Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Layers Of Inclusion: Arranging Music For Multi-Leveled Ensembles, John Myers

Early College Folio

This paper describes the author’s practice of “layered arranging” in music education. As a response to the range of ages and skill levels of students at Bard Academy and Bard College at Simon’s Rock, this pedagogical approach allows for experienced students to work with level-appropriate material while less experienced students may participate supportively through simplified chord progressions.

Initiatives To Find The "Lost Einsteins" Through The Integration Of Independent Scientific Research Projects In Early College, Maria Agapito, Mini Jayaprakash, Tiffany Morris, Carla Stephens

Early College Folio

This exploratory study examines the effects of incorporating Independent Scientific Research Projects (ISRP) into early college biology curriculum. The authors present their findings, which are steeped in the goal of increasing minority students’ interest in STEM careers, by analyzing student engagement in classrooms with and without ISRP integration.

The House Of Education Needs Overhaul: The Theory Behind Simon’S Rock, Elizabeth B. Hall

Early College Folio

This essay, written by the founder of Simon’s Rock in the summer of 1967 after the school’s first academic year in operation, describes the societal and pedagogical underpinnings that inspired the author’s creation of an alternative educational pathway for bright, young, and motivated students. The piece reviews the academic structure and goals of a liberal arts education at Simon’s Rock, a residential early college.

Effects Of Play-Based Learning On Phonemic Awareness And Phonics Skills, Kristen Heidecker

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of play-based learning on phonemic awareness and phonics skills in kindergarten. This study aimed to determine whether or not play-based learning materials such as letter tiles, cards, timers, and literacy-based games were an effective way for kindergarten students to acquire skills such as segmenting, letter sounds, and sight word recognition. A pre-assessment was given using FastBridge to determine which skills the students were working towards mastering. Play-based learning materials were then offered to small groups of students during our regular literacy time, and data was collected using FastBridge after two …

Addressing The Challenges Of Online Video Analysis In Qualitative Studies: A Worked Example From Computational Thinking Research, Chareen Snelson, Dazhi Yang, Torrence Temple

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we share our approach and the process for qualitative analysis of online video data recorded during an after-school robotics program that emphasized computational thinking (CT). Online research strategies may be necessary for various reasons such as when working with a geographically distributed research team, when conducting research with students in an online program, or when resources are inaccessible due to campus closures like those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. We followed a three-stage process during qualitative analysis of the videos that included planning and setup, online analysis of videos, and structural coding of memos to explore patterns …

Pixel Math Across All Levels, Kelly W. Remijan

Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Using Esser Funds To Support Teacher Residencies, Prepared To Teach, Bank Street College

Prepared to Teach

This document details the opportunity that Local Education Agencies (LEAs) have to leverage Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER) to develop teacher residency programs at their school sites. It is not only allowable, but also advisable under Federal guidance that these funds can support teacher candidates working for a full year, co-teaching within classrooms with accomplished mentor teachers, helping lead to a more diverse teacher workforce, reducing teacher turnover, and improving instructional outcomes.

Local Advisory Panels For Transitional Instruction: Processes, Promising Practices, And Lessons Learned, Ginger M. Reynolds, Heather Penczak

Practitioner Toolkits and Resources

No abstract provided.

A Student Led Assessment Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Environmental Science And Management Department At Portland State University, Aneesha Gharpurey

University Honors Theses

In the summer of 2020, the world watched as Black communities and allies responded to the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. An intensification of social and racial justice awareness provoked many entities like higher education institutions (HEI) to evaluate how they support marginalized people and update their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans. In an attempt to maintain excellence, many HEIs implement DEI plans through top-down methods where high-level administrators target recruitment and retention, campus climate, community engagement, and curriculum. These plans rarely incorporate students as co-collaborators and administer DEI changes that have little effect on students' self-belonging, …

Teachers’ Perceptions On Movement As A Teaching Tool, Mollie Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Purposeful movement integration adds movement into the content areas with the physical activity involving the content (for example, math stations that involve students moving around the room). For background on the topic, student benefits, teachers' perspectives, constraints with movement, and teacher professional learning were researched. A quantitative study was conducted to investigate teachers’ change in perspectives and knowledge on purposeful movement intervention as well as increase the frequency of student movement experiences during and after a virtual professional development course. The results of a Hoteling’s T-Squared test concluded that there was a significant difference in the perceptions and knowledge of …

A Pilot Investigation Of Critical Thinking In Undergraduate Students Of Communication Sciences And Disorders, David M. Rehfeld, Tracey N. Sulak, Deborah Rainer, Janice Stewart, Nadine Welch

