Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Transition Competencies: Secondary Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Frequency Of Performance, Tonisha L. Johnson Ed. D.

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Millions of high school students are receiving special education services from teachers who may be inconsistently performing competencies during transition planning that leads to sustainable, postsecondary success. Secondary special education teachers’ frequency of performance of transition competencies during transition service delivery are essential to fulfilling their duties and responsibilities towards effectively implementing the Individualized Education Program of students with disabilities. The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine the correlation among secondary special education teachers’ perceptions of their transition competencies’ frequency of performance, during annual transition services. This study employed a quantitative methods approach involving an adapted version of …

Chaos Theory, Theology, And Curriculum: Striving Towards The Impossibility Of The Gift, Thomas B. Jones

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

It was once thought that small influences could not have a large impact on a grand scale. However, in the 1960s Edward Lorenz discovered that very small disturbances in weather conditions could have a great effect on huge weather systems. With an understanding of chaos theory, which posits that everything matters, I argue that a life based on the lessons of a theology inspired by postmodernism can provide a lens through which to see and act in this chaotic world. By living by this belief, the ability to give the true gift, which is an impossibility and is always to …

From A Northern Home To A Southern School: Cultural Imperialists Or Just Stubborn Yankees, Janel Janiczek Smith

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the cultural influences on the lives of northern teachers in southern schools. During the 1860s, white, northern, middle-class women traveled to southern homes to begin and maintain schools for the recently freed slaves. Each woman carried with her an independent set of cultural systems that predetermined her perspective for educating the African American students. Furthermore, the northern relief agencies, Freedmen's Bureau agents, southern white citizens, and southern freedmen all had their own opinions for the education of the students. Although much time has elapsed between the 1860s and 2013, the same topics …

Forced To Learn: Community-Based Correctional Education, Ron Mottern, C. Amelia Davis, Mary F. Ziegler

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Community-based correctional education has received scant attention in adult literacy research yet mandatory education is a growing part of the legal system and is fueled by research that suggests a link between correctional education and lower rates of recidivism. Growth in alternative to prison programs affects local ABE and GED programs. Adults who attend community-based correctional programs as a condition of their probation or parole face many challenges. The purpose of this existential-phenomenological study was to understand the experience of those adults. Findings describe students’ experiences of being forced to attend a GED program. Opening a space for these stories …

Examining The Role Of Facilitated Conflict On Student Learning Outcomes In A Diversity Education Course, Sabrina N. Ross

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Building on the Piagetian concept of disequilibrium (i.e., cognitive conflict) and empirical research documenting relationships between cognitive conflict and transformative learning, this article explores the influence of facilitated conflict (i.e., intentional efforts by the instructor to help students reflect on and work through the intergroup conflict they experienced in the course) on the learning outcomes of female students enrolled in an exploratory diversity education course. Various forms of student writing including free-writing exercises and reflective papers were used in addition to two survey response questions to identify sources of cognitive conflict and assess student learning outcomes. Findings revealed that strategies …

Casting Minority Gifted Students: The Pedagogical Impact Of Cinema On The Culture Of Schooling, Deborah F. Burnette

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

African American students are significantly underrepresented in gifted education programs. This dissertation creates a space where gifted education, African American students, media literacy, and teacher perceptions intersect in the field of curriculum studies. Media literacy will be utilized to critique popular films by gifted endorsement teacher-students and myself. Due to the low number of states that require pre-service teachers to study gifted characteristics of children it is left up to gifted teacher endorsement programs to train teachers. By using media literacy to examine films in gifted teacher endorsement programs, I assert that the under-representation of African American students in the …

Cssc Program [2013], Cssc

Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative (2011-2025)

N/A

Powerful Print: Identifying The Influence Of Narrative Reading Over Student's Opinion Formation, Sarah A. Lord

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the ways in which reading works of fiction affects the formation of student’s opinions and attitudes by using literature circles discussions and journal writing. It uses Louise Rosenblatt’s (1938) Reader Response Theory supported by Lev Vygotsky’s (1962) writings about the social dynamics of language development. Methodologically I followed the example of literature circles set forth by Janice Almasi and Linda Gambrell (1994, 1995).

