Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

A New Way To Assess Student Learning, Dr. Deborah Bracke

Education: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This article describes an alternative to the traditional pre-test, post-test assessment of student learning.

Why Did They Come Here? - The Influences And Expectations Of First-Year Students’ College Experience, Louis S. Nadelson, Carrie Semmelroth, Gregory Martinez, Matthew Featherstone, Casey Alexander Fuhriman, Andrew Sell

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Students’ expectations and experiences with university life are influenced by a number of variables. Many universities develop programs or promote aspects of existing programs to market the university’s image. This research was motivated by our desire to determine the relationships between first-year students’ college expectations and experiences, their awareness of the university’s programming and projected image, the influence of the programming and image on their decision to attend the institution, and the students’ personal characteristics. Our survey of 351 first-year students revealed positive perceptions of their university expectations and experiences, a mixture of influences on their decision to attend the …

“Seeing” The Elephant: Assessing The Impact Of Library-Composition Program Collaboration On First-Year Student Learning, Erin E. Rinto

Library Faculty Presentations

Though university libraries and composition programs have historically collaborative relationships, these partnerships can take a variety of formats, including single course period library sessions, teaching-the-teachers, and librarian-driven assignment models. A hybrid of these collaborative approaches was implemented Fall 2012 at UNLV in an effort to provide first-year composition students with a more systematic information literacy experience in the required ENG 102 course. A two-pronged assessment method was used to evaluate the impact of the collaboration for both first-year student learning as well as to implement programmatic change.

Associations Between Teacher Emotional Support And Depressive Symptoms In Australian Adolescents: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study, Patrick Pössel, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Michael G. Sawyer, Susan H. Spence, Annie C. Bjerg

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Approximately 1/5 of adolescents develop depressive symptoms. Given that youths spend a good deal of their lives at school, it seems plausible that supportive relationships with teachers could benefit their emotional well-being. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the association between emotionally supportive teacher relationships and depression in adolescence. The so-called principle-effect and stress-buffer models could explain relationships between teacher emotional support and depressive symptoms, yet no study has used both models to test bidirectional relationships between teacher support and depressive symptoms in students separately by sex. Four-thousand three-hundred forty-one students (boys: n = 2,063; girls: n …

Perceived Professional Development Needs Of Idaho Secondary Career And Technical Education Teachers: Program Management, John G. Cannon, Karl Allen Kitchel, Dennis W. Duncan

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived professional development needs of Idaho secondary career and technical education teachers for a set of non-instructional competencies specifically associated with duties related to program management. The population of this study consisted of CTE teachers employed by Idaho secondary schools (N=725). Sixty-one percent (n=446) of the population participated in the study. The findings indicated that the top five perceived in-service training areas for the program management construct, as identified by a mean weighted discrepancy score (MWDS) ranking, to be “Grant writing & funding opportunities”; “Understanding federal (Perkins), state, and local funding”; …

Undergraduate Life Sciences Curriculum, John Osterman, Tiffany Heng-Moss

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The Life Sciences curriculum currently consists of a two semester series of courses and associated laboratories covering the fundamentals of biology. It is intended to serve those students who intend on taking more advanced biology courses. I will review the procedure used in the development of the courses and cover the proposed syllabi for the courses.

Design, Development And Evaluation Of An Interactive Virtual Haptics-Augmented Training System For Undergraduate Engineering, Robert L. Williams Ii, Ernur Karadogan, David R. Moore, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Graduate Student Research Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

Gaging The Education Abroad Perception: A Survey Of Personnel At The University Of Wisconsin-Platteville, Jennifer R. Krahn

Capstone Collection

As higher education institutions nationwide are striving to increase the number of U.S. students having international experiences, it is important that international programs professionals are not the only advocates for education abroad on campus. Administration, faculty, and staff buy-in is invaluable as the policy makers and leaders across campus, and their personal experiences, opinions, and endorsements are powerful. The University of Wisconsin system has a system-wide goal for each campus to have 25 percent of their students study abroad, and therefore, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UW-Platteville) is looking to administration, faculty, and staff for support in increasing education abroad participation. …

The Cost And Quality Of Open Textbooks: Perceptions Of Community College Faculty And Students, Tj Bliss, John Hilton Iii, David Wiley, Kim Thanos

Faculty Publications

Proponents of open educational resources (OER) claim that significant cost savings are possible when open textbooks displace traditional textbooks in the college classroom. We investigated student and faculty perceptions of OER used in a community college context. Over 125 students and 11 faculty from seven colleges responded to an online questionnaire about the cost and quality of the open textbooks used in their classrooms. Results showed that the majority of students and faculty had a positive experience using the open textbooks, appreciated the lower costs, and perceived the texts as being of high quality. The potential implications for OER initiatives …

