Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Improving Teaching Through Classroom Action Research, Gwynn Mettetal

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

This essay discusses how to conduct small, in-class research projects on student learning in order to document teaching effectiveness and select appropriate teaching strategies.

Helping Students Help Each Other: Making Peer Feedback More Valuable, Linda B. Nilson

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Student peer feedback can be emotionally biased, misinformed, and/or superficial. This essay discusses two types of feedback that yield neutral, valid, and detailed information and enhance students’ audience awareness.

Teaching Circles: Making Inquiry Safe For Faculty, Laurel Black, Mary Ann Cessna

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

How can I improve my teaching? Pressured by a need for high student ratings and administrative demands for excellence in teaching, faculty find a haven and room to learn in teaching circles.

Creating A Culture Of Co-Learners With Problem-Based Learning, Kristi L. Arndt

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Problem-based learning requires a significant shift in the roles and responsibilities traditionally assigned to teachers and students. This essay examines the challenge of truly empowering students as self-directed learners.

Achieving Teaching And Learning Excellence Through Faculty Learning Communities, Milton D. Cox

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

The impressive learning outcomes of student learning communities can be replicated for faculty learning communities (FLCs). This essay describes FLCs and ways they enhance faculty and student learning.

Team Teaching: The Learning Side Of The Teaching-Learning Equation, Mary Jane Eisen, Elizabeth J. Tisdell

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Emphasizing shared ownership of teaching and learning through collaboration, this essay explores the multi-directional process of adult learning in different types of learning situations including on-line education.

Leading Culturally Sensitive Classroom Discussions Following September 11, Devorah Lieberman

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

his essay focuses on strategies for facilitating successful classroom discussion related to the events of 9/11. These suggestions are based on strategies implemented on several campuses across the country.

Relationship Between Select Variables And Teacher Rentention, Connie Sue Greiner

Faculty Dissertations

The major purpose of this study, conducted during the spring and summer semesters of 2003, was to determine the relationship between the following variables and teacher retention: Professional Development Examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas (PD ExCET) scores, Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) reading scores, age at time of passing the PD ExCET, ethnicity, completion of a field-based teacher education program or emergency permit teacher education program, gender, and undergraduate grade point average.

The quantitative study identified students from a single Texas senior-level university who passed the PD ExCET between September 1, 1996 and August 30, 2000. Five …

Unlearning: A Critical Element In The Learning Process, Virginia S. Lee

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Research has shown that prior knowledge is a critical determinant in learning. This essay explores the role of student misconceptions and how instructors should address them during the learning process.

Creating Motivation And Oral Reading Fluency Through Readers' Theatre, Kelly Leaverton

All Graduate Projects

Readers' Theatre is a wonderful teaching tool in which students practice and rehearse scripts in order to put on plays in front of an audience. The focus is on word accuracy and expression in reading without having to memorize lines. Studies have shown that Readers' Theatre can strengthen oral reading fluency by repeated readings, and increase confidence and motivation to read as students learn to read their parts with fluency and precision. Unfortunately, due to lack of availability and training, Readers' Theatre is not used in the classroom to the extent it should be, and many educators are uncomfortable with …

Summer Enrichment Packets Of Resources And Activities For Primary Students, Karen Michele Smith

All Graduate Projects

Literature pertaining to summer learning loss was reviewed, including summer learning programs and year-round education. Summer programs and year-round education were looked at as possible solutions to summer learning loss. The research indicated a significant loss of academic skills over the summer months while students are not in school. Summer enrichment programs proved to be successful in helping students retain academic knowledge and skills. The literature review revealed inconclusive results in the effectiveness ofyearround education on student achievement. A summer activity packet was created for students preparing to enter the second grade. The focus of this packet was on reading, …

Creating A Balanced Literacy Program For Third, Fourth, And Fifth Grade Students, Shayne T. Wrzesinski

All Graduate Projects

Balanced literacy instruction can be defined in a variety of ways. The important characteristic about a balanced literacy program is that it is neither phonics nor whole language. Creating a balanced literacy program within a classroom encompasses both phonics and whole language in a literature rich environment. Students who participate in a balanced program have opportunities to read and write daily through a variety of meaningful approaches including shared, guided, independent and direct instruction. The literature rich environment provides growth for all students, by teaching skills and strategies through literacy in a natural setting not in isolation. Teachers in the …

