Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Analysis Of Graded Gross Anatomy Dissections And Demonstrations As A Supplemental Educational Tool, Stephanie Leanne Cummings

Theses & Dissertations

Teaching and assessment modalities for human anatomy curriculums vary between schools. The University of Nebraska Medical Center utilizes an integrated gross anatomy lab curriculum including hands-on dissection, lecture, and 3-D models. The GCBA 909 course, Human Gross Anatomy Lab, just recently incorporated graded dissections and demonstrations into their master of medical anatomy (MMA) curriculum. Students were required to complete and demonstrate eight additional dissections compared to physician assistant (PA), physical therapy (PT) students. Upon completion of these dissections, students were assessed based on the quality of their dissections and were also required to demonstrate the cadaveric dissections to anatomy faculty …

Integrating Non-Euclidean Geometry Into High School, John Buda

Honors Thesis

The purpose of this project is to provide the framework for integrating the study of non-Euclidean geometry into a high school math class in such a way that both aligns with the Common Core State Standards and makes use of research-based practices to enhance the learning of traditional geometry. Traditionally, Euclidean geometry has been the only strand of geometry taught in high schools, even though mathematicians have developed several other strands. The non-Euclidean geometry that I focus on in this project is what is known as taxicab geometry. With the Common Core Standards for Math Practice pushing students to “model …

2017 Great Expectations Spring Faculty Conference: Discovering The Life-Long Benefits Of General Education, Academic Affairs

Spring Great Expectation Faculty Conference

The 2017 Great Expectations Spring Faculty Conference feature a keynote speech by Dr. Richard Detweiler.

Rick. Detweiler is the president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and the founder of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance, a coalition of 29 universities from 16 countries working to strengthen education in the tradition of the liberal arts and sciences.

His formative professional experience was time as a Peace Corps Volunteer on a small Pacific island, which led him to study social and intercultural psychology at Princeton University where he earned his MA and PhD. He began a faculty career at Drew University where …

In Defense Of Ambiguity In Education. A Book Review Of Rethinking Sexism, Gender, And Sexuality, Caitlin Howlett

Democracy & Education

This article offers a positive review of Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality, a readable and refreshing account of the ambiguities and possibilities relating to gender and sexuality in education today. The review argues that, with a focus on public school experiences, this collection of vignettes, lessons, and critical essays, amounts to a resource that is of great value to teachers, preservice teachers, teacher educators, and citizens as they navigate the ever-changing winds of gender and sexuality, particularly as they diverge and multiply along categories of race, religion, ethnicity, and class. This book offers hope and excitement for those of us …

Empowering Young People Through Conflict And Conciliation: Attending To The Political And Agonism In Democratic Education, Jane C. Lo

Democracy & Education

Deliberative models of democratic education encourage the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom (e.g., Hess, 2009); however, they tend to curtail conflicts for the sake of consensus. Agonism, on the other hand, can help support the deliberative model by attending to antagonism in productive ways (Ruitenberg, 2009). In this paper, I present how agonistic deliberation (the infusion of agonism into deliberation) can work as an account of the political that may help empower young people. The paper presents two classic democratic classroom practices—structured academic controversy (SAC) and debate—together as examples of how agonistic deliberation can help students engage politically. …

Cook To Learn: A Food-Focused Curriculum For Grades 3-5, Ryan R. Cherecwich

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this Integrated Master's project, I argue that a new curriculum is needed to address the following: (a) plant-based foods and from-scratch food preparation practices are strongly connected to positive outcomes for children, (b) diets high in processed foods can lead to negative health outcomes (c) students aged 8-10 are particularly well suited to learn more about food, (d) studying food offers many opportunities for interdisciplinary learning across many subjects (literacy, math, science and social studies) and (d) food-focused learning connects particularly well to common learning objectives for students in grades 3-5, yet (e) there is currently a dearth of …

21st Century Education: The Importance Of The Humanities In Primary Education In The Age Of Stem, Christine M. Reiter

Senior Theses

Taking into consideration the global shift towards innovation and technological development, the rapid changes in the global economy, and the United States Department of Education’s attempts to find a one-size-fits-all solution for America's education woes, our national focus has shifted towards the STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This shift to STEM-focused education has challenged the role of the Humanities in American education, introducing concerns that the overwhelming emphasis on STEM disciplines has pushed the arts, Humanities and human sciences off to the side or even completely out of the picture in American classrooms. In our everchanging technology-focused world, …

