Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

The Effect Of Differentiated Instruction On Standardized Assessment Performance Of Students In The Middle School Mathematics Classroom, Kimberly Gail Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Changing demographics, student diversity, and increased accountability have compelled educators to challenge the uniform constraints of traditional instruction and create an environment focused on individual achievement. Differentiated instruction empowers teachers to target multiple learning styles through varied themes, adapted content delivery, and assessment options. This quantitative quasi-experimental research study examined the effects of differentiated instruction on seventh grade student performance on standardized mathematics assessments using a repeated-measures design. Two independent research trials, controlling for initial group differences with 2011 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores, provided inconclusive assessment results. Significant differences between students who received differentiated instruction compared …

Collection Of Online Learning Objects For Research Success (Colors) Pilot Project, Andrea Falcone, Stephanie Wiegand

University Libraries Publications

The availability of library-related videos is growing; yet it is difficult to justify the impact of such time-consuming projects. In order to investigate the impact of such projects and a possible solution, the researchers asked students to create videos that appeal to their peers. The following research questions were posed:

• Will creation of media projects enable students to learn core research concepts and skills?
• Will a series of peer-created media engage students and help them acclimate to researching in an academic library?

By asking students to create videos, the researchers were able to observe how users interact with and perceive …

The Effect Of The Private Classroom Blog On The Acquisition Of Formal Writing Proficiency With Spanish Iii High School Students, Olga Glymph

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the impact of a private classroom blog implemented as an instructional technology on student writing proficiency in a world language with the focus on formal writing. The nonequivalent control-group, pre-posttest design was used to determine if the use of the private classroom blog in teaching world language formal writing affected student writing proficiency with the specific focus on task completion, comprehensibility, level of discourse, vocabulary, and language control. This research study used a convenience sample of sophomore, junior, and senior students in a Georgia public high school. Independent raters evaluated students' writings using the Fairfax County Public …

Bridging The Gap Through Collaboration:, Rebecca Arliss, Carlos Arguelles, Rodolfo Hernandez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Mathematics Portfolio: An Alternative Tool To Evaluate Students’ Progress, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

This article describes the need for more thorough and varied forms of assessment to evaluate students’ level of understanding in mathematics. Portfolios are one type of assessment tool that, when added to a teacher’s repertoire can improve students’ comprehension and retention and enable students to monitor their own progress and to take more responsibility for their own learning. Portfolio assignments can also help students and teachers to detect and remedy weaknesses and misunderstandings and can increase students’ self-confidence in mathematics. This article discusses what a portfolio is, gives an example of a unit portfolio used in an undergraduate Finite Mathematics …

Building Support For The Introductory Oral Communication Course: Strategies For Widespread And Enduring Support On Campus, Jon A. Hess

Communication Faculty Publications

A strong introductory course is important for many communication departments, for the discipline, and for meeting our obligation to society. This paper utilizes the example of a recent curricular reform that threatened to eliminate a required oral communication course to reflect on strategies departments can use to build widespread and lasting support for the course. The paper reviews the events that led to the challenge and details the department’s response, which offers lessons that may be useful for other institutions. Four lessons include:

* Tailoring the introductory course to the institution’s needs and mission

* Involvement in university work

* …

Principles For Designing An Effective, Post-Compulsory Music Curriculum Suitable For Western Australia, Andrew T. Sutherland

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A new post-compulsory Music course known as the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Music course was recently introduced into Year 11 and 12 in Western Australian (WA) schools. Following a convoluted process of creation, its implementation into classrooms has been problematic. Given criticism levelled at its process of creation and implementation, the researcher questions whether the WACE Music course embodies effective, recognised principles to support the effective teaching and learning of music. This study investigates the principles which should form the basis of an effective, post-compulsory music curriculum, suitable for WA. It involved a literature review which sought to …

Getting To Global Yes! Designing A Distributed Student Collaboration, Selma Limam Mansar, Randy Weinberg, Benjamin Kok Siew Gan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The authors have taught a course called 'Global Project Management' for four years, engaging students in three international locations in hands-on distance projects. The distance projects are intended to provide students with enriching, realistic global project experience. With experience, improved planning and better coordination, each iteration of the distance projects has improved. In this paper, the authors present lessons learned and a mind map demonstrating key aspects of design of global hands-on projects.

