Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Key Skills Framework: Enhancing Employability Within A Lifelong Learning Paradigm, Aidan Kenny, Ray English, Dave Kilmartin

Articles

Employability has become an area of interest among the general public and policy makers alike, with an increasing number of reports in the general media regarding the need for workers in certain sectors to up-skill due to the possible threat of job ‘displacement’. In addition, there has been an increase in education and training policy documents emphasising that citizens should pursue Lifelong Learning /Life Wide Learning to address the increased job-related uncertainty attributed to the globalisation process and the concomitant competitive threats. Academics such as Barnett (2005) claim that we are living in an era of ‘super complexity' and rapid …

A Personalized Art Curriculum That Promotes Art Advocacy, Nicole Marie Walters

All Graduate Projects

The following project shows the development of a personalized drawing curriculum that will encourage students to become art advocates. The curriculum is based upon art history and is designed for students to relate historical ideas to their own lives. This personalization will help students learn more about art as a form of communication. Through this art experience, students will see the value of art in their own education and it is hoped that in the future, when these students are adults they will be advocates for the arts.

The Leadership Style Of An Administrator: Influence On Teachers' Willingness To Implement Selected Instructional Strategies, Brenda Lopez Martinez

Masters Theses

This project examined an elementary public school principal with regard to their leadership style and how it influences classroom culture or climate. A 45- questionnaire was administered to one principal in a public school setting and a classroom survey instrument was administered to nine teachers in his building.

Significant findings based on literature in this project indicated a transformational leader was more inclined to support teachers and utilize different instructional modalities than a principal whose leadership style is transactional. The teacher survey collected data from teachers' perception about their administrator across different instructional domains. The researcher utilized statistical means to …

Improving Consistency In Teacher Judgements : An Investigation For The Department Of Education, Victoria, Marion Meiers, Clare Ozolins, Phillip Mckenzie

School and system improvement

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was commissioned by the Department of Education in Victoria to undertake an investigation of current best-practice approaches to ensuring consistency of teacher judgements against P-10 state-wide standards.

The investigation encompassed national and international approaches that had been implemented or were under development. A key objective of the investigation was that the approaches identified should be based on current information, research and best practice, and that they should be supportive of the continued development of a learning and assessment culture in Victorian schools. The report of the investigation was required to provide key baseline …

Magnet Again! Librarian's Role In Collaboration To Maintain Magnet Status: Demonstrating The Commitment To Supporting Evidence Based Practice (Ebp), Barbara J. Iobst Mls, Ahip, Linda M. Schwartz Mde, Ahip, Cm

Continuing Education

No abstract provided.

Grading And Instructional Evaluation Patterns Among Adjunct Faculty At A Two-Year College: A Mixed Methods Study, Pamela J. Lewis

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a mixed methods study designed to gather and analyze information on the grading and instructional evaluation patterns among adjunct faculty at two-year colleges. Quantitative data on assigned grades and student evaluation results for a group of 22 adjunct faculty members, who had taught on a continuing basis at a single community college over a five-year period, was collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics. A representative sub-group of eight of the 22 adjunct faculty was interviewed to respond to the quantitative findings on patterns in grading and student evaluations and possible links between the two and to add their …

Standards Of Best Practices Environmental Education & Interpretation Professionals, Dan Allison, Katharine August, Allison Brody, Margie Klein, Amy Page, Michelle Riter, Athena Sparks, Dan Wegner

Education about the Environment

This document provides guidelines about the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective Environmental Education and Interpretation (EE&I) experiences in the state of Nevada. Effective experiences not only further the mission of the organization but also inspire understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of Southern Nevada’s environment.

