Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Experiences And Perceptions Of Novice Associate Degree Nursing Faculty Assuming A Classroom Instructors Role, Mary N. Fontenelle

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the classroom experiences and perceptions of novice faculty in the classroom setting of an Associate Degree of Nursing programs, located in community colleges. The transition from expert practitioner to novice teacher can be a difficult experience for new classroom nursing instructors. Novice nursing faculty often has very limited educational preparation or background in classroom instruction skills. Nursing research, typically conducted at university level, has minimal applicability for the community college nursing programs. Community colleges educate sixty percent of the graduate Registered Nurses in the United States and have scant research into their …

An Examination Of The Perceptions Of Educational Leaders On The Ensuring Literacy For All Initiative’S Impact On Student Reading Achievement In Louisiana, Khanh Kim Nguyen-Dufour

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of Louisiana’s Ensuring Literacy For All (ELFA) initiative from the perspective of

educational administrators in order to identify: (a) the factors within ELFA that contributed to student reading performance; (b) the effects of the perceptions of ELFA administrators on student achievement; and (c) the components of effective leadership that attributed to the success of ELFA implementation. Bandura‘s (1993) socio-psychological theory of self efficacy was used to frame this study, which included six ELFA administrators from the state, district, and school level. The five findings of this study revealed …

Cultivating Educational Resilience: An Examination Of Teacher-Student Interactions In The Elementary Classroom, Hazel S. Parker

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Senioritis -- Or An Opportunity For Growth?, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Walking into the kitchen, she spots the community college acceptance letter on top of a stack of mail. Early in December, the Marine Corps notifies him that basic training starts in six months. She's dreamed about attending her mom's alma mater for the last few years, and admissions has responded positively. The auto shop where he's had an afterschool job since junior year has just promised full-time employment beginning two weeks after graduation.

Now what?

This question concerns me as an educator of K-12 and higher education.

Empowering Teachers To Become Change Agents Through The Science Education In-Service Teacher Training Project In Zimbabwe, Yovita N. Gwekwerere Dr., Emmanuel Mushayikwa, Viola Manokore

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper presents findings from a study of three Zimbabwean science teachers who participated in the Science Education In-service Teacher Training (SEITT) program. At the turn of the century, the SEITT program was designed to develop science and mathematics teachers into expert masters and resource teachers for Zimbabwe’s ten school districts. The study investigated the successes and challenges faced by the three teachers who were in the process of reforming their pedagogical practices as well as writing and using contextualized science curriculum materials to teach secondary science. Data were collected through telephone interviews. The three teachers reported that the SEITT …

December Agenda, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting agenda.

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

The Influence Of Montessori-Based Literacy Instruction And Methods On Reading Achievement Of Students In Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, And 7, Frances Bowman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

This study examines the influence of Montessori-based literacy curriculum and instruction on student achievement in Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. I studied 71 matched pairs of urban charter school students (n=142) to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in reading achievement, as measured by the Maryland School Assessment (MSA), between students who were instructed by their teachers in Montessori literacy methods and curriculum and students from a nearby charter school who were instructed by their teachers using a basal reading method. T-tests were used to compare the mean scores of the combined grade levels …

Graduate Student Research Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

How Does Student Understanding Of A Concept Change Throughout A Unit Of Instruction? Support Toward The Theory Of Learning Progressions, Brian Jay Dyer

Dissertations and Theses

This study documented the changes in understanding a class of eighth grade high school-level biology students experienced through a biology unit introducing genetics. Learning profiles for 55 students were created using concept maps and interviews as qualitative and quantitative instruments. The study provides additional support to the theory of learning progressions called for by experts in the field. The students' learning profiles were assessed to determine the alignment with a researcher-developed learning profile. The researcher-developed learning profile incorporated the learning progressions published in the Next Generation Science Standards, as well as current research in learning progressions for 5-10th grade students …

Promoting Student Engagement Within A Practical Class Through The Use Of A Learning Portfolio, Niall Delaney, John A. Nolan

Conference papers

This paper looks at an exploratory case-study undertaken to try and investigate student engagement within a practical wood machining class.

