Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Making Remote Learning Engaging, Denise Grandits, Tina Wagle

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This article provides extant background on online learning including best practice frameworks at multiple educational levels. The authors also discuss important considerations of remote and online learning when one is planning or teaching in that modality. Perhaps most importantly, this piece details the account of one highly qualified teacher’s experience transitioning to remote learning during the spring of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can serve as an exemplar to others. This example will demonstrate how teachers can be effective when mandated to utilize remote or hybrid teaching. The piece will also share implications for the future of teaching and teacher preparation.

College Students’ Attitudes Towards Remote Instruction During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Future Directions, Selenid M. Gonzalez-Frey, Keli Garas-York, Corinne M. Kindzierski, Julie J. Henry

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Undergraduate and graduate education students completed a survey to examine their attitudes toward remote instruction during the coronavirus pandemic. At the conclusion of the Spring 2020 semester in which all courses transitioned from a face-to-face to an online format, students, N = 93, were asked to describe what worked well in their courses in regards to their remote instruction experience and, when things did not go so well, what would have helped to make their experience better. The qualitative data were coded, and inductive analysis was used to generate categories (Johnson, 2012; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Responses were grouped into …

Addressing Teacher Shortages In The Covid-19 Landscape: Viewing Teacher Candidates As Assets, Michael S. Rosenberg, Loretta Mason-Williams, Lois Kimmel, Paul T. Sindelar

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

COVID-19 continues to impose dire consequences on all sectors of our public education system. Many students, particularly those from vulnerable populations, are receiving reduced amounts of direct instruction and are experiencing significant losses in learning. At the same time, educator preparation programs (EPPs) are struggling to ensure that teacher candidates have ample opportunities to apply their newly acquired pedagogical skills in high quality clinical placements. In this article we describe and provide exemplars as to how teacher candidates can serve as assets to school districts as they complete their field placements. We also offer specific strategies and practices for EPPs …

Letter From The Editors

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Letter From The President

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, 13.2

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Higher Order Thinking Requirements Of Parcc Practice Assessments In Grades 10, Heather Dorrian

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This mixed methods study aimed to categorize and analyze the frequencies and percentages of complex thinking in the PARCC practices assessments in English Language Arts grade 10 and Geometry. The Hess’ Cognitive Rigor Matrix was used for the first part of the study to code each of the PARCC assessment questions in Language Arts grade 10 and Geometry based on pre-existing codes. Deductive category application was utilized to connect the language from Hess’ Cognitive Rigor Matrix to the language of the questions in the tests. To ensure reliability we utilized the double-rater read behind method as in other similar studies. …

Meritocracy And Marketization Of Education: Taiwanese Middle-Class Strategies In A Private Secondary School, Amanda Shufang Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the 20th century, economic growth in Taiwan has brought social prosperity and fundamentally altered Taiwanese social structure. While successive generations of young people have climbed the social ladder and experienced upward mobility, being successful is still narrowly defined through academic achievement. This study argues that, despite constant education reform, a solution to class inequality in education has yet to be found. The mandate of the 12-Year Basic Education Curriculum in 2019 was an answer to local, global, and international transformations. While citizens celebrate the neoliberal concepts of autonomy and deregulation embedded in the 12-Year Basic Education Curriculum, coercion is …

Supporting Stem Teachers Through Online Induction: An E-Mentor’S Exploration In Cyberspace, Christian E. Legler

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

This self-study examines the processes involved in e-mentoring novice STEM teachers while using a university-sponsored comprehensive online induction platform. During this self-study, I e-mentored three STEM teachers for four months. The self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (S-STTEP) methodology was used to study my own e-mentoring facilitation. Data were collected from interviews, online textual data, and my own personal reflective journals. By studying the process of e-mentoring, I gained a more thorough understanding of the challenges involved in e-mentoring novice STEM teachers. This research also helped me better understand the induction of novice STEM teachers through e-mentoring on a …

Don't Run Out Of Steam! Barriers To A Transdisciplinary Learning Approach, Jennifer C. Caton

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Reform-based instruction can maximize learning and provide equitable access for students in both mathematics and science. A proposal for change by national organizations shed light on the need for programs in integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or with the inclusion of the arts (STEAM). A balanced approach to integrated STEAM education uses real issues from around the world to challenge students to be innovative, creative, and think critically about ways they can provide solutions. The purpose of this article is to highlight the potential of a transdisciplinary STEAM instructional approach, while examining the barriers that teachers face in …

Coming Together Through Object Based Learning In A Pandemic, Brian Sheehy, Michael Sandstrom, John Heeg

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

In the summer of 2019, three history teachers from all over the US, met in France for National History Day’s Memorializing the Fallen program and commenced a lasting friendship. While in France, touring the WWI cemeteries, memorial sites, and museums, we all realized the importance of experience-based learning and the seeds were sown for our interest in object based learning. Aside from the philosophical and pedagogical discussions on long bus rides and our passion for history, we shared a belief in the importance of revitalizing history education and helping it to evolve in the face of our twenty-first century world. …

Deliberation On The Public Good During Covid-19: A Case Study Examining Elementary Students’ Use Of Civic Perspective-Taking, William Toledo, Esther Enright

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Abstract

Building on prior research on place-based social studies instruction (Toledo, 2017; 2020), this study specifically looks at data from six third-grade teachers who designed and implemented a civics curriculum focused on engaging students with a unit on locally-relevant public issues. The ten-lesson unit that the teachers and research team collaboratively developed was taught in six classrooms across a large school district. A central public issue in the unit was travel across borders during COVID-19, or simply the coronavirus as it was commonly referred to at the time. Students also considered tensions between immigration and containment of contagious illnesses through …

Beyond Pandemic Pedagogy: Thoughts On Deconstruction, Structure, And Justice Post-Pandemic, Samantha Cutrara

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

4-H Tech Changemakers Project: Empowering Teens & Serving Rural Communities, Kasey Bozeman

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

With over 23.4 million people lacking broadband internet access in the U.S, families and communities demonstrate struggles. Feeling secure and knowledgeable enough to adopt and use the technology is another challenge. Through the 4-H Tech Changemakers project, youth and adult teams taught digital literacy and safety skills to 80 communities across America. This session will share how to connect with your local 4-H club and implement a similar program in your community.

Using Music As A Teaching Tool To Teach Social Emotional Learning (Sel), Pat Mcmanus, Christina Jensen

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Music has been known to improve retention of topics and knowledge, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the foundation for academic achievement. Using music to teach helps students make an emotional connection, making it easier for students to gain knowledge on topics such as empathy, self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Experience the use of music to teach SEL!

Teaching So They Get It To “Got It!” - The Instructional Cha-Chas, Leann M. Nickelsen Mrs.

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Merging neuroscience, formative assessment process and differentiation, Instructional Cha-Chas are 4 steps (chunk/chew/check/change) for planning and implementing lessons that prevent and close gaps in all subject areas and grades. You will get templates, tools, and strategies for teaching content so it’s meaningful, for engaging students with high-impact thinking, and for examining and responding to daily student evidence so ALL students get it to “Got It!”

Myth, Power, And Justice: The Danger Of A Single Story, Christen H. Clougherty

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

If we hear only a single story about a group, we risk a critical misunderstanding. In this session, learn to critically analyze assumptions of single stories and dominant narratives about community partners. Engage in hands-on activities to explore this issue as it relates to race, poverty, and social justice. Leave with classroom activities to take back to your classroom.

Teacher Collaborations To Create Curricular Coherence: Shifts During Covid-19, Mona Baniahmadi, Amy M. Olson

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Education policy and standards strive for more coherent curricula because “a coherent, well- articulated curriculum is an essential tool for guiding teacher collaboration, goal-setting, analysis of student thinking, and implementation” and students learn better when “connections are made from one year to the next, from one idea to another, from one representation to another” (NCTM, 2016, p. 1). This suggests teachers must work to make connections across topics, practices, representations, and strategies.

Vertical coherence occurs when teachers who teach the same course collaborate across grade level. In contrast, a curriculum that is horizontally coherent occurs when teachers at the same …

School Leaders Supporting Students Of Color In Predominately-White Schools, Jonathan Swan

Educational Studies Dissertations

Legal challenges to racial segregation and changes in the racial composition of many suburbs have altered the racial makeup of public schools in the United States. This phenomenological study looked at how principals in Predominately-White schools (PWS) and educator facilitators for a state desegregation program (DP) learn about the perceptions of students of color (SOC) in their schools, address negative perceptions of SOC, and attempt to support SOC; it also inquired about hindrances to their efforts to serve SOC more effectively. Thematic analysis of transcripts of interviews with five principals and four desegregation facilitators led to 10 findings. Critical Race …

Faculty And Student Perspectives On Open Education At Gettysburg College, Mary R. Elmquist, Janelle Wertzberger, Alice M. Brawley Newlin, Natasha J. Gownaris, Christopher C. Oechler, Ryan E. Nedrow

Friday Forum

Commercially available textbooks and course materials are often expensive for students and sometimes don’t cover topics in exactly the way you might prefer to teach. Freely available and completely adaptable open educational resources (OER) have risen in popularity in recent years, both nationwide and locally, as a way to address both issues. Join us to hear from Alice Brawley Newlin (Management), Tasha Gownaris (Environmental Studies), Chris Oechler (Spanish), and Ryan Nedrow ’22 to hear about their experiences with OER in the classroom. Panelists will talk honestly about the benefits, drawbacks, challenges, and successes associated with open course materials in order …

Teaching Evolution In Connecticut Public High Schools: Teacher Preparation And Its Relationship To Teacher Practice, Stefanie Benson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Scientific literacy is an important and relevant 21^st century skill. People with a strong scientific literacy are better equipped to be involved in public discourse which can drive social and political decision-making processes and are more adept at determining valid scientific information. Unfortunately, American citizens have consistently demonstrated a weak understanding of the nature of science. This has never been more recently apparent than during the COVID-19 crisis where citizens have not only neglected to adhere to CDC recommendations, but also deny the validity of the scientific process through anti-vax propaganda. Research has shown that accepting evolution as a …

Effects Of Creative Video Games On Creativity, Haiqal Sazalli, Sharil Sungkono, Mohammed Rashaun, Khalis Muzakir

Introduction to Research Methods RSCH 202

The purpose of this research is to find the effects of creative games on the Creativity Quotient of human beings. Assessing creativity is based on divergent thinking consisting of fluency, originality and uniqueness in thinking methods. The theoretical framework assesses the creative thinking of candidates through a 4-week gaming programme consists of a pre-and post-assessment of the Creativity Quotient Test which consists of 10 critical thinking questions. These questions will test the fluency, originality and uniqueness of the candidates. To provide a fair result, the same questions will be used for the pre-and post-assessment. Results will prove that games are …

Essential Practices For Disciplinary Literacy Instruction In Secondary Classrooms, Jenelle Williams

Michigan Reading Journal

This article describes the role of student-centered, problem-based instruction, and it offers practical tips and resources for secondary English Language Arts educators in using effective problem frames for units of instruction.

Big Kids Need Books Too: Lessons Learned From Building Classroom Libraries At The Secondary Level, Jenelle Williams, Megan Kortlandt

Michigan Reading Journal

This article is intended to describe the rationale and process of creating and effectively using classroom libraries in middle- and high-school English Language Arts classrooms. The authors connect theory to practice, using research to guide decisions about book selection and teacher professional development that takes into account the unique affordances and constraints of using classroom libraries at the secondary level. Additionally, the authors include considerations for the current reality of remote, virtual, and blended learning scenarios.

Feedback As A Connector In Remote Learning Environments, Heather Rottermond, Laura Gabrion

Michigan Reading Journal

In March, Michigan educators unexpectedly found themselves rethinking instruction. As schools throughout the state were shuttered due to the COVID-19 health crisis, educators at every level needed to consider ways to sustain relationships with students in an effort to move learning forward. Feedback has always served as a natural connector between teachers and their students, but students’ use of feedback is based upon trust. This article examines the importance of formative assessment and the feedback cycle while exploring ways to deliver feedback in remote settings. By prioritizing the student-teacher relationship, teachers foster students’ active engagement with feedback, thereby raising students’ …

A Call For Something Better: Classrooms As Foundations Of Respectful Argument For Civic Engagement, Mark Dziedzic, Bryn Orum, Linda Denstaedt

Michigan Reading Journal

“Building Something Better: Civically Engaged Conversation with Contested Issues ” promotes essential elements teachers used to design text sets and student experiences supportive of inclusive classrooms that recognize diversity of perspectives as a strength. The National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program served as a framework for looking closely at the role of teaching practice to develop classroom conversations focused on contested social issues and text sets that disrupt prior thinking and open the door to multiple perspectives, stakeholders, and voices. The ideas presented in this article emerged in collaboration with teachers using C3WP to rethink their curriculum …

Study Protocol For Testing The Association Between Physical Activity And Academic Outcomes Utilizing A Cluster-Randomized Trial, Peter Boedeker, Lindsey Turner, Hannah Calvert, Christi Kay, Adria Meyer, Chuck Truett, Julie Gazmararian

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend adolescents engaging in 60 min of physical activity (PA) every day. Students should spend at least 30 min being active while at school. However, schools rarely provide that much PA time for students. This paper describes the planned analyses for a study evaluating the relationships between PA (measured as average daily minutes of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity [MVPA]) and educational outcomes of standardized test scores and classroom grades cross-sectionally in 4 th grade and longitudinally from 4 th to 5 th grade. Investigations of moderators (both student- and school-level), mediators, and potential …

Observación Participante De Clases Virtuales Bilingües En K-2 Durante Covid-19, Jennifer Quint

World Languages and Cultures

The Covid-19 pandemic is shifting education from the classroom to a virtual setting, forcing educational institutions to collaboratively innovate a new structure for virtual learning. The world’s current state of reliance on technology came so suddenly that teachers, students, and families have no choice but to learn as they go. This research analyzes how an elementary dual- immersion bilingual program adapts to new-found challenges such as technical difficulties, variances in at home support, and student independence. Furthermore, students enrolled in a dual-immersion bilingual program face additional challenges to provide students a language immersive environment. From August 2020 to March 2021, …

A Light In Students’ Lives: K-12 Teachers’ Experiences (Re)Building Caring Relationships During Remote Learning, Karyn E. Miller

Faculty Publications

This study illuminates the experiences of K-12 educators as they strove to (re)build caring relationships with students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted during a graduate course for experienced K-12 teachers in the spring of 2020 at a four-year comprehensive university in the United States. Data was collected from reflective learning journals and asynchronous peer discussions, which captured educators’ experiences as they transitioned to remote learning in real-time. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify pertinent themes. Findings suggest that remote learning revealed relationships in need of repair. Educators practiced authentic care and cultivated connectedness by (a) acting …

The Relationship Between Career And Technical Education Enrollment And College And Career Readiness Outcomes, Daniel Soliz Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College and career readiness for K-12 students has become a priority of legislatures and educational leaders in the United States. In recent years, Texas public school leaders have emphasized the importance of maximizing the percentage of College, Career and Military Ready (CCMR) graduates. The specific problem studied was that a low percentage of students in Texas, in comparison to the state’s graduation rate, graduate with a CCMR distinction. Career and Technical Education (CTE), a component of K-12 education, can assist school leaders in maximizing college and career readiness for students. However, it was not clear how within schools, CTE enrollment …