Progressive Education In Appalachia: East Tennessee State Normal School And Appalachian State Normal School, Holly Heacock

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis, I am examining how East Tennessee State Normal School in East Tennessee and Appalachian State Normal School in Western North Carolina interpreted progressive education differently in their states. This difference is that East Tennessee State began as a state funded school to educate future teachers therefore their school and their curriculum was more rounded and set to a structured schedule. Appalachian State Normal School was initially founded to educate the uneducated in the “lost provinces” therefore, curriculum was even more progressive than East Tennessee State’s – based strongly on the practices of farming, woodworking, and other practical …

Implementation Of A Standards-Based Grading Model: A Study Of Parent And Teacher Perceptions Of Success, Amber Dee Wheeler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the success of a standards-based grading initiative in meeting its goals. Furthermore, findings from this study will be used to inform decisions made in future grade level implementations. Standards-based grading meets all criteria for a problem of practice. The literature situates standards-based grading as a high impact strategy that can affect the entire system. This mixed-methods study will be used to determine practical changes for a school implementing standards-based grading. This study found parents positively responded to the change, and parents understood their child’s current …

The Benefits Of Music In Child Development, Dulce-Paola Ixtupe

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Music is a subject that does not limit children to simply having fun, although “fun” is an essential component when trying to engage children in learning activities. Music further enhances a series of transferable skills and can help children with their learning experience in other subjects. By being part of a fun activity such as music, children are able to acquire affective, cognitive, and evaluative skills, which will further reinforce a variety of areas of their development. When engaged in an activity where recognition and expression of feelings are required, they learn that having feelings is perfectly normal and that …

Strategies Of Reading As A Second Language Instruction Across Curriculum In Secondary Grades, Anisa A. Ben Idris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored what themes of best practices teachers report using in real classrooms to teach reading skills to ESL students across curricula. It examined teachers’ applications of the following five themes in their instruction as a regular routine described as best practices in the literature for teaching diverse students: (1) providing comprehensible input, (2) teaching learning strategies of metacognition to bridge the gap between school literacy practices and home literacy practices (3) lowering the affective filter, (4) implementing formative assessment, and (5) cooperating between teachers and ESL facilitators. The study involved teachers from two high schools in one school …

The Missouri Student Transfer Program, Howard E. Fields Iii

Dissertations

In 1993, the state of Missouri passed the Outstanding Schools Act. This law was created as a means to ensure that “all children will have quality educational opportunities, regardless of where in Missouri they live.” Section 167.131 of this law states that an unaccredited district must pay the tuition and transportation cost for students who attend an accredited school in the same or adjoining district. This portion of the law became known as the Student Transfer Program.

The Riverview Gardens School District (RGSD) was one of three unaccredited school districts in the state of Missouri in 2013. With close to …

Going Beyond The Existing Consensus: The Use Of Games In International Relations Education, Michael Lee, Zachary C. Shirkey

Publications and Research

Despite the popularity of using games to teach international relations, few works directly assess their effectiveness. Furthermore, it is unclear if games help all students equally, or if certain students are more likely to benefit than others. Finally, how closely the game must mirror the concept being taught to be an effective pedagogical tool has received scant attention. We address these points by discussing the use of an updated version of the classic American election game, Consensus, to help illustrate the role of domestic political coalitions in an international political economy course. Assessing the performance of 39 students via …

A Descriptive Case Study: Elementary Teachers’ Technology Acceptance And Classroom Integration, Jenny Whitt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine elementary teachers’ technology acceptance in the context of a student-supported professional development model in an elementary school located in the southern part of the United States. In this study, technology was defined as Internet, iPad™, or laptop use in a classroom environment as an instructional and learning tool. Face-to-face open-ended interviews, a survey, and archival data in the form of observations collected yearly as part of program evaluation for professional development were all used to answer the research questions. Research questions focused on (a) the impact of a student-supported professional …

Awareness And Use Of Electronic Health Records In Entry-Level Occupational Therapy And Occupational Therapy Assistant Curricula, Louis F. Dmytryk, Tina M. Deangelis

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) requires programs to instruct entry-level occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students in technology that may include electronic documentation systems, distance communication, virtual environments, and telehealth (standard B1.8). At this time, there are no publications describing if and how electronic health record (EHR) instruction is implemented in entry-level OT and OTA programs. The purpose of this study is to investigate awareness and use of EHRs in entry-level OT and OTA curricula. Respondents from 76 nationally accredited entry-level programs (two OT doctoral, 24 OT masters, two OT combined bachelors/masters, and 48 …

Exploring The Activity Of Daily Living Of Sexual Activity: A Survey In Occupational Therapy Education, Helene L. Lohman, Alexandra Kobrin, Wen-Pin Chang

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

This study aimed to query occupational therapy educators in professional programs in the United States about the amount of time spent addressing sexual activity and the type and depth of education related to sexual activity. The study aims to inform educators about how sexual activity is taught. A cross-sectional survey research design was used with both closed- and open-ended questions. A total of 51 educators participated. An average of 3.5 hr was spent teaching sexual activity. Many of the participants were comfortable teaching sexual activity. However, some reported that sexual activity was often an overlooked topic in occupational therapy curriculum …

The Empathy Project: The Importance Of Transitional Bilingual Education Programs, Angela Raimo

Community of Scholars Day—Posters

The audience will learn about the benefit of transitional bilingual education programs as well as the curriculum taught to my first and second grade students. They will also learn the strategies I have implemented to instill empathy and hold expectations for students who are struggling academically and socioeconomically. There will be a large amount of research on transitional bilingual education programs, multicultural teaching practices, multicultural students, and teaching empathy in an elementary school classroom.

Program Plan Highland High School Agriculture Department, Michael Lee Leishman

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This is a complete accounting of the efforts that are put forth into educating America's youth in the eastern part of Bakersfield California. This outlines the leadership training, community involvement, personal growth, premier leadership and the career success that follows such an AWESOME high school program. Here you will see the efforts of the students and community combine, under the guidance and direction of 3 excellent advisors, to create a program that creates productive well informed citizens that are ready to take the mantle of servant leadership and make their world the best it can be.

The Technocratic Politics Of The Common Core State Standards In History, Kate Duguid

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper shows that the explicit aims of the American educational standards for public schools, the Common Core State Standards to teach history to create “college and career ready” students, marks a shift from preparing students for political participation to preparing them for market participation. I trace the intellectual and pedagogical origins of the Common Core’s pretense of technocratic apolitical values back through the previous two major American curricular reform efforts. In the first section I discuss the origins and development of the National History Standards and show how Cold War anxiety prompted a shift in evaluating students as potential …

Exploration Of A Confidence-Based Assessment Tool Within An Aviation Training Program, Paul F. Novacek

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Traditional use of multiple-choice questions reward a student for guessing. This technique encourages rote memorization of questions to pass a lengthy exam, and does not promote comprehensive understanding or subject correlation. In an effort to identify guessing on answers during an exam within a safety-critical aviation pilot training course, a qualitative research study was undertaken that introduced a confidence-based element to the end-of-ground-school exam. Confidence-based assessments consist of students’ self-reported level of certainty in their responses, indicating which answers they believe are correct while also indicating how confident they feel with their selections. The research goals were to clearly identify …

The Cuny-Shanghai Library Faculty Exchange Program: Participants Remember, Reflect, And Reshape, Sheau-Yueh J. Chao, Beth Evans, Ryan Phillips, Mark Aaron Polger, Beth Posner, Ellen Sexton

Publications and Research

This chapter recounts the outcomes and experiences of six American librarians who participated in an international librarian exchange program that ran from spring 2010 through fall 2011. The exchange brought together the City University of New York (CUNY) and two universities in Shanghai, China: Shanghai University (SU) and Shanghai Normal University (SNU). The program was inspired, in part, by recognition of the diversity of CUNY’s student body and growing awareness of the increasing globalization of information and education. For the Chinese librarians, the exchange offered an opportunity to learn from the West and showcase their own innovations. The traveling participants …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Instructional Coaching, Factored By Experience And Levels Of Education, Tina Hicks Whitten

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate elementary teachers’ perceptions of instructional coaching compared to their years of experience and their levels of education. This researcher worked cooperatively with one rural school district in north, central North Carolina and used an online survey instrument with both open- and closed-ended questions to gather data. Two hundred sixty-three elementary classroom teachers were asked to complete the survey; 131 teachers did so with a response rate of 49.8%. Chi square statistical tests were run for the Likert responses on the quantitative portion, and open-ended coding was used for the qualitative piece. …

The Dividing Lines Of Opportunity: The Relationships Among Student Characteristics And Selected Institutional Services At Two-Year Public And For-Profit Colleges, Elizabeth Anne Gilblom

ETD Archive

This study examined if and to what extent selected institutional services and special learning and credit opportunities in the 2-year private, for-profit college sector and community colleges in the United States are related to race, socioeconomic status and urbanicity. The researcher evaluated whether the institutional services and special learning and credit opportunities available to students at these 1,479 institutions are stratified by the socioeconomic and racial characteristics of their student bodies and their local communities, by institutional control, by the institution’s degree of urbanization, and the student financial aid characteristics. The researcher also investigated the relationship among institutional services, special …

Blended Learning Benefits Academic Growth, Lindsey Harris

WRIT: Journal of First-Year Writing

The research in this writing piece discusses the academic advantages of integrating technology into traditional learning through the platform of Blended Learning.

Lifelong Learning: A Strategic Analysis Of Education, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

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

Are outdated traditional education, distance education, information technological infrastructure, partnerships and financial resources common problematic issues facing many of the educational institutions in our world today? With this into considerations, are these issues vital in order to stabilize the political and economic embroidery of an institution or organization, and its psychological and sociological awareness? What is it that is to be learned and thought in our institutions and, what really is lifelong education; and how is to be carried out in the society of ours? It is found that education may be the training of the mind to perform desire …

When Children Are Water: Representation Of Central American Migrant Children In Public Discourse And Implications For Educators, Theresa Catalano

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

Since June, 2014 when the U.S. government began to document an increase in unaccompanied/separated children arriving in the United States from Central America, these children have become a frequent topic in media discourse. Because rhetoric about immigration issues have been shown to affect schooling of these children, the present paper aims to examine how these children are represented in the discourse of one community. Findings from this critical multimodal discourse analysis reveal multiple strategies of representation that result in the dominant metaphor of IMMIGRANT CHILDREN ARE DANGEROUS WATER and negative perceptions that have implications for the education of these students.

Science Education For The Future: Five Recommendations A Policy Brief For Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

High quality education and particularly in the area of what is generally called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is the greatest indicator of quality of life. Sustainable human development, eradication of poverty and removing unequal distribution of resources all depend on high quality education. High quality education in the area of science has been defined as far back as 1962 by Schwab and Brandwein as teaching through inquiry-based methods. Continuing to teach science content through rote memorization produces teachers who know of no better method to teach other than memorization. These teachers themselves lack conceptual understanding of science content …

Investigating Teacher And Administrator Response To A Care-Based Curriculum Implementation, Piera Camposeo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study investigated participants’ openness to change when exposed to a teacher-led care-based innovative method of curriculum delivery, specifically the Schoolhome Instructional Design.

Exploring The Impact Of Postgraduate Preservice Primary Science Education On Students’ Self-Efficacy, Christina Maria Norris

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The effectiveness of science teaching in primary school is dependent upon teachers’ self-efficacy to teach science. Low self-efficacy has been linked to avoidance of teaching primary science; therefore, preservice teacher self-efficacy requires fostering to have graduates keen to teach primary science. Through an embedded mixed method intrinsic-case study, this research explored the impact of postgraduate preservice primary science education on students’ self-efficacy. This research examined the postgraduate students’ self-efficacy as the lens to determine the effectiveness of the design and pedagogical instruction of the unit and its tutors. Data sources included the use of pre/post surveys encompassing the Science Teaching …

Impact Of Family Engagement On Child Outcomes In Preschool, Kathryn S. Ingham

Graduate Research Papers

This review considered the impact of family engagement on child outcomes in preschool and what variables impact the success of family engagement in preschool. Many child outcomes are affected by family engagement. This particular work focuses on child outcomes related to literacy and approaches to learning. The variables of the family engagement examined include demographics, culture, family unit, and socioeconomic status. Many forms and degrees of family engagement are described with the degree of success for family engagement determined by the actual participants. Findings of the review point towards family engagement promoting positive outcomes for children enrolled in preschool despite …