Middle School Students' Perceptions Of The Gender And Ethnic Gap In Achievement, Marian Elizabeth Hendrickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used a mix-method approach to determine achievement gap in gender and ethnicity. Quantitative data was collected from the 2008-2009 Arkansas state Benchmark exam to investigate the extent of the gap in the school. Qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 13 students. The students were asked to explain their perceptions of the gender and ethnicity gap in the school. The use of two methods for this study enabled the researcher to better understand the actual achievement gap that appeared at the school and compare this information to the information provided by the participants. The Quantitative data gathered …

Establishing Open-Ended Assessments: Investigating The Validity Of Creative Exercises, Scott E. Lewis, Janet L. Shaw, Kathryn A. Freeman

Faculty Articles

Open-ended assessments, defined as assessments with a large set of possible correct answers, by nature lend themselves to concerns regarding accurate and consistent grading. This article describes one particular open-ended assessment, named Creative Exercises (CE), designed for promoting students' interconnection of concepts in a college general chemistry setting. The article presents evidence concerning several aspects of validity, including the extent scores represent chemistry knowledge and the extent scoring is consistent across three graders. The evidence is also presented in the context of what is known about concept maps, a commonly employed open-ended assessment in chemistry. Implications for the administration of …

Electronic Portfolios Across The Disciplines: Using Technology As An Authentic Assessment Tool, Linda Anstendig, Beth Klingner

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Remedial Education Course Scores As A Predictor Of Freshman-Level Course Performances, Larry Ulmer

All Dissertations

This study sought to determine the relationship between the performance in remedial courses (English and math) and college-level course performances among students in a large university. This study investigated whether remedial education improves the achievement in freshman level collegiate courses. The study contributes to the literature on remedial education courses and placement testing, therefore offering possible enhancements and improvements to the improvement in remedial education.
The researcher selected the correlational research design because the study sought to explore relationships between remedial course scores and freshman-level course scores. The findings from this study showed remedial course performance was associated in a …

Assessing The Effect Of Simulation Models On Systems Learning In An Introductory Environmental Science Course, Heather J. Skaza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence within the systems dynamics community supporting the use of systems simulations in the classroom to improve student understanding, there is little published, controlled, experimental research. This paper describes the results of a paired experiment testing the effect of using system dynamics simulations to increase systems understanding in an introductory environmental science course. We believed that the students using the systems simulations would demonstrate a greater systemic understanding of environmental issues than those who did not.

We conducted an experiment during the fall semester of 2009, with 304 students enrolled in four sections of …

On The Roles Of External Knowledge Representations In Assessment Design, Robert J. Mislevy, John T. Behrens, Randy E. Bennett, Sarah F. Demark, Dennis C. Frezzo, Roy Levy, Daniel H. Robinson, Daisy Wise Rutstein, Valerie J. Shute, Ken Stanley, Fielding I. Winters

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications - Archive

People use external knowledge representations (KRs) to create, identify, depict, transform, store, share, and archive information. Learning to work with KRs is central to becoming proficient in virtually every discipline. As such, KRs play central roles in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. We describe five key roles of KRs in assessment: 1. An assessment is itself a KR, which makes explicit the knowledge that is valued, ways it is used, and standards of good work. 2. The analysis of any domain in which learning is to be assessed must include the identification and analysis of the KRs in that domain. 3. …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effects Of The Arizona Instrument To Measure Standards (Aims) Test On Arizona High School Math And English Curriculum And Instruction, Joseph Leland Heywood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This is a doctoral dissertation centered on a qualitative research case study on teachers' perceptions of the effects of a particular high-stakes test—the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) on high school English and math curriculum and instruction. Specifically, this case study involved three focus group interviews at three Arizona high schools. Participants were experienced English and math teachers at each school site. To broaden the perspective gained from the focus group interviews, the study included classroom observations and document analysis. Two of the high schools chosen are located on the Navajo Reservation and were specifically chosen to include an …

Exploring Best Practices For Identification, Assessment, Course Placement, Support Services, And Academic Monitoring Of First Year Students Whose Act Writing Scores Indicate Needs For Skill Building, Kellian Clink, Amy Mukamuri

Library Services Publications

The authors share some of the research about Generation 1.5 students as well as other students whose academic writing skills may need development. We relate some data from MSU, from state of Minnesota reports, and from federal studies and discuss some of the reading and writing issues for these students. We describe the possible roles of Adult Basic Education (ABE), community colleges, and MSU in developmental writing coursework and explore assessment tools utilized. We describe some models of writing development around the state and the nation, and finally describe some consequences of doing nothing, piloting project(s), and implementing a program …

Assessment Practices Inelementary Visual Art Classrooms, Jennifer Betz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the attitudes and usages of assessment methods by elementary visual art teachers in two southeastern school districts. Data consisted of responses to a mailed survey instrument that included relevant demographic information pertaining to respondent's educational preparation experiences, tabulation of classroom activities, assessment usage, and a construct set of questions which addressed an attitudinal scale about the effectiveness of evaluation and measurement within their visual art classrooms. The primary focus of attitudinal orientation toward assessment centered upon the types of role models respondents encountered regarding assessment during initial teacher preparation and the …

Interrater Reliability Of Psychomotor Skill Assessment In Athletic Training, Jason Craddock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessment in athletic training education is an evolutionary process that is determined by each individual Athletic Training Education Program. The autonomy authorized by national accreditation standards allows academic programs to determine the appropriate assessment practices that facilitate the meeting of student learning outcomes. Even with autonomy, formative and summative techniques are to be employed in both the didactic and clinical arenas of athletic training education programs. The major objective of athletic training education is to prepare students for entry-level practice in athletic training. The purpose of this study was to assess interrater reliability of athletic training faculty and approved clinical …

Quality Indicators For Online Programs, Leo Hirner

SIDLIT Conference Proceedings

The presenter discusses methods, indicators, and tools for assessing the quality of online curriculum.

