a towering figure in all ages of Western philosophy, had implicitly detailed in his works and portrayed in his colorful life important ideas of teaching on education. Although this may be open for arguments and debate, this study set out to examine Augustinian ideas …

The Effect Of Voice Thread® Integration On High School Students' Anxiety And Oral Proficiency In The Foreign Language Classroom, Melanie Dunn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the asynchronous voice-conferencing technology, Voice Thread ®, on the anxiety and oral proficiency of high school students in their third year of studying Spanish as a foreign language. In this quasi-experimental study students' foreign language anxiety levels and oral proficiency were examined to determine if a difference existed based on the type of practice used. The treatment group used Voice Thread ® to practice speaking. The control group used the traditional method of the language laboratory to practice speaking. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used to …

Students’ Views Of Impact Of Textbooks On Their Achievements, Riaz Hussain

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The history of curricula and textbooks development in Pakistan has remained contentious particularly during Zia Ul Haq era (1977- 1988) and after. There have been quite a few reviews of the curricula and textbooks undertaken both by Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan and independent researchers. These reviews have mainly employed document/textbook analysis methods and few of them explored teachers or students’ views of curricula and textbooks. This paper argues that since teachers and students are the ultimate users and beneficiaries of textbooks so their views are worth exploring before suggesting or initiating any change process including curricula and textbooks …

Using Popular Media And A Collaborative Approach To Teaching Grounded Theory Research Methods, Elizabeth G. Creamer, Michelle R. Ghoston, Tiffany Drape, Chloe Ruff, Joseph Mukuni

Education Faculty Publications

Popular movies were used in a doctoral-level qualitative research methods course as a way to help students learn about how to collect and analyze qualitative observational data in order to develop a grounded theory. The course was designed in such a way that collaboration was central to the generation of knowledge. Using media depictions had the practical advantage of enabling the group to create fieldnotes from a common set of data collected simultaneously in a short period of time. Fictional representations in popular media can provide the basis to learn about both the methods and foundational assumptions for conducting qualitative …

Knower’S Roles Of Autonomy For Knowledge Construction : A Case Of International Baccalaureate (Ib) Curriculum, Raheel Tajuddin Lakhani

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Excellent Teaching: A Collective Case Study Of Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Teaching Of Mathematics, Michael J. Gay

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative collective case study explored the mathematical teaching of three excellent elementary teachers who were nominated by experts in mathematics and mathematics educational organizations, agencies and universities. I examined what excellent elementary mathematics teachers know and do in their practice of teaching. The study depicts detailed verbatim interactions between the teachers and students during actual teaching episodes to give the reader naturalistic examples of the explanation patterns and questioning strategies that these excellent teachers used to further students’ understandings of mathematical concepts and procedures. Analyses of the pedagogical strategies, including the interactive exploratory problem solving format these teachers used, …

Exploring Sydney: An Onsite Orientation Program For Students Studying In Australia, Meaghan Murphy

Capstone Collection

Exploring Sydney: An Onsite Orientation Program for Students Studying in Australia is a four-day onsite orientation program designed for students spending the semester in Australia. In this program design, the students explore Sydney and learn about the country’s history and local culture. The onsite orientation is run by CISabroad, a third party provider based in Northampton, Massachusetts which offers college students affordable study abroad programs.

The orientation takes place prior to the start of the five Australia semester programs. The Australian site director leads the onsite orientation and is with the students for the entire program. The program takes place …

An Investigation Of English Learners' Acquisition Of Academic Language To Obtain Reading Comprehension Skills, Mishka Barnes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This collective case study explored how third-grader English learners (ELs) acquire academic language to learn reading comprehension skills in a classroom setting. Many ELs have acquired basic interpersonal communication skills, but have not mastered cognitive academic language proficiency, or academic language. The researcher selected six third-grade ELs who functioned as developing and expanding learners. Although many of these students can read text and use problem-solving strategies to blend words and read fluently, they may experience difficulties understanding academic language. Data was collected through observation, interviews with the ELs two mainstream teachers, document anlysis, and field notes. Using open coding, the …

Effects Of Summer School Transition Program And Grade Level On Seventh, Eighth, And Ninth Grade Students' Grades, Attendance, And Behavior, Katie Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This causal-comparative study sought to identify the effects of attending a summer school transition program and students' grade levels (seventh v. eighth v. ninth) on students' grades (based on course failures), attendance (based on students' absences), and behavior (based on number of behavioral office referrals). The students who participated in this study were identified as at-risk during one of three educational transitions: from elementary school to middle school, between seventh and eighth grade in the middle school, and from middle school to high school. As part of their elementary school to middle school, intra-middle school, or middle school to high …

Movement In Learning: Revitalizing The Classroom, Marcus Van

MA TESOL Collection

Movement is a vital part of our every day lives, and it is also important for a healthy brain. The following paper examines the shift from movement based learning to a more restrictive rote format, which often has adverse effects on learning. This work discusses the ways in which teachers are under pressure to “teach to the test” instead of creating student-centered classrooms. Some of the side effects of a test-centered approach are low self-esteem (from not meeting strict academic requirements) and behavioral problems in students.

Adding more movement to lessons can provide variation and relief from the rote-only system. …