Participants were fifth grade students in a rural South Georgia elementary school who participated during the 2010-2011 school year. The students participated in small peer-led discussion groups. The students chose the books they would …

"A Song For You" As Tribute To The Daughters Of The South: Illuminating The Work Of Black Women Principals, Beverly Cox

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Curriculum can be understood as a place of both struggle and possibility, where curriculum workers engage in complicated conversations about self, society, and the purposes of education (Pinar, 2004). Although curriculum theorists have contributed much to discussions of how to improve the current state of education, little attention in the field is given to the role that leadership can play in educational transformation (Ylimaki, 2011). This study contributes to the field of curriculum studies by exploring the ethics of care of Black women public school principals in the South.

By exploring the life experiences of Black female principals from the …

Reimagining The Liberal Arts In An Age Of Technoscientific Progress, Melanie Moore Watson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The following study will investigate the impact of dismantling liberal arts curriculum during an era of dramatic technoscientific progress. I will explore the development of the posthuman focusing specifically on the areas of virtual reality and biomedicine. As I unravel the implications that virtual reality and biomedicine will have on society in the coming decades, I will describe how a new liberal arts curriculum must be entertained by educators in order to maintain innovation, play, and ethical considerations in posthuman developments. In order for our students to become contributing members of a global community, they must be given the opportunity …

The Laughter Behind: Curriculum Of Place, The Hypermasculine Imperative, And The Critical Education Of A Southern Cop, Frank Gene Jordan Jr.

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the thoughts and ideologies that actuate the daily behaviors of Southern rural police officers as they pertain to practices consonant with social justice and equity. The research focus is the author’s own experience as a 21-year Southern rural police officer who ultimately obtained the position of chief of police while concurrently developing a firm commitment to ensuring social justice in his own practice and that of his subordinate police staff. The central question asks how a White male police officer from impoverished and politically and socially conservative ancestral roots could acquire a sincere concern for, and devotion …

Housing Patterns, Academic Performance And School Choice: An Inquiry Into The Relocation Experiences Of African-American Families, Courtney Jones-Hall

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry explored the educational relocation experiences of AfricanAmerican families residing in predominately-White and northern Gwinnett County, Georgia, who relocated to pursue improved educational opportunities for their children. For poor families or African- American families with limited resources, school choice is determined largely by where one lives. Historical oppression at the local, state and federal level has encouraged the concentration of African-American families into segregated communities and segregated housing patterns (Massey & Denton, 1998; Rice, 2009; Squires & Kim, 1995), which are often associated with educational inequality (Royce, 2009). The historical oppression and racial injustices in society challenges us …

The Voices Of Reason: Counterstories Of The Urbanization Of A Suburban Black School In Georgia, Shana Hunt

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This inquiry explores the discrepancy of educational opportunities in a Black suburban public school near Atlanta, Georgia. Predominately Black suburban schools in the South have become increasingly similar to Black urban schools. Both Black urban and suburban schools have become places of complacency for teachers and students. There is an incessant fluctuation of teachers and an increase in low expectations for academic success in Black suburban schools. Both Black urban and suburban schools have limited funding while White schools, many times less than ten miles away, experience the benefits of magnet programs, cutting-edge technology and rigorous curricula. Many Black suburban …

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Bronfenbrenner's Ecology Of Human Development, Carol Medders Denis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the norms associated with this condition in the United States have evolved over time. Culturally established beliefs control how the disorder is defined and treated. This study will explore the idea that ADHD is a socially constructed disorder that impacts multiple levels of society. These levels include the child, the family, the school, the medical community, and the advertising agencies. Social construction theory will be used to establish a framework for this study. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) system theory describing the ecology of human development will also be used to investigate the impact that different …

Through Smoke And Mirrors: Constructing Identity Between The Myths Of Black Inferiority And A Post-Racial America, Gwyneira Yvette Dixon Ledford

