Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

A Field Study To Promote Undergraduate Student Learning Through Inquiry-Based Research, Thomas G. Henkel, James Paul, Debra T. Bourdeau

Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore methods to promote effective undergraduate student learning through inquiry-based research in the classroom and to determine what the benefits of doing so might be. The study begins by outlining how undergraduate inquiry-based research increases the undergraduate student learning model and then lists steps to accomplish this process. The study outlines two options offered as a workable process to promote faculty and student inquiry-based in-class research. The first option is for undergraduate students to engage in inquiry-based research with the assistance of one-on- one mentoring by the instructor. The second option allows for …

Modeling The Effects Of Student-Centeredness On Student Outcomes, Emily Bonem, Chantal Levesque-Bristol, Angelika Zissimopoulos, David Nelson, Heather Fedesco

IMPACT Presentations

Presented at the 6th International Conference on Self-determination Theory in Victoria, British Colombia, Canada.

Building Bridges From Current English Content To An Imagined English Future, Iftikar Saeed Alsulami, Danyah Abdulaziz Aleisa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Learning English as a second language is a key factor to promote globalization, because the language has spread widely. Furthermore, learning English vocabulary for the fast-paced global business environment is highly dependent on the imagined future of a business major; he or she must imagine in what context the business career will take place: what sphere of activity will be involved, in which scenarios of language usage, and what lexical items will be needed. Vocabulary learning has long been characterized by the use of decontextualized vocabulary academic word lists. As an alternative, this project researches the use of an integrated …

Let Me Lae-Something On You, Or How I Found My Way Back To Education Through Laes, Robert Sean Myers Ii

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

No abstract provided.

Building An Evaluation Model Of Academic Advising’S Impact On Progression, Persistence, And Retention Within University Settings, Abhik Roy

Dissertations

Academic advising is at a point in its maturation as a field of study where anecdotal evidence is no longer sufficient to inform the measure of effectiveness. As the area becomes more research-based, advising’s measurable impact should be based on an evaluative framework; no such structure currently exists. In this study, three methods were used to investigate this problem and ultimately to create a model and checklist. Firstly, a descriptive study was used to examine if there is an understanding of what evaluation is within the advising community, one where assessment has been the dominant practice. Secondly, a quasi-experimental design …

A Metaevaluation Of The Commission On Fire Accreditation International Accreditation Process, Stacy A. French

Dissertations

Fire and emergency services throughout the country are being required by local governmental authorities to provide efficient and effective services. In 1996, the International City-County Management Association (ICMA) and the International Association of Fire Chief (IAFC) executed a master trust agreement that established the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) to award accreditation to those fire and emergency services that demonstrated efficiency and effectiveness in the services provided. As of this study, no documented research had been published that challenged the current CFAI Accreditation process to ensure the highest level of accountability and usefulness for both the public and fire …

Assessment Of A Writing Workshop Model For First-Year Engineering Students, Patricia Backer

Faculty Publications

This paper will report on a multi-year project to improve the writing skills of engineering freshmen at XXX University. For the last ten years, the college has offered an optional class to students who are not proficient in writing. Students can enroll in a one-unit lab class as many semesters as they wish to get practice in writing. The goal is to provide students with weekly writing activities that include: instruction in basic grammar, proofreading, and editing. In addition to study and practice exercises, students in this writing workshop have writing assignments, which provide practice in using correct grammar, spelling, …

"That's The Test?" Washback Effects Of An Alternative Assessment In A Culturally Heterogeneous Eap University Class, Abigail Bennett Carrigan

Dissertations and Theses

To determine learner attitudes toward an alternative assessment, additional washback effects, and possible relationships between cultures of learning and learner attitudes, a mixed methods study was conducted in an advanced multicultural EAP (English for Academic Purposes) class in the USA, where a poster project was implemented as a summative assessment. Qualitative and quantitative data from a pre- and post-test questionnaire as well as classroom observations and an interview with the instructor were used to investigate learners' attitudes towards the assessment. The twenty-four participants representing five cultures of learning from the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia expressed largely positive …