Standards of Best Practices for Nevada Environmental Education & Interpretation (NEE&I) Professionals is a guide for providers working at public lands, nature centers, museums, zoos, aquaria, schools, and all nature and heritage-rich places. It is designed to help NEE&I providers develop and implement the highest quality experiences for all possible audiences. It is a tool …

Attitudes Of Counselor Educators Toward Persons With Disabilities, Adrianne Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of nine variables with attitudes of Counselor Educators toward persons with disabilities. The objective was to identify several potential variables that may influence attitudes. Nine variables were examined to test their relationship with attitude among the participants. An analysis was completed of the significance between each of the factors and attitude as measured by the SADP (Antonak, 1981). The independent variables were: a) age; b) gender; c) ethnicity; d) amount of contact with disabled persons; e) knowledge of disability legislation; f) comfort with type of disability; g) theoretical orientation; h) …

The Western Scholar, Editors

WKU Scholar

No abstract provided.

Self-Study As Self-Knowledge: Integrating Shared Governance And Planning Structures In The Self-Study Process, Donald Larsson, Joan Roca, Scott Olson

Library Services Publications

Preparing for the Higher Learning Commission’s accreditation visit at Minnesota State University, Mankato entailed several challenges that arose within the three years prior to the visit: recent turnover in top administration posts, new initiatives in strategic planning, and plans to offer the institution’s first doctoral degrees, all of which had to be dealt with in the context of the HLC’s new criteria for accreditation. Thanks to the strong support of the new administration and established systems of self-governance, the Self-Study Committee was able to integrate and document the efforts of the administration, faculty, staff and students in meeting these challenges. …

Learning Styles: A Focus Upon E-Learning Practices And Their Implications For Successful Instructional Design, Morris Cooze, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

With the proliferation of online learning into the K-12 learning environment, the focus of investigation needs to shift specific studies that pertain to this environment. One such area of investigation surrounds the development of specific online course content and the individualized learning styles of the students in these online learning environments. This review focuses upon the vast body of literature for the post-secondary online learner and argues the case for additional research in K-12 education. While recent studies have started the process of changing this focus, as online learning becomes more prevalent and accepted as a means of learning at …

Principles Of Effective Web-Based Content For Secondary School Students: Teacher And Developer Perceptions, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

In this article, I describe findings from a study of the perceptions of course developers and electronic teachers on the principles of effective asynchronous web-based content design for secondary school students. Through interviews, participants' perceptions of various web-based components and instructional strategies, and the effectiveness of both based upon the experiences of the participants were investigated in a virtual high school context for the purpose of generating a list of guidelines that future course developers might utilize.

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2007, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President - Judith Kamber, Northern Essex Community College

From the editors -

Encounters With George: Information Literacy and Mathematics at Berkshire Community College - Karen Carreras-Hubbard and Annette Guertin, Berkshire Community College

Achieving Information Literacy Goals Through Collaboration - Pamela Bedore, University of Connecticut, Avery Point

Teaming Up! The Sociology/English Composition I /Librarian Embed Experience at Northern Essex Community College - Linda A. Desjardins, Northern Essex Community College

Common Learning Outcomes for First-Year Information Literacy - Mary Adams, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Gabriela Adler, Bristol Community College; Susan Berteaux, Massachusetts Maritime Academy; Marcia Dinneen, Bridgewater State …

Perceptions Of The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Among Australian And New Zealand Universities, Hamish Coates, Marita Macmahon-Ball, Chris Rosicka

Higher education research

The number of secondary students completing an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma has risen rapidly in recent years, and the IB is playing an increasing role in preparing people for university study. The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) is interested in universities' perceptions of the IB as a preparation for undergraduate study, and engaged the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to research this area of higher education. The aim of the study was to investigate university representatives' perceptions of the IB Diploma. A key aspect of the research was to determine what university representatives knew about the IB Diploma, and whether …

The Association Between School Choice And School Climate: Comparing School Climate In Private Relgious, Charter, And Public Schools, Mark Krommendyk

Dissertations

The association between school climate and school choice was examined by conducting discriminant function analyses on data gathered from the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey. This study asked the question, "Does school climate in private religious, charter, and public schools differ?" Teacher and principal responses to survey questions were grouped to measure six characteristics of school climate. The school climate characteristics measured were: (1) supportive principal leadership, (2) teacher collegiality, (3) teacher-principal relationships, (4) teacher satisfaction, (5) student behavior, and (6) teacher empowerment. The study found that the school climate in private religious schools could be statistically distinguished from the …

Principals’ Leadership And Its Association With Whether Or Not Their Schools Meet District/State Peformance Goals, John Mark Rainey

Dissertations

The study focuses on the principals’ leadership and empowerment as a curriculum leader in meeting district and state mandated performance goals. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 represents a key increase in the role of the federal government in public education.