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

January Agenda, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

Teaching In Northwestern China Under A Market Economy: Opportunities And Challenges, Gulbahar H. Beckett

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach …

The Effect Of Argumentative Task Goal On The Quality Of Argumentative Discourse, Merce Garcia-Mila, Sandra Gilabert, Sibel Erduran, Mark Felton

Faculty Publications

In argumentative discourse, there are two kinds of activity-dispute and deliberation-that depend on the argumentative task goal. In dispute the goal is to defend a conclusion by undermining alternatives, whereas in deliberation the goal is to arrive at a conclusion by contrasting alternatives. In this study, we examine the impact of these tasks goals on the quality of argumentative discourse. Sixty-five junior high school students were organized into dyads to discuss sources of energy. Dyads were formed by members who had differing viewpoints and were distributed to one of two conditions: 31 dyads were asked to discuss with the goal …

Parts Of The Whole: When Variation Is The Goal, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

The goals of higher education are a population of extreme variability in expertise, a diffusion of specialized knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, and production of strong K-12 teachers. Promoting these three goals has implications at all granularities, from the pedagogy of an individual college professor to the incentives and policies that shape systemic change.

The Relationship Between English Language Test Scores Among Nigerian High School Students And Teacher Beliefs About Language Teaching And Their Classroom Practices, Luke O. Iwuji

Wayne State University Dissertations

English language mastery is important to the academic achievement of high school students in Nigeria. As the official language of instruction in multi linguistic Nigerian schools, proficiency in English language is essential for the academic success of students in high schools. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between English language test scores among Nigerian high school students and teacher beliefs about language teaching and their classroom practices. Three research questions and associated hypotheses were addressed in this study. A total of 23 teachers, one from each high school in the Government District of Nigeria, participated in …

The Workplace Relevance Of The Liberal Arts Political Science Ba And How It Might Be Enhanced: Reflections On An Exploratory Survey Of The Ngo Sector, Andrew M. Robinson

Contemporary Studies

Reflecting on a survey of employees of NGOs based in Ontario, Canada, the article considers two questions: How well are our BA programs preparing students for the workplace? Can we enhance workplace relevance without sacrificing our commitment to liberal education? Key findings are presented, including the BA continues to be a desired and employable degree and skills associated with it are valued; employers are not convinced that graduates with BAs necessarily possess these skills; and respondents associate their formal education with individual skills and extracurricular activities with interpersonal skills. Three strategies to enhance the workplace relevance of BA programs without …

Pbl Waste Not Want Not: Using Agricultural Plant Waste, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Teacher Resources

This sample Problem Based Learning (PBL) lesson focuses on the best use for agricultural waste, using an apple orchard as the hypothetical problem. The unit is designed as a sample curriculum for educators learning the PBL process.

Akin House Curriculum Development And Living History Programming, Amanda Brown, Charlotte Fitts-Sprauge, Andrew Gray, Maya Himmelsbach, Abbey Hood, Meghan Richards, Brianna Riposa, Arnold Robinson

Education

This unit plan is comprised of a variety of inquiry-based lessons that explore the culture and way of life of the Native Americans who occupied New England. After studying the Akin house documents, materials, and narratives, I chose to focus my unit on the land and the people who came before the Akin family so that students will learn the long-view of our rich New England history.

Vocabulary With Character: Lessons From Newberry Books, Karen L. Parker

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

"Lighting The Way" With Differentiation In Reading, Leonard W. Parker

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Value Of Rewriting In Graduate Educator Preparatory Programs, Phyllis Gimbel, Davis Mills

Secondary Education and Professional Programs Faculty Publications

The United States is poised to infuse writing into the K-16 curriculum. The Common Core State Standards have been adopted by 46 states and the English Language Arts and Literacy Standards set benchmarks for literacy in history/social studies, the sciences, and technical coursework (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010). The purpose of this retrospective, exploratory study is to understand the motivation of a random sample of 50 graduate students enrolled in educator preparatory programs at our state university with regard to why these students chose to rewrite an assignment. More specifically, the research question is: What motivates graduate students enrolled …

Fostering Student Sense Making In Elementary Science Learning Environments: Elementary Teachers’ Use Of Science Curriculum Materials To Promote Explanation Construction, Laura Zangori, Cory Forbes, Mandy Biggers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