A Media Literacy Curriculum For The Adolescent Learner, Chris Lopez

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a media literacy curriculum for teachers of young adolescents. Media literacy is a new, evolving field of study that teaches students to become critical consumers of today's media. Media have often been blamed for the ills of student learning, critical thinking, performance and/or behavior skills. In the review ofliterature, the author investigated media's impact on the adolescent learner, the need to teach media literacy, and recommended curriculum that would benefit the adolescent learner. The curriculum unit is designed to be a useful teaching tool for teachers of adolescent and preadolescent learners who …

The Use Of Electronic Portfolios For Preservice Teachers, Kimberly Gobble-Sengstock

Graduate Research Papers

This paper will discuss the results found in support of this CD-ROM project: The Use of Electronic Portfolios for Preservice Teachers, through the infusion of standards in the teaching and learning process and the competent use of technology as a tool for reflective practice, assessment and hiring purposes. This project provides best practices in portfolio development, tutorial guides, and student examples in developing their own electronic portfolios.

Grade Retention : Its Impact On Students, Teresa Ann Schneider

Graduate Research Papers

Grade retention has been a heated topic in education for a number of years. Research has shown there are a variety of factors that put students at greater risk for retention. While studies found some students who were retained showed academic improvement, others did not. Retention was also found to have a negative impact on social and emotional adjustments. Students were more successful when retention was paired with additional programs. Schools need to aggressively implement programs to eliminate the need for retention. Principals and teachers must connect research to classroom practice.

Differentiating Instruction Using Authentic, Performance Assessments And Technology Integration, Cynthia Seberg

Graduate Research Papers

A major challenge in education today is to be able to reach and teach all learners. Methodologies and strategies come and go. The philosophy of differentiated instruction, while not new, is being bandied about as the answer to working with all students of all abilities. The beliefs associated with differentiated instruction envelope methodologies and strategies associated with authentic assessment, performance-based assessment, and technology integration.

A common bond inherent within these philosophies is the growing emphasis on assessing students based on their ability to perform real-life tasks, and technology integration is the connecting link. Educators must become facilitators of meaningful learning …

A Study Of Elementary Teachers' Abilities, Attitudes, And Beliefs About Problem Solving, Nancy Mullins Brown

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

Problem solving has been alternately viewed as the justification for the study of mathematics or as the impetus and means for studying mathematics. This study examines characteristics—attitudes toward problem solving, beliefs about problem solving, and abilities to solve problems—of elementary teachers of grades three, four, and five that relate to problem solving.

Participants completed a two-part survey to quantify their attitudes and beliefs and a problem-solving activity which quantified their problem-solving abilities. Four participants were subsequently interviewed. Analyses showed that these teachers had generally positive attitudes toward problem solving, generally positive beliefs about problem solving, and generally poor problem-solving abilities. …

An Inquiry Into Gardner's Theory Of Multiple Intelligences And Strengths Of Students Placed In Special Education Under Mildly Disabled Categories, Kathryn Sandiford Harrell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

This study explored the strengths displayed by 4th-5th grade students placed in special education under mildly disabled categories as compared to the intelligences defined by Howard Gardner in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983, 1999). These categories consist of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and Mildly Intellectually Disabled (MUD). Critics maintain that special education has been focused on the weaknesses of students while overlooking their strengths (Miller, 1993; Armstrong, 2000). Under new legislation and new performance goals for special education, the time has come to focus on students' strengths and equal opportunities for students to learn the curriculum mandated by …

Comparison Of A Basal Reading Program To A Basal Reading Program With Supplemental Phonics Using Incremental Development And Continuous Distributed Review, Michelle C. Barry

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine whether students taught using the McGraw-Hill Reading program (non-supplemental group) and students taught using McGraw-Hill Reading supplemented with Saxon Phonics (supplemental group) demonstrated performance differences as measured by classroom-administered reading and spelling tests from the McGraw-Hill Reading Series. Overall, the results of this study revealed a limited number of differences between the supplemental and non-supplemental group. The supplemental group performed significantly better than the non-supplemental group on Unit 6 decoding. Higher-level readers in the supplemental group performed significantly better than higher-level readers in the non-supplemental group on Unit 4 spelling. The supplemental group performed …