Due to the nature of the course and the cohort of students, the current lecturer pedagogic practice has to be behaviourist, but from this a culture of expectancy has developed among the students. It was felt that something had to be done to revitalise student interest in the work they were doing and also give them the chance to address the perceived shortfall in their learning. There was potential for a lot of failures, but also much worse, there was …

Moral Turbulence And The Infusion Of Multimodal Character Education Strategies In American Elementary Schools, Mark A. Lamport, Ph.D., Kristi L. Cobb, M.A.

Christian Perspectives in Education

Pockets of American society are marked by increase in violent crime with concurrent decline in moral character. This phenomenon is infiltrating the nation’s school system as evidenced by growing numbers of aggressive incidents in the classroom. As a result, there is an increasingly accepted need for effective character education programs in the schools as a means to help change the décolleté trajectory of the behavior of the nation’s school children. While more money and growing numbers of legislation have been put forth to support such an endeavor, research is still lacking as to what activities, skills, goals, and approaches would …

Teacher Efficacy, Preparedness, And Empathy In Working With Refugee Students, Kelley Jo Moneymaker-Lamson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

One of the most difficult pedagogical challenges Sawtooth School District elementary teachers are currently facing is the influx of refugee students and the uncertainty as to how to best assist them in becoming both academically successful as well as comfortable in a new social milieu. The purpose of this mixed method study is to evaluate teacher efficacy, sense of preparedness and empathy in relation to working with refugee students. Teachers' sense of self-efficacy has been linked to student achievement, student motivation and students' own sense of self-efficacy. However, there is a gap in research that explores teacher efficacy, preparedness and …

Building The First Gaming Master’S Program: An Industry Perspective, Toni Repetti, Soyeon Jung

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The gaming industry has dramatically expanded not only domestically and internationally, but further to the online market. This growth has caused the industry to be more complicated than ever, and face massive challenges, competition, and opportunity. Consequently, there is a need for more qualified candidates in the gaming industry. Few gaming degrees are offered at a university level and more importantly, there is currently no master’s program in gaming management in the United States. Results of this survey of 201 industry professionals show that the majority would be interested in a master’s in gaming with most preferring an online of …

Common Core 4th Grade Environmental Science Lesson Plans For California Teachers, Gillian Schoenfeld

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This project and its analyses were conducted to assist California fourth grade elementary school teachers in adjusting to teaching Common Core standards and science curriculum in their classrooms. The project included the creation of lesson plans, which could be utilized throughout the state of California.

As the Common Core standards, California’s Next Generation Science Standards for K- 12, were just proposed in June of 2013, these lesson plans would help teachers update their lessons and provide them materials and concepts of how to do so. These lessons provide higher-order thinking for students, which is the whole concept of the new …

The Prickly Embrace Of Engaged Scholarship: What It Means To Do Research In An Urban Secondary (6-12) School, Mary Beth Schaefer, Lourdes M. Rivera

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

This paper describes how two professors struggled with traditional and non-traditional approaches to scholarship in order to understand how they could best serve students in a new secondary school (grades 6-12) while fulfilling expectations for tenure and promotion. Using methods related to reflexive autoethnography, the authors explore the rewards and challenges of building a partnership between a college and school that enabled the development of a comprehensive and systemic college and career readiness program called the Career Institute (CI). The professors explore the tensions that arose when they tried to both build and study this program. Over time, the professors …

The Development Of A Comprehensive Adhd Program For Elementary School Educators, Angie Lee Echoles

Doctoral Projects

On average, teachers will teach at least one student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in any given school year without receiving any instructions at all on ADHD. ADHD affects 3% to 7% of school-age students and one in every twenty children (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2010). It is classified as one of the most common mental health disorders affecting school-age students. The American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013) defines ADHD as a hereditary, non-curable, common childhood disorder. A triad of symptoms is associated with this disorder: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, which all have a major impact on …