The research questions in the study addressed the levels of principals’ instructional leadership and empowerment as associated with number of years as teacher, number of years as principal, participation in an aspiring principal program, school size, school locale, and whether their school passed district or state accountability test.

As to principals’ leadership, principals reported that they …

The Sales & Business Marketing Program: Should Anyone Buy What We Are Selling?, James Eckert, Steve Newell

Assessment Grants

No abstract provided.

Completing University : Characteristics And Outcomes Of Completing And Non Completing Students, Gary Marks

LSAY Research Reports

This report examines the factors that influence course completion by young Australians who commence university. It also documents the labour market outcomes of those who enrol at a university but who leave before obtaining a qualification. University education involves substantial public and private resources. It is important, therefore, to better understand the factors associated with course completion, and whether even a partial experience of university study may be beneficial in opening up other pathways. The report analyses data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) program to address these questions. The data are from a sample of young people …

Developing Oral Reading Fluency: Effects Of Daily Use Of Word Walls And Daily Independent Silent Reading On Oral Reading Fluency Development Of Second Grade Students, Douglas F. Osborn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The researcher measured the effectiveness of two popular supplemental reading instruction strategies, word walls and independent silent reading, in 6 second-grade classes over 12 weeks. The study involved the comparison of eight oral reading fluency growth measures (Rate, Accuracy, Fluency, Comprehension, Oral Reading Quotient--overall oral reading ability, Sight Word Efficiency, Phonemic Decoding Efficiency, and Total Word Reading Efficiency). The researcher used the individually administered Gray Oral Reading Tests (fourth edition) and the Test of Word Reading Efficiency in a pretest-intervention-posttest experimental design to obtain these measures. Although pretest and posttest comparisons of the standard scores and percentile ranks revealed no …

Portrait Of Rural Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades, distance education has become a reality of rural schooling in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this article, I provide historical background into the challenges facing rural schools in the province and how distance education was introduced to address that challenge. I also describe how that system of distance education evolved from a system that used the telephone lines and bridging technology to one that uses a combination synchronous and asynchronous system delivered over the Internet. Finally, I examine recent literature concerning the nature of today’s secondary students that would need to avail of this system and …

Conceptualising And Evaluating Teacher Quality: Substantive And Methodological Issues, Lawrence Ingvarson, Ken Rowe

Student learning processes

Whereas findings from recent research highlight the importance of teacher quality in improving students’ academic performances and experiences of schooling, substantive and methodological issues surrounding the conceptualisation and evaluation of teacher quality are not well- understood. Such deficiencies are particularly evident in claims for ‘findings’ derived from econometric research – especially from those studies that merely employ conceptualisations and proxy ‘measures’ of quality in terms of teachers’ qualifications, experience, and students’ academic outcomes. Moreover, the econometric models fitted to the available, mostly aggregated data, typically fail to conceptualise and ‘measure’ teacher quality in terms of what teachers should know (subject-matter …

Assessing The Professional Development Needs Of Distance Librarians In Academic Libraries, Mary Cassner, Kate Adams

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Professional development is essential for academic librarians to keep current with skills, knowledge, and competencies in rapidly changing times. The authors surveyed distance librarians in academic libraries to determine their professional development needs. Respondents were asked to indicate which professional development activities they are currently participating in and those they are likely to engage in within the next five years. Findings from the survey will inform library administrators, distance librarians, and professional associations of the professional development needs of distance librarians.

The Social Construction Of Authorship: An Investigation Of Subjectivity And Rhetorical Authority In The College Writing Classroom, Johannah Rodgers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although we use the term author on a daily basis to refer to certain individuals, bodies of work, and systems of ideas, as Michel Foucault and other critics have pointed out, attempting to answer the question “What is an Author?” is by no means a simple proposition. And, starting from the position that there is no single, or definitive answer to this complex question, this dissertation seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the genealogy of authorship by investigating the ways in which conceptions of the author have informed models of the writing subject in the field of rhetoric …

Evaluation Of The Computer’S Efficacy In Education, Paul Lorton Jr

Business Analytics and Information Systems

No abstract provided.

A Research Into The Problems Of Students Not Completing Homework Assignments In The Middle School: The Case Of Weaver Middle School In Bibb County, Georgia, Ty Treadwell

The Corinthian

I have been teaching middle school students for three years and one of the most discouraging problems I face is that my students do not consistently complete homework assignments. In this Action Research report, I am attempting to uncover reasons why my students do not complete homework regularly. I also look at ways to motivate them to do their homework, and possible teaching strategies to implement that will encourage more consistent completion of homework. I conclude that students do not do or complete their homework for the most part because they are not organized due to lack of motivation. I …

The Effect Of High-Fidelity Manikin-Based Human Patient Simulation On Educational Outcomes In Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Courses, David L. Rodgers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The use of high-fidelity manikin-based simulation has been studied in many healthcare education areas. However, the use of this education technology in the American Heart Association Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course has not been well examined in the literature, despite this education program being one of the most widely taught standardized medical courses in the United States. This study examined high fidelity manikin-based simulation versus low-fidelity manikin-based simulation in the context of an actual ACLS course. Four outcomes were measured: learning outcomes as judged by an expert rater panel reviewing videos of subjects performing a simulated cardiac arrest event …

The Principalship: A Study Of The Principal's Time On Task From 1960 To The Twenty-First Century, Jacqueline A. Mcpeake

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine legislative and societal developments in the United States in relation to changes in educational administration and determine the existence of bifurcation points of change. The effects of legislative and societal changes on the tasks on which administrators focus their time were evaluated. The administrators were surveyed to determine if changes in time on task have occurred to meet the demands of current legislative priorities and if any demographic relationships existed. The study’s population consisted of 1950 (N=1950) administrators in public elementary, middle and high schools in the Southern Regional Educational Board 16 …

Take Me To Your Leader: Leadership And The Future, Elizabeth Leo

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

Students need to leave school with dreams for the future, high aspirations and goals for themselves and society; young men and women who will contribute to active citizenship, community renewal and economic regeneration. Schools are critical in realising this mission. The majority of our schools have talented leaders and teachers with the vision, energy and passion to create a sustainable future for their students and their communities. However, it is more difficult for school leaders serving disadvantaged communities to succeed, not only in improving learning and attainment, but in sustaining these. Contemporary research on human motivation and learning is enabling …

The Leadership Challenge : Improving Learning In Schools (Conference Proceedings), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2007 - The Leadership Challenge - Improving learning in schools

This conference addressed key issues related to building leadership in schools that makes a difference to student learning outcomes. It provided news about the latest research on leadership practices that enable conditions for quality teaching and student learning. It also stimulated discussion about the resources and conditions that need to be in place if effective forms of leadership are to flower and be sustained in our schools.

The proceedings from the conference can be downloaded from thsis page. The slides accompanying the papers presented by various guest speakers are presented as Related Documents (below).

Koinonia, Soong-Chan Rah, Kevin Johnson, Todd Ream, Jesse Brown, Glen Kinoshita, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Koinonia

Spotlight Feature
The Changing Face of American Evangelicalism, Soong-Chan Rah

Reflection
Educating Contentment, Kevin Johnson

Thinking Theologically
Thinking Theologically: The Seasons of Hope's Redemption, Part II, Todd Ream

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Why We Can't Wait: A Civil Rights Journey, Jessie Brown

Student Voices
Creative Wisdom: Sitting at the Feet of Students, Glen Kinoshita

Popular Culture
Festival of Faith & Music: Seeking to Remember, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Features
The President's Corner; Editor's Desk