A Test Of Factor Analysis As A Validation Procedure For Physician Certification Examinations, Jeffrey D. Greene

Dissertations

Two physician certification examinations from different medical specialties were investigated. The purpose of the study was twofold: 1) to determine the similarities between the factor structure of the examinations and their respective tables of specifications; and 2) to demonstrate the relative efficacy of factor analysis in differentiating the structure between two related but dissimilar domains of information. Specialty A is a homogeneous discipline focused on a relatively narrow concentration of organs, body systems and anatomy. This examination contained 309 items. There were 845 cases available for analysis. Specialty B is a heterogeneous area of specialty concerned with numerous areas of …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Mae Worthey-Flennoy, Cate Weeks, Gian Galassi

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

What Effective Middle School Principals Do To Impact School Climate, Tammy Dee Roeschlein

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose of the Study. The Lwo purposes of this mixed-methodology sludy were to: (1) examine or quantitatively analyze the relationship between leacher perception of principal effectiveness and principal perception of principal effectiveness, and (2) qualitatively investigate the differences between what more effective principals and less effective principals do to impact school climate. iii Procedures. The first phase of the study was quantitative; 254 public middle schools with a grade configuration of six through eight were included in the original sample. Principal effectiveness data was collecled in each of the identified middle schools using the Principal Leadership Inventory developed by Barbara …

How Does It Mean? Literary Theory As Metacognitive Reading Strategy In The High School English Classroom, Lisa J. Schade

Dissertations

In the last two decades, serious scholarly attention has been paid both to theories of teaching reading and to theories of literary interpretation. These potentially related fields have been treated as separate, focused either on teaching reading in the elementary grades or on teaching interpretation to advanced college literature students. Until very recently the relevance of either reading theory or literary theory to middle school or high school pedagogy has remained unexamined. My research, as a reflective practitioner, addresses this important gap. I focus on the teaching of literary theory in the high school English classroom as a strategy to …

Utilizing Selected Criteria In A Community College Setting For Prediction Of Nclex Success By Practical Nursing Students, Susan M. Bonte-Eley

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nursing programs are increasingly scrutinized for fair and consistent application of program outcome criterions. The passage of the NCLEX-PN licensure examination by program graduates is a measure of student success and is a component of program evaluation standards. It is of paramount importance that nurse educators and administrators create clear admission policies and procedures that offer the greatest opportunity for student success in practical nursing programs, while at the same time remaining cognizant of the needs of the nontraditional student. This was a quantitative research study utilizing archival student data from a six year period. Eleven independent variables were selected …

It’S Time To Upgrade: Tests And Administration Procedures For The New Millennium, Michael Russell

Essays in Education

Increasing use of computers in schools has led to a mis-alignment between the way some students develop skill and knowledge and how they are tested. This paper reviews past research that demonstrates that paper-based tests that require students to produce written responses underestimate the achievement of students who are accustomed to writing on computer. The paper then explores how learning that occurs through other instructional uses of computers is not adequately captured by current testing practices. The paper argues that new approaches should be explored to better measure student learning.

Journaling In The Secondary Mathematics Classroom: An Introduction, Defense, And Resource, Emily K. Falgier

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Enhancing The Integration Of Research And Education Using An Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Symposium, Philip J. Nyhus, F Russell Cole, David H. Firmage, Edward H. Yeterian

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Education Through Research In The Environmental Science Laboratory: Integrating Gis And Project-Based Learning At Colby College, Philip J. Nyhus, F Russell Cole, David H. Firmage, P S. Lehmann

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reading Program For The Third Year Medical Undergraduates, Gabriela Breazu

MA TESOL Collection

The paper provides an examination of the reading program that was devised for the third year medical undergraduates, at the Department of Modern Languages, at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Luilu Hatieganu", Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The reading program, using authentic medical texts and authentic literary texts, is intended for Romanian medical students in order to develop efficient reading skills. At the same time the program aims at pushing learners into experiencing pleasure and joy in reading interactively, inside and outside the English class and classroom. The chapters of the paper analyze in details the different parts of the program from …

Teachers Are Diverse, Too -- Respecting Each Other's Beliefs, Richard G. Tiberius

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Teachers hold beliefs about teaching and learning that influence their teaching strategies and their relationships with students. These beliefs may limit what teachers do but they need not limit their success.