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Literacy Professional Learning: An Amalgamation Of Adolescent Literacy, Mathematics Teaching, And Adult Learning, Janet L. Larson

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

This study uses practitioner research to examine secondary mathematics teachers’ learning of literacy integration practices in the context of a district-wide literacy professional development series. The author, a secondary mathematics curriculum and instruction facilitator in a large, Midwestern suburban district, engaged in a two-year partnership with seventeen Mathematics Teacher Facilitators (MTFs) who taught literacy practices to their colleagues via a train-the-trainer model. This study provides an explicit rendering of professional development practices and ongoing, job-embedded learning vignettes of six MTF’s experiences in (a) teaching literacy practices to their colleagues and (b) how they learned and enacted these practices in their …

Introduction To Creativity: A Lecture And Curriculum Framework For Students Who Identify Themselves As Creative, Miriam Kelley

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project focuses on the creative person, process, product and press- the 4Ps of creativity as articulated by Rhodes (1961). A curricular framework was developed with an emphasis on enhancing the abilities of those who already identify themselves as creative, specifically undergraduate Freshmen and Sophomores looking to study various fields of Design at the university level. The objective of the framework is to not only identify the innate processes that may have led these students to identify themselves as creative- thereby choosing their major- but also to allow them to recognize, improve and be deliberate in those processes, to enhance …

First Grade Teacher Perceptions Of A Character Education Program, Gina Skinner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study will be to describe perceptions of first grade teachers at a north Georgia elementary school regarding a character education program. Although the debate continues as to who should instill our children with values, little documentation exists concerning how educators perceive their role as instructors of character. Many character education programs exist, and many schools have adopted their use. However, school systems are struggling with budget issues, and when deciding where funding may be cut, non-academic programs such as character education are often the first areas terminated. Yet, teachers appear to have little voice in …

Instructor Interaction As It Relates To Facilitation Of Spiritual Development Within An Evangelical Institution: A Case Study, Joseph Butler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the impact of instructor interaction on the facilitation of spiritual development in an online environment for undergraduate non-religion majors attending a distinctively evangelical university. The qualitative case study shadows and evaluates three sections of a required introductory religion course. Over the period of one academic term, the following online interactions were observed in order to gauge potential facilitation of spiritual development: announcements, emails, forums, assignment feedback, and course content. An interview was conducted with the instructor following the course to understand how they engaged the course and their perspective in …

Mathematics Interventions: A Correlational Study Of The Relationship Between Level Of Implementation Of The Accelerated Math Program And Student Achievement, Deborah Walker Driesel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current legislation, such as No Child Left Behind (2001) or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004), has increased accountability for schools for the education of all students. These laws require schools to provide interventions for struggling learners, as part of the Response to Intervention process (IDEA, 2004). Accelerated Math (AM), published by Renaissance Learning, is a scientifically based program designed to supplement quality instruction as part of the RtI process. This correlational study examined ex post facto data using pre and posttest scores on the STAR Math Test in relation to amount of classroom time dedicated to AM instruction …

Investigating The Effect Of Real Life Knowledge On Mathematical Problem Solving In Grade 7 In The Uae., Latifa Saeed Mohammed Al Marshedi

Accounting Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Benefits Of Video Presentations In Product Design, Alex Lobos

Articles

Product Design uses a human-centered process to develop solutions that solve unmet user needs. Because of the sequential nature of this activity, final designs are often presented in printed process books or digital slideshows, which visually communicate the development of the solution from start to finish rather than focusing just on the final result. Storytelling is a key element to consider when creating these process books in order to communicate the design solution as well as where it came from. An alternative to these presentations is the use of short videos, which offer the advantage of communicating the design process …

Creative Classrooms To Teach And Learn Grammar Lessons For Middle School Students With The Design Of Tim, Christina M. Belesovski (Demarco)

Master's Projects

Project Abstract

Creative Classrooms to Teach and Learn Grammar Lessons for Middle School Students with the Design of TIM

This project focuses on creating a classroom as a learning environment to help to teach Middle school students at the level of 8^th grade lessons on grammar. Also incorporated in this project will be the emphasis on the Torrance Incubation Model of Teaching and Learning (TIM).