Nate And The One Sixty-Eight, Michael S. Mcmillan

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores the fate of 168 students who failed the Level 4 test at the American University Alumni (AUA) Language Center in Bangkok, Thailand. It examines enrollment trends of all Level 4 students during a one-year study period spanning 2006 and 2007, and reveals what happened to the students – who dropped out (and when), and who continued to study. It also examines why students might have dropped out. It then takes a critical look at certain aspects of the Level 4 test, explores what makes a test a “good” test, and recommends a series of improvements to AUA’s …

The Teaching And Learning Cycle: Integrating Curriculum, Instruction, And Assessment, Donna L. Jones

Christian Perspectives in Education

The philosophies of educators and government entities guide the teaching and learning cycle of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The educator’s worldview plays an important part in developing these concepts which is demonstrated throughout history. Studying the history of the educational philosophers reveals their beliefs about curriculum, instruction, and assessments and the effects on education today. It shows the importance of integrating all three concepts in the educational process creating the teaching and learning cycle.

Falling In Line: Curricular Alignment In A Library Credit Course, Michael Aldrich

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article discusses the usefulness of curricular alignment and how it can be achieved in teaching a library & information science course.

Crt Assessment Instrument, Janet L. Applin

Kentucky Teacher Educator

The Culturally Responsive Teaching Assessment Instrument (CRT) is an observation instrument that was developed to assess teachers' use of culturally responsive teaching in applied classroom settings.

The Development Of The Culturally Responsive Teaching Assessment Instrument, Janet L. Applin

Kentucky Teacher Educator

This article is concerned with developing an instrument to assess Culturally Responsive Teaching. A study was conducted to explore the process of developing a valid and reliable CRT Assessment Instrument. Teaching behaviors widely accepted to indicate culturally responsive teaching were operationalized and an observation instrument was developed to assess teachers' use of culturally responsive teaching in applied classroom settings. Teachers were observed using the instrument and it was evaluated for its reliability and validity. Results of the study indicated that the instrument was found to have acceptable inter-rater reliability for approximately half of the indicators. The results supported the content …

Planning, Building, And Assessing An Online Information Literacy Tutorial: The Lobo Experience, Megan Oakleaf

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Each fall, first-year students arrive at colleges across the country with widely varying abilities to complete library research assignments. Some students enter higher education as veterans of the information seeking process, armed with strong school library media preparation and ready to conquer any research assignment. Far more first-year students are over-reliant on Internet resources, confused about distinctions between scholarly and popular sources, daunted by scores of article databases, and mystified by the LC classification system. Academic librarians face the challenge of establishing baseline information literacy skills in all students, often with limited time and resources. One way to confront this …

Emergent Pedagogy: Learning To Enjoy The Uncontrollable—And Make It Productive, Anne Dalke, Kimberly Cassidy, Paul Grobstein, Doug Blank

Literatures in English Faculty Research and Scholarship

This essay reflects the shared experiences of four college faculty members (a biologist, a psychologist, a computer scientist, and a feminist literary scholar) working together with K-12 teachers to explore a new perspective on educational practice. It offers a novel rationale for independent thinking and learning, one that derives from rapidly developing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary inquiries in the sciences and social sciences into what are known as “complex” or “emergent” systems. Using emergent systems as a model of teaching and learning makes at least three significant contributions to our thinking bout teaching, in three very different dimensions. It invites us …

Meaningful Assessment Promotes Meaningful Learning, Diane K. Brantley

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, America’s schools have faced enhanced scrutiny by the public sector. Larger demands have been placed on children to perform at increasingly higher levels of achievement in reading and math, often beginning as early as kindergarten. Teachers and institutions of higher education have also felt the surge of outside pressure to “perform” wash over them.

Students’ Assessment Of Biology Education At Marshall University, Chris A. Barker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis research was to evaluate the quality of scientific education offered in the College of Science’s Department of Biology at Marshall University. The objectives of this study were to emphasize the important aspects of higher education assessment, point out that a scientifically literate citizenry is imperative for society to function effectively, and to determine what factors contribute to differences among students with regard to their perception of the quality of scientific education they are receiving at Marshall. A survey questionnaire was administered to students in eleven biological science courses during the Fall semester of 2003 and …

Nsu Online Miniterm Courses For Professional Development 2003, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Nsu Early Childhood Education Associate Of Arts Degree Program Of Study 2001, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.