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Speech-language pathologists use critical thinking on a daily basis to identify, evaluate, and implement evidence-based practices with their clients. Currently, however, there are minimal data describing the critical thinking of undergraduate students in the field of communication sciences and disorders. Without these data, it is unclear if and how students’ critical thinking differs at various points during their pre-service training. In the present study, we used the Cornell Critical Thinking Test – Level Z to describe the general critical thinking skills of 142 undergraduate students enrolled in two lower- (n = 95) and upper- (n = 47) level courses at …

Book Review Of A Young Writer's World: Creating Early Childhood Classrooms Where Authors Abound., Hannah D. Szatkowski

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

A Young Writer’s World: Creating Early Childhood Classrooms Where Authors Abound (Giles, 2020) provides early childhood educators with the knowledge and resources in order to create an immersive learning environment conducive for developing pre-school and kindergarten’s writing development. This book review evaluates the layout and key components of the text in order to identify the potential implications it could provide within an early childhood classroom.

Process Drama, Play And Popstars: Integrating Expository Writing Rehearsal Opportunities Across The Day In A Fourth Grade Inclusive Classroom, Mary R. Coakley-Fields

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

With increased focus on informational writing and opinion writing in U.S. curriculum, Common Core State Standards, and state standardized tests, upper elementary school teachers need to teach their students to write expository paragraphs and the five-paragraph essay structure. This ethnographic study focused on how one fourth grade teacher of an inclusive classroom integrated playful talk-based activities across each day in support of her students learning to write in the expository genre. Qualitative data were collected, including field notes, interviews, and documents such as lesson plans and student writing. Classroom talk and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Findings indicate that the …

Think Aloud Modeling: Expert And Coping Models In Writing Instruction And Literacy Pedagogy, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the utility of think alouds in writing instruction and highlight the function of think-aloud modeling in the development of cognitive and metacognitive strategies that support learners’ independence. For these purposes, modeling with coping is also explained. Coping models, in which teachers encounter challenges and show how to resolve them using specific strategies, are more effective than expert models according to which tasks are completed at a level of mastery. The paper reviews learning theories and focuses on specific practices that can support learners’ self-regulation through the use of models that verbalize …

Career Development Experience Toolkit – Companion Piece, Caroline D'Andrea, Carl Schneider, Heather Penczak

Practitioner Toolkits and Resources

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Value Of Video Resources In Extension-Led Natural Resources Management Continuing Education Programs, Eli S. Sagor, Marcella A. Windmuller-Campione, Madison G. Rodman

Journal of Extension

Effective delivery of continuing education programs can improve their impact. Using the first of four two-week modules of a professional short course, we tested outcomes of a flipped classroom approach, comparing professional foresters’ completion rates, preference for, and perceived value of pre-module content delivered via video and reading. Participants in the National Advanced Silviculture Program self-reported significantly higher pre-module completion rates, preference for, and perceived value of video over reading. This simple study suggests the potential for video to serve as an accessible and preferred format for delivery of key content to supplement an in-person continuing education program.

Pandemic Paranoia And Proximity: A Transformation, Joseph S. Pizzo

New Jersey English Journal

COVID-19 has transformed the manner in which students are being educated. Social distance, sterilization, and remoteness have replaced teaming, personalization, and classroom proximity. Contact tracing stirs fears, often replacing creative writing and skill-building. Fear and separation have become commonplace.

A Local Historic Village Goes Online: Transforming English And Social Studies Methods Courses For A Virtual Setting, Helen Michelle Kreamer, Toby Daspit

New Jersey English Journal

In this article, two teacher-educators share their experience of navigating the shift of a service learning project from being an in-person project to an entirely remote learning experience caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss instructional adjustments, provide student samples, and consider lessons learned.

An Argument For Affective Inquiry, Brian Kelley

New Jersey English Journal

This article presents an argument for integrating affective inquiry into the curriculum. Affective inquiry is envisioned as a methodology through which students a) interrogate their emotional responses to social/textual phenomena and b) analyze emotions as social constructs. Practical examples demonstrating how affective inquiry supports students’ literary reading are provided.

Uniting In A Reading Education Course To Support Mental Health Awareness During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Latasha Holt, Teesha Finkbeiner

New Jersey English Journal

This article discusses a unique attempt to support pre-service teachers in a reading course as they grappled with abrupt changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A partnership raised awareness of mental health impacting pre-service teachers in the present and serving students in the future improving academic success.

Design, Development, Implementation, And Support (Ddis): A Curriculum Supporting Online Doctoral Candidates, Donna Russell

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively describe and justify the case design of an approach for the integration of synchronous virtual meetings to support nontraditional online doctoral candidates. As more nontraditional doctoral students are completing their degree programs virtually through online universities, the nature of their degree progression and the development of critical knowledge and skills differ from traditional on-campus programs.