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is an inquiry into my life. It is an exploration of my lived experience as an African American female negotiating through traditions in Southern culture and societal pressures to create a positive identity. Using autobiographical narrative (Connelly, He, & Phillion, 2008, Pinar, 2008) as a methodology and Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2000), double consciousness (DuBois, 1903), and the Nigrescence Theory of black identity development (Cross, 1991) as the theoretical framework, I examine my experiences from childhood to adulthood. Through these narrations, I note paradigm shifts in my thinking that identify the psychological struggles between feeling racially inferior and …

Climate & Chemistry- An Introductory Course For First Year Students, Catrena Lisse, Chavonda Mills, Julia Metzker

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019) (Archived)

Students will be able to:

• explain multiple approaches that respond to problems in chemistry

• implement effective search strategies and evaluate sources of chemical information for relevance and authority.

• explain and analyze scientific evidence.

• form logical conclusions from the chemical information presented.

• understand the chemical properties of atoms, molecules, ions and gases.

• understand the chemical principles of stoichiometry, reactions in solutions, thermochemistry, atomic structure, periodicity and bonding.

• construct strategies to solve problems with integrated concepts and evaluate solutions

The Need To Teach Civility In Ece Classrooms, Michael Borders, Donna Borders

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019) (Archived)

Methods for the teaching of civility to teacher education candidates—the why, what and how—are premised on the current societal need to emphasize altruistic behaviors. Survey results from 120 teacher candidates and 120 clinical supervisors within an eight- county Georgia area will be exhibited along with research literature reviews, lesson plans, and pre- and post-test data analyses.

The Accuracy Of Metacomprehension Judgments: The Biasing Effect Of Text Order, Tracy Linderholm, Xuesong Wang, David J. Therriault, Qin Zhao, Laura Jakiel

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Introduction: Two experiments tested the hypothesis that relative metacomprehension accuracy is vulnerable when readers' cognitive efforts are biased by text order. It is proposed that the difficulty level of initial text information biases readers' estimates of text comprehension but is correctable when more cognitive effort is applied.

Method: In both experiments, participants were randomly assigned to read a series of expository texts in one of two text order conditions: easy-to-hard and hard-to-easy. Readers made estimates of their comprehension and took comprehension tests over their understanding of the texts in the series in order to determine relative metacomprehension accuracy.

Results: Experiment …

Empowering Students With Autism: An Investigation Of School Practices Through The Lens Of The Special Education Administrator, Jenny Rebecca Mcclintic

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: This qualitative study explored the perspectives of special education administrators employed in three school districts in Georgia regarding the empowerment of students with autism spectrum disorders. Participants were first given a screening survey and later interviewed via telephone in reference to empowering practices present in their individual districts. Participants were given the options to be included in the telephone survey. This study draws on the research from the National Research Council's findings published in as Educating Children with Autism (2001) and other leaders in the field of educational interventions. This study provides an analysis of their responses and …

Curriculum Circus: Juggling Curriculum, Science, And The Arts, Domenica Devine

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Education should open the door to better lives and better jobs. The fact is that it does not. In part, there are many causes including rigidity, political interference, and the separation between disciplines that we teach without context and without dialogue with our students. Specifically, I think that we should use education as a way to help students make better choices and have a better life. One way we can do it is by reconciling science with the other disciplines. And that is what is at the heart of curriculum studies.

There is a pervasive belief that the Western ideology …

Cssc Program [2012], Cssc

Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative (2011-2025)

N/A

Curriculum And The Life Erratic: The Geographic Cure, Leslie B. Nissen

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines a subset of Children of Alcoholics, whom I call Geographic Cure Children, who cope with both fermented parenting (as I have termed it) AND transient schooling. Viewed by schools and school systems simply as “highly mobile” students, their frequent school changes tell only part of the story. Geographic Cure Children arrive at their newest classrooms bearing the heavy burdens of emotional trauma and dark secrets about the Life Erratic. However, due to frequent mobility, their access to help or support is sketchy at best. Through currere, I employ autobiographical and psychoanalytic lenses to explore the intersection of …

My Sister, Our Stories: Exploring The Lived Experience Of School Leavers Through Narrative And Poetics, C. Amelia Davis, Jennifer L. Pepperell

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational experiences of two adult female siblings who are both school leavers. Through the use of thematic narrative analysis, sibling narratives and poetic re-presentations, their stories were developed. These stories represent the participants’ experiences of prior schooling and their current commitments to education. While each story conveyed a profound similarity in terms of prior schooling, contrasting narratives were illustrated through description of transitional moments and sibling relationship. The analysis also explored the intersections of race, gender,and social class within educative moments of the life experiences of the participants.