While research has shown that elementary (K-5) students are capable of engaging in the scientific practice of explanation construction, commonly-used elementary science curriculum materials may not always afford them opportunities to do so. As a result, elementary teachers must often adapt their science curriculum materials to better support students’ explanation construction and foster student sense making. However, little research has been conducted to explore if and, if so, how and why, elementary teachers modify science curriculum materials to engage students in explanation construction. We use an embedded mixed methods research design to explore elementary teachers’ (n = 45) curricular adaptations …

The Evolution Of Successful Service-Learning Courses In The Computing Curriculum: From Infancy To Innovation, Jean F. Coppola Phd, Susan Feather-Gannon, Catharina Daniels, Nancy Lynch Hale, Pauline Mosley

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this paper is to relate the evolution of successful service-learning courses in a school of computer science and information systems spanning over a 20-year period. The authors share their experiences in developing technology-based service-learning courses for both majors and non-majors. Most recently, these courses have enabled undergraduate first-year students to be exposed to exciting technologies, such as robotics and mobile app development. The challenges, benefits, and lessons learned are discussed.

Southern Adventist University Undergraduate Handbook & Planner 2013-2014, Southern Adventist University

Student Handbooks, Undergraduate

No abstract provided.

Using Reflective Journals To Promote And Enhance Self Directed Learning, Aidan Ryan, Jennifer A. Byrne

Conference Papers

This paper seeks to highlight/outline the benefits that can be achieved by using reflective journals to assist teaching in a practical class. The reflective journals were introduced to try and make up for the perceived shortfall in the level of experience and understanding of students on a new degree programme “Timber Product Technology”. The lecturers involved needed

needed ing outside of their normal classroom environment.

The module is “Jointing Techniques and Furniture 1” and is taught in a practical workshop environment whereby the students learn the basic skills in wood jointing and making furniture. The students learn using a combination …

Have 21st Century Skills Made Their Way To The University Classroom? A Study To Examine The Extent To Which 21st Century Skills Are Being Incorporated Into The Academic Programs At A Small, Private, Church-Related University, Christopher Scott Boe

Education Dissertations and Projects

With the increased expectation of college or university attendance as a prerequisite for workforce entry, the criticism of business leaders and the general public, and the increasing cost of postsecondary education, it becomes critical for institutions of higher education to know what they are offering students and how well those offerings are being presented. Meaningful, engaged learning that prepares students for life and the ever-changing world of work is what these consumers are seeking. It becomes, then, the responsibility of the institution of higher education to evaluate its programs to determine what it is actually providing students in terms of …

Professional Seminar: Valuing A One-Credit Course Through The Lens Of Doctoral Students, Naina A. Bhandari Ph.D., Beth L. Macdonald Ph.D., Jenny M. Martin Ph.D., Amanda M. Biviano, Jamie M. Simmons, Windi D. Turner Ph.D., Susan Asselin Ph.D.

Teacher Education Program Faculty Scholarship

Professional seminar for doctoral students at a Research I University is a 1-credit course, 2 below the conventional courses. However, the course content covers at least 3 years’ worth of experiences, knowledge, and processes compressed into a single school year. The course typically extends over 16 weeks and 24 actual contact hours with 1 professor to 7 students on average. Assignments expose students to professional jobs in academia, resources available on campus, grant writing procedures, and facilitate the trajectory and purpose of the doctoral process. The purpose of this study is to investigate doctoral students’ narratives on the value they …

Telecommuting As The Director Of Clinical Education (Dce) In A Doctoral Physical Therapy Program, Sally Mccormack Tutt

Physical Therapy Faculty Posters

Poster describing a case study created to help determine the feasibility of allowing the Director of Clinical Education to telecommute from Florida to Maine as a unique way to retain a valued core faculty member of the DPT department. Concludes there are benefits to departments considering this method of job performance, including: decreasing the turnover of quality faculty at an institution, reducing stress of a vacancy on the department and other faculty, decreasing the cost associated with searching for and hiring a new faculty member, and providing students with consistency with regards to the teaching and advising they receive from …

Education Reform In Kentucky: Just What The Court Ordered, Richard E. Day, Jo Ann Ewalt

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This chapter discusses primary- and secondary- education policy in Kentucky and the political and environmental forces that have led to significant policy changes over the years. The primary emphasis of our policy coverage is, first, an analysis of the political decision making that led to sweeping policy changes called for in the 1989 Kentucky Supreme Court decision in Rose v. Council for Better Education and implemented through the subsequent education- reform legislation, the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA).