Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Curiosity, Motivation, Autonomy, And Lifelong Learning In Education And The United States Marine Corps, Cynthia Malmquist

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy-supportive teaching all promote lifelong learning in both the classroom and Marine Corps. Humans are all born with curiosity. Children inherently practice forms of intrinsic motivation. Most would agree that they do not like being micromanaged - they enjoy a sense of freedom when completing tasks. Despite this, many students learn in a controlling environment and many Marines work under controlling leaders. Though a large amount of time is spent on learning through the first 18 years of life, lifelong learning does not come naturally and is not commonly practiced. The research and ideas discussed below …

Bridging Teacher Candidates, School Communities, And The World During A Pandemic, Sarah Jean Baker, Jennice Mccafferty-Wright, A. Minor Baker, Stefanie D. Livers

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The Covid-19 pandemic caused distance that separated the teacher from the learner as schools and higher education moved to virtual and flexible learning communities. Likewise, at the same time racial tensions were growing further increasing the distance and divide across the country. This positions teacher educators with the responsibility to bridge this distance.

The challenges of preparing educators for activism in a post-Covid educational context that considers cultural literacy, ethical leadership, and community engagement is explored with three narratives. These narratives provide the opportunity to think with and through our commitments in early childhood and elementary teacher education. Collectively, these …

Oral History: A Tool For The Elementary And Middle Classroom, Jessica Keiser

Senior Honors Theses

Modern historical instruction requires educators to cover broad expanses of history and prepare students for standardized testing. In the push to meet state standards and cover the vast curriculum in short periods of time, many educators have begun to teach to the textbook. Much to the detriment of students, this educational practice has favored periodization and content quantity over the development of crucial historical skills. Rather than adhering to popular education trends, teachers can consider implementing oral history projects within their elementary and middle school classrooms. Oral history is a methodology that employs first-hand accounts to teach about key historical …

Dismantling The Dichotomy: Latinx Identity And Assimilation In Early Childhood Education, Rocio J. Olvera

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of children in early childhood education (ECE) are Latinx. Drawing on ethnic identity, culture, and language, this thesis describes the dichotomy between adherences to one’s ethnic identity and assimilation into the dominant societal culture. This paper describes how assimilation harms students and provokes negative implications such as identity loss, confusion, and loss of cultural ties. Dismantling the dichotomy is possible through the power of language, culture, and strengthening teacher-parent relationships.

The Mitigation Of In-Group And Outgroup Biases: Understanding The Perceptions Of Educators On The Contact Approach Theory, Brigitte Blazys

Dissertations

The contact approach theory was introduced in the 1950s, by Allport, as a method to mitigate biases. Since then, many DEI practitioners in the United States have formed alliances to create a social justice movement to combat racism, prejudice, and biases in our society. Nevertheless, little research has been conducted in the contact approach theory as these biases, initially observed as in-group and outgroup biases, originate in the early years of life. To begin to fill this gap in the literature, the purpose of this study was to better understand and identify to what extent, if any, prekindergarten through third …

Indigenous Mexicans In New York City: Immigrant Integration, Language Use, And Identity Formation, Leslie A. Martino-Velez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As indigenous Mexican immigrants migrate, settle, and raise families in the United States, parents, particularly women, and their children increasingly have contact with community institutions, such as schools. Despite their growing numbers in U.S. schools, indigenous children, youth, and their parents are often invisible due to their ethnolinguistic identities and undocumented status. Understanding what parents do to help their children is essential to understanding the first generation's integration and their children, the second generation.

To better understand this, I conducted an ethnographic research study at a bilingual Head Start program in New York City, in East Harlem, where many undocumented …

Impact Teacher Perceptions Of Distance Education As A Strategy For Formal Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Monica Morgan

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

Students cannot be successful if their basic needs are not met. Distance education led to many hurdles, especially for low-income families, including lack of access to the internet and required technology, inadequate home learning environment, and restricted human interaction. These hurdles may negatively impact teacher perceptions of distance education as a strategy for formal education.

Values In Early Childhood Education (Ece): A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study Of Values For Ece Expressed In Policy Documents, Jolene Pearson, Arve Gunnestad, Sissel Mørreaunet, Sobh Chahboun

Education Faculty Publications

Purpose

This comparative study identifies core values expressed in Early Childhood Education (ECE) official policy documents from a sample of thirteen countries.

Design/Approach/Methods

This study employs document analysis as well as content and thematic analysis. ECE values identified in the policy documents are categorized into three groups: political and society-related values, educational values, and individual and relational values.

Findings

Document analysis reveals the values that are common across countries and those that are more specific to just one or a few countries at most. This study discusses the characteristics of these values from the perspective of globalization. In doing so, …

Supporting The Oral Language Development Of Young Dual Language Learners: Perspectives Of El Teachers In Nh, Maria C. Chouinard

Honors Theses and Capstones

Demographic shifts in the US over the last two decades have increased the diversity gap between teachers and their students. The majority of multilingual children entering US public schools face the challenge of learning academic content in not just one, but two languages. Despite many of the positive effects of being bilingual, Dual Language Learners (DLLs) often face more challenges in education achievement and opportunities than their monolingual English-speaking peers. A key factor of this challenge is the fact that DLLs tend to have monolingual English-speaking peers, and teachers have been shown to play a critical role in student learning. …

Mindfulness In Early Childhood Education, Madalyn L. Coss

Honors Projects

The following work identifies the need for mindfulness in early childhood education. It explains what mindfulness is, what the benefits of it are, and how it can be used in early childhood classrooms. A podcast episode is included with the intent of it being used to inform educators on the subject.

Social-Emotional Learning For The Classroom And Family Contexts, Courtney Bockbrader

Honors Projects

This project focused on developing a social-emotional learning workbook for use in the classroom and family contexts. Based on a review of relevant literature, emotional recognition, self-regulation, and social skills were identified as the most beneficial social-emotional skills for the personal and academic success of elementary-aged students. The resulting workbook included eleven activities aimed at promoting these three skills. Each activity was designed to be implemented in the classroom setting, with associated take-home activities for use in the home with the parent/guardian(s) for increased generalization of skills. Accessibility for schools of all income levels was taken into account, as activities …

Thinkmed: Providing An Environment For Disadvantaged Students To Explore Stem, Steven Trinh, Lauren Dudley, Peter Chang

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

ThinkMED is a nonprofit initiative offering a four-week curriculum specifically designed to develop critical thinking and encourage evidence-based decision making. Each week’s content material revolves around the use of a ThinkMED Science Kit containing a wet lab experiment designed to supplement the content curriculum. Each experiment is formulated to be inclusive of all California Next Generation Science Standards K through 5. Contained within each week’s ThinkMED Science Kit is a unique QR code that directs the student to an interactive simulation of the experiment created by our team of computer scientists and graphic designers. At the end of each week, …

A Fundamental Part Of Learning: Employing Play-Based Learning In Marin County, Ca Kindergartens, Spencer Gapinski

Literary and Intercultural Studies | Senior Theses

Play occupies a fundamental part of learning as a human being yet is often not used in an educational setting. Public Schools across California have increased the academic demand of students as early as Kindergarten with the intent to increase learning. While academic learning has seen moderate increases in past decades, the result has seen a decrease in play in the classroom. This essay assesses the benefits of using a Play-Based Learning method as well as describes the next steps needed to incorporate Play-Based Learning into Marin County Kindergarten classrooms.

"Read It Again!": Storytelling To Imitate The Great Teacher, Kate Whatley

Senior Honors Theses

The student’s mind is bent on stories, asking mothers around the world to ‘read it again’. These stories preserve information and emotions for centuries. In the classroom, stories enliven motivation and empathy in ways that result in higher academic achievement and social awareness. Learning to use stories as a key instructional strategy will allow for more equitable opportunities in classrooms, encourage mental health and truth telling for the teacher and the student collectively, and allow the academic community to imitate Christ by contributing to the bigger story taking place across time. In application of using stories as teachers, this thesis …

Moving Into A New Realm Of Education And Parenting, Katherine Rodriguez-Agüero

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

An Invitation To Imagine Education Otherwise, Grasilel Esperanza Diaz

Occasional Paper Series

This article presents an invitation to imagine education otherwise, what education could be if we took a restorative justice approach and make immediate changes. It focuses on the changes needed to make this vision a reality. Covid-19 has exposed many of the inequalities that exist in education and how these inequalities have negative effects on the neediest students. You are invited to imagine schools as sites of justice and freedom, to think of teaching that is centered on children, caring, and building relationships with families.

Active Shooter In The Education Setting, Clinton Seal, Drew A. Wells

Doctoral Projects

Active shooter incidents are increasing steadily and continue to pose a tremendous public safety problem, especially in the educational setting. In addition, the majority of faculty and students remain uncertain of exactly what actions to take if an active shooter event occurs on campus. The lack of education, awareness and policy drills can inadequately prepare students, faculty, and staff for an active shooter event. The recognition of this inadequacy has prompted further investigation by The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) Nurse Anesthesia Program as it relates to Asbury Hall. An anonymous survey was sent to current students enrolled in the …

Using Avatars To Address Teacher Self-Efficacy, Chancey Bosch, Trevor Ellis

Journal of Global Education and Research

Technology-enhanced learning continues to provide opportunities for increased interventions in educational programing. For teacher education programs, novelty pales in comparison to providing meaningful instruction and enduring outcomes. The use of avatars has provided integration of research evidence that increases intended behaviors; however, research is lacking on teacher self-efficacy change via an avatar experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and avatar use in a teacher education program. A relational study using both parametric and non-parametric designs for four different samples indicated a significant relationship between avatar intervention and teacher self-efficacy in classroom management, …

Poverty In Schools: The Impact Of Poverty On School Readiness For Kindergarteners, Emily Inglett

Counselor Education Capstones

Experiencing poverty in childhood has lasting impacts on a child. Poverty can have a negative impact on a child’s development academically, cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally. The present literature review aims to explore research that has looked into what it means to live in poverty, what lasting impacts living in poverty have on children, and what that means for a child’s school readiness when entering kindergarten. It will also discuss some interventions that a school counselor could implement in schools to support a child who lives in poverty and their family.

Social-Emotional Learning And Literacy: A Literary Curriculum Designed To Support Children's Self-Awareness Skills, Chelsea Mcconnell

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project is to present a curriculum that utilizes children’s books to teach the first competency of social-emotional learning: self-awareness. The curriculum was developed based on the following research question: How can we create a literacy curriculum that utilizes children’s literature to support students’ social-emotional development in the domain of self-awareness? The question was answered after examining Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning theory and research associated with bibliotherapy and text selection, as well as structure developed for bibliotherapy lessons. The curriculum includes sample lessons that support literacy and social-emotional learning instruction with alignment to Ohio’s Social-Emotional Learning and …

Examining Construction And Reproduction Of The Educational Opportunity Gap: The Nation’S School Board Members Respond, Hallet Demouy

Honors Theses

This thesis explores opportunity gaps, often related to achievement gaps, in education via the analysis of school board members’ responses regarding challenges that face future education, students, and the public school system. The perceptions of these school board members serve to address the sources, prevalence, and effects of inequities that exist in widening (perpetuating) this gap between students. After discussing and elaborating upon the perceived challenges and barriers located in the institution of education, school board member responses will again be used to present potential ways and opportunities through which the achievement gaps, relating to the success rates and testing …

Playground And Garden Design: Troy Christian Early Childhood Education Center, Gabriella Spatz

Honors Projects

The following project is a result of a study of the existing playground and garden at Troy Christian Early Childhood Education Center (TC ECEC) in Troy, OH. The TC ECEC Director wanted research, marketing standpoints, and a re-design for their playground and garden which led to an academic and professional collaboration that crosses into multiple project typologies. The Director consulted with the researcher, Gabriella Spatz, to create a list of necessary inclusions in both spaces which led to proposed floor plans and visuals of the playground and garden respectively. The designs sought to answer two research questions:

1. “What playground and …

Connecting Families And Continued Learning Through Covid-19, Michael C. O'Neal, Tameka Tribble, Michelle Rice

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

For 20+ years in Savannah, Georgia, Parent University has successfully enhanced the ability of families to create an environment in which learning thrives for both children and parents. When the pandemic closed schools and disrupted normal programming, Parent University immediately pivoted to online programming to continue connecting families with relevant education, resources and support throughout this time of need. The pandemic also exposed a huge gap in technology and education. Therefore, Parent University is working to close that gap with our new Tech College at Parent University.

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 …

Intergenerational Learning: An Exploratory Study Of The Concept, Role And Potential Of Intergenerational Learning (Igl) As A Pedagogical Strategy In Irish Early Childhood Education (Ece) Services, Anne Fitzpatrick

Doctoral

This study investigates the concept, role and potential of intergenerational learning (IGL) as a pedagogical strategy in Irish early childhood education (ECE) services. It explores the perspectives on IGL of educators(5), children(70) and their parents(43) in five Irish ECE services in city, town and suburban locations. The theoretical and conceptual framework was informed by socio-cultural theories of learning aligned to key principles of IGL. A qualitative methodological approach was adopted to access these perspectives.Specifically, the methods used to gather data were semi-structured interviews with educators, draw and talk strategies with children and informal written feedback with parents. Educators played a …

Achieving The Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence From The Longitudinal Parenting Across Cultures Project, Jennifer E. Lansford, W. Andrew Rothenberg, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M. Al-Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Marc H. Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Qin Liu, Qian Long, Patrick S. Malone, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Can Virtual Observations Effectively Prepare Pre-Service Educators For A Career In Teaching?, Krystle N. Gremaud

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to identify if virtual observations of preservice teachers could be an effective alternative means for universities to use when observing students in their various education practicums. If found to be effective, universities could use virtual observations in place of in-person observation as a cost-saving measure during times of financial instability. Additionally, the findings could allow universities to market their teacher preparation programs nationally where states have closed their teacher preparation programs in response to the national teacher shortage. Two surveys were used: The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale and a Likert scale to determine the perceived efficacy …

Raw And Pure Education In The Society, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

What does education mean to individuals in the world today? Education is a way one can attain or improve his or her ability to lead and survive in the society of ours. Without educational training of the mind, it may be impossible to realize the importance of adaptability of living in the environment. Without education, It may also be difficult to embellish the use of both the mental and physical attributes possessed by individual beings.

What really is education? Education is the training of the mind to perform desire functions or to perpetuate the modality of obtaining an end or …

Science In Early Childhood Education, Olivia Kocina

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Science is often limited or absent in an early education classroom. It is important to give children an outlet to experience science in the classroom or through lesson plans. Having science at an early age can provide children the opportunities to build up their reasoning, to question things about the world, and later in life to feel more confident in other STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities or areas. To address this need, I created a 3-day program for 3 to 5 year-olds at Little Learners of Aptos School in Aptos, California.

That's My Voice! Participation And Democratic Citizenship In The Early Childhood Classroom, Monica Miller Marsh, Elizabeth A. Kenyon, Terri Cardy, Erin M. West

Democracy & Education

This paper shares a participatory action research study conducted by a team of researchers at a university laboratory school in collaboration with three classroom teachers and 60 preschoolers. The team engaged in this research in order to examine the ways in which school personnel could generate more authentic community service experiences with, rather than simply for, children. Findings illustrate that with the support of adults, children generated ways to address issues, discussed their ideas with adults, reflected on their actions, and understood that their voices were being heard beyond the school community. With this increased participation, young people were able …