"A Play Is Not A Journal Article:” A Review Of Johnny Saldaña’S Ethnotheatre: Research From Page To Stage, C. Amelia Davis

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Johnny Saldãna’s book, Ethnotheatre: Research from Page to Stage, does exactly what it sets out to do: It is a hands-on guide that walks researchers across disciplines step-by-step through interpreting and representing data in an ethnodramatic format. It really is “research from page to stage.” For those with little theatre experience, Saldãna provides excellent suggestions for additional readings and comparisons of different types of plays. There is much merit in this book as a text for a qualitative research class or special interest class. The exercises provided are great way for students and researchers to be more reflective as they …

Cssc Program [2011], Cssc

Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative (2011-2025)

N/A

Dispositions Related To Successful Co-Teaching Teams At The Secondary Level: A Case-Based Study Of Three Secondary Co-Teaching Teams, Zabrina U. Cannady

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the dispositions of successful co-teachers in the Houston County school district in order to gain insight into the establishment of successful collaborative relationships. Data for this study was collected through multiple observations and follow up/exit interviews with six teachers participating in the co-teaching model in the Houston county school district. Findings indicated the presence of dispositions identified in the literature as essential for successful co-teachers, to include positive attitude, empathy, insight, and the use of pedagogical strategies. In addition to the four observed categories, the participants also identified administrative support, creativity in …

Military Children And Holistic Education: A Narrative Reflection On Classroom Practice, Edith Allison

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation uses autobiographical narrative inquiry as a source of knowledge-generating reflection to examine how the educational needs of military children might be met through the use of holistic educational practices rather than a (well-intentioned) traditional, standardized curriculum. Data were gathered through observation; personal experience as a military child, military member, mother of military children and teacher of military children; journal entries and vicarious experiences shared by students, parents, educators and other invested in this population of learners. Experiences were compiled into fictional composites to protect the identity of all parties as well as national security. These composites were then …

Different Lattitudes, Different Attitudes: Educator Narratives Of A Professional Development In Honduras, Polly Stewart Holder

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract:The curriculum studies field is marked by two significant concerns-the desire for a complex conversation about connection and diversity and the drive to address structural inequities. Drawing from the rich theoretical field of post positivist realism and in the intellectually rigorous tradition of curriculum studies, this inquiry traces the socioemotional and pedagogical development of five educators before and after a brief professional development experience abroad as they explored what a pedagogy of hope (Freire, 2004; Hooks, 2003) might look like. These five participants traveled to Honduras during the summer of 2009 with Heifer Project International (HPI), a non-profit, non …

High School Transformation: The Lived Experience Of Teachers Moving To Small Learning Environments, Reginald Lawrence

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: Educators faced with a decline in student achievement and increases in dropout rates are seeking ways to provide the best possible educational environment for students (Oxley, 2005). High school transformation, also known as the small schools movement, is a reform that is gaining currency in the world of education (Meier, 2006). Alien (2001) observed that high school transformation is the process of altering the makeup of a large comprehensive high school, also known as a traditional high school, into small high schools or small learning communities at the same location. The teacher is the most important component of …

"Courageous Conversations": Rural South Georgia Teachers Reflecting On The Role Of Race And Racism In The Education Of Rural South Georgia Students, Lawanda P. Gillis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has forced school systems throughout the United States to consider the achievement gap between White students and non-White students, which had not previously been a factor in determining school success for federal and state funding. However, acknowledging the gap is not enough. Schools must move beyond acknowledging the gap to developing strategies to close the gap. A professional development course entitled Courageous Conversations About Race, written by Curtis Linton and Glenn E. Singleton was taught to thirty-seven teachers in a rural South Georgia school system. Eight of …