Method: The case design of an approach to integrating synchronous online interactive meetings to support these learners is identified and justified through references to research in the learning sciences including sociocultural learning, heutagogy, and constructivist instructional …

Disrupting Evasion Pedagogies, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Tricia Gray

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

As we have researched in schools and reflected on our own teaching, we have come to recognize the lie and our untruthfulness that permeates many of our cultural scripts (Gutierrez et al., 1995) and practices as teachers. It is within these cultural scripts and practices that inequity is perpetuated and humanizing learning evaded. Thus, what we term evasion pedagogies, serve to sustain the status quo and are powerful tools to maintain oppressive projects like white supremacy, heteronormativity, gender binaries, patriarchy, ableism, classism, and linguicism. In this piece, we examine the notion of evasion pedagogies as a powerful lie in practice …

Giving A Listening Ear: Male Student Teachers’ Experiences And Perspectives Of Practicum Supervision, Keriffe R. Clark

The Qualitative Report

Exploring the minute number of male teachers within the classroom is certainly not a new discourse as teaching has increasingly become a feminised profession. Therefore, as male student teachers take on the challenge of becoming teachers, it is imperative that we listen to them as they recount their supervision experiences. These experiences are significantly influenced and impacted by teacher educators and cooperating teachers who are tasked with the responsibility to provide high quality and effective supervision, especially during teaching practicum. Additionally, acknowledging that to attain positive outcomes attached to student teaching experiences, Hunt et al. (2015) have reasoned that teaching …

Using Anti-Racist Education To Diminish Educational Debt, Whitney Husfeldt

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Bringing in student culture, ethnicity, and backgrounds into the classroom can be beneficial for all learners (Gay, 2013). Anthropologists have been urging schools to insert culture into education instead of education into culture for decades (Ladson-Billings, 2006). Yet, our country is more divided than ever. There continue to be dramatic gaps in performance between White students and Black Indigenous People of Color students. Therefore, schools must push past multicultural education and the notion of integrating culture into schools and instead commit to implementing anti-racist education. There are three common goals of anti-racist education: (a) identifying or making visible systematic oppression; …

Multilingual Learners In Mainstream Classrooms, Mai Kong Pheng Yang

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

The United States of America has always been known for its diversity. A country that promises to “The Land of the Free.” Many people migrate in hopes of having a better future for themselves and for their children. Along with the high diversity rates in the United States, the different number of languages are also high and yet English is the main language taught in schools. As English maintains its dominance in the education system, many students fall into the category of an English Language Learner. These students are expected to learn the English language to strive in the education …

Providing An Elementary School Environment That Encourages Girls To See Their Place In The Stem Fields, Hannah Borchardt

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

For many years, women have been underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields at the collegiate and professional levels. The two primary reasons for this underrepresentation are the influence of gender stereotypes and biases surrounding STEM and the lack of female role models in the STEM field. Elementary educators must do what they can to address these issues in an effort to allow girls to see their place in STEM. To help counter the influence of gender stereotypes and biases in STEM, elementary educators should integrate STEM into the classroom for all students to participate and have …

Using Outdoor Learning As An Instructional Strategy, Mary Schoeb

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Spending time in nature or an outdoor environment is a healthy practice that can provide many mental and physical benefits. Thus, outdoor learning is an instructional strategy that can capitalize on these benefits and that is engaging for students. Outdoor learning can encourage student engagement in the content, while offering authentic learning opportunities. Outdoor learning can positively impact students’ learning and intrinsic motivation, their social and behavioral needs, as well as improve their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Teachers may face a variety of potential barriers when attempting to facilitate outdoor learning. These obstacles are described and addressed by providing …

Play-Based Learning In The Early Childhood Mathematics Classroom: Culturally Sustaining Play, Makenzie Evans

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this paper is to explain the importance of play-based learning in early childhood mathematics classroom through culturally sustaining experiences. Approaches to providing culturally sustaining play-based learning within the classroom will be described. The intent is to provide instruction that allows students to be able to connect their imagination and real-world experiences to their mathematics learning through play.

Innovations And Critical Issues In Teaching And Learning, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2021

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Complete text of Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning, volume 2, issue1, 2021.

Intercultural Partnerships That Foster Cultural Competence Among Undergraduate Students, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

Welcome to my poster presentation: Intercultural Partnerships that foster cultural competence among undergraduate students. Higher education institutions are increasingly committed to fostering equitable access; incorporating global perspectives into teaching, learning, and research; building international and intercultural competence among students, faculty, and staff; and establishing relationships and collaborations with people and institutions throughout the world. Since 2010, I have collected data with the Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer, 2003; 2011) to assess the course’s impact on students’ developmental orientation to cultural differences.