E. Paul Torrance, better known as “the father of creativity” was quoted once saying, “tomorrow’s world will be vastly different for today’s children. They will do kinds of work that do not exist now. …

Attitudinal Factors Of Teachers Regarding Arts Integration, Sara Elston Williams

Dissertations

The integration of the arts provides an enriched learning and teaching environment where teachers become facilitators of meaningful and engaging activities and lessons that increase student achievement. This study examined the attitudinal factors possessed by educators in schools who participate in the Whole Schools Initiative and those who do not. This study also reported the perceptions of arts integration by classroom teachers who participate in the Whole Schools Initiative and those who do not participate in the Whole Schools Initiative. The Teaching With the Arts Survey (TWAS) was used to determine if statistically significant differences exist on teacher attitudes, self-efficacy, …

The Relationship Between Shared Leadership, Teacher Self-Efficacy, And Student Achievement, Anjanette Fuller Zinke

Dissertations

Decisions about ways to improve student achievement have been of concern over the years (Reeves, 2011). Multiple reforms have been attempted (Evers, 2000; Marzano, 2000), but researchers have differed in viewpoints on their effectiveness (Jennings & Rentner, 2006; Rose, 2010). State test scores in Mississippi have not risen to levels mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and waivers have brought new challenges to districts (Ravitch, 2012). Administrators have to focus their attention in areas other than new programs and new personnel to correct the path of education (Coburn, 2001; Hargreaves & Macmillan, 1995; Sledge & Moorehead, …

Teachers' Perceptions About The Types, Quality, And Impact Of Their Job-Embedded Professional Development Experiences, Delilah Mitchell

Dissertations

This study was designed to determine eighth grade teachers’ perceptions of the impact, quality, and types of job-embedded professional development activities they have participated in and the relationship to student achievement in language arts, math, or science. The researcher identified school districts with 50% or more of their eighth grade students scoring proficient or advanced on all three areas of Mississippi’s Curriculum Test, Second Edition (MCT2). Sixty-four eighth grade language arts, math, or science teachers who had been at their current school at least two years completed a questionnaire created by the researcher. Multiple Linear Regression and Pearson’s Correlation were …

An Integrated Multidisciplinary Nanoscience Concentration Certificate Program For Stem Education, Karen S. Martirosyan, Mikhail M. Bouniaev, Malik Rakhmanov, Ahmed Touhami, Nazmul Islam, Davood Askari, Tarek Trad, Dmitri Litvinov, Sergey E. Lyshevski

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Integration of nanoscience and nanotechnology curricula into the College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology (CSMT) at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) is reported. The rationale for the established multidisciplinary Nanoscience Concentration Certificate Program (NCCP) is to: (i) develop nanotechnology-relevant courses within a comprehensive Science, Engineering and Technology curriculum, and, to offer students an opportunity to graduate with a certificate in nanoscience and nanotechnology; (ii) to contribute to students' success in achieving student outcomes across all college's majors, and, improve the breath, depth and quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates' education; (iii) through NCCP, recruit certificate- …

Identifying Formative Assessment In Classroom Instruction: Creating An Instrument To Observe Use Of Formative Assessment In Practice, Steven G. Oswalt

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Is formative assessment observable in practice? Substantial claims have been made regarding the influence of formative assessment on student learning. However, if researchers cannot be confident whether and to what degree formative assessment is present in instruction, then how can they make claims with confidence regarding the efficacy of formative assessment? If it is uncertain whether and to what degree formative assessment is being used in practice, then any claims regarding its influence are difficult to support. This study aims to provide a vehicle through which researchers can make stronger, more substantiated reports about the presence and impact of formative …