Perceptions Of Eighth Grade State Writing Assessment At A Nationally Recognized Middle School, Jillian M. Quandt

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

This study seeks to understand how one at-risk middle school in Nebraska is consistently beating eighth grade Nebraska State Writing Assessment (NESA-W) averages. The school has significant populations of Hispanic, special education, and low-income students. The study answers the following two research questions. What strategies does the at-risk school utilize to enable its students to exceed the Nebraska average on the NESA-W? What attitudes do the school’s writing teachers, administrators, students, and their parents hold about the NESA-W? Students and their parents answered a multiple-choice survey; teachers and administrators answered a longer, open-ended survey. The researcher used a combination of …

Evaluating An Assessment Instrument For The Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan, Susan Mae Duncan

Dissertations and Theses

This mixed methods study evaluated the validity, and reliability of an instrument designed to assess a middle school student's proficiency in systems thinking as described in the 2010 Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan. In Stage 1, a forum of middle school students, formal, and non-formal educators used the Delphi technique to reach consensus regarding which skills were important to include in a scoring guide for systems thinking. In Stage 2, the scoring guide was field tested by formal and non-formal educators using a sample of students' work. The two groups' scores were compared using Cohen's kappa to make inferences regarding inter-rater …

Gaiseing Into The New Guidelines, Robert Carver, Megan Mocko, Jeffrey Witmer, Beverly Wood

Publications

The first GAISE College Report came out in 2005. Over the past ten years our discipline has changed in many ways, including but not limited to what type of data is easily available, the technology that we use, as well as how we teach students. In this presentation we will briefly start with how the new GAISE 2016 guidelines and goals have changed, including the two new emphases of statistical thinking: giving students experience with multivariable thinking and with the investigative process. So how do you start to implement these new ideas? In this presentation, we will demonstrate an activity …

International Student Orientation: The Needs And Challenges Students Face Upon Arrival, Holly Schneidmiller

Capstone Collection

In order to understand the international student experience and improve future orientation programming, international students attending the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, Washington who attended the Fall 2015 Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS) International Student Orientation shared their experiences regarding their arrival process. Through a series of post orientation surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews I attempted to answer the following questions: “What are the experiences of international students at the FIUTS Fall 2015 International Student Orientation?” and “What aspects of the orientation programming can be modified to address the needs and challenges that international students face …

Perceptions Of Teachers On The Influence Of The Regional Achievement Centers On One Priority School In One Urban District In New Jersey: A Qualitative Case Study, Olivia Russo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers regarding the interventions implemented by the Regional Achievement Center. The Regional Achievement Centers, RACs, were recently put into place through Governor Christie as a reform method for failing schools and are part of the New Jersey Department of Education’s mission to transform the department. Research was conducted using a qualitative design with a constructivist approach to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of those teachers working directly with the RAC teams in one of the states’ lowest performing schools.

Five Challenges In Australian School Education, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Policy Insights

There is no shortage of challenges in school education. Some of the biggest challenges we face can appear frustratingly intractable. Despite reform efforts, regular government reviews and ongoing calls for change, progress in addressing our most significant challenges is often slow and solutions continue to elude us. In this paper Professor Geoff Masters discusses five significant challenges facing school education.

1. Equipping students for the 21st Century, including by increasing reading, mathematical and scientific literacy levels;
2. Reducing disparities between Australia's schools, particularly along socioeconomic lines, by ensuring that every student has access to an excellent school and excellent teaching;
3. Reducing the …

Immersions In Global Equality And Social Justice: A Model Of Change, Kevin Guerrieri, Sandra Sgoutas-Emch

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

In the work for global equality and social justice, how should “change” be understood? Who determines what must change or be changed? In the efforts to carry out social change, what is the academy’s relationship with the community, society at large, and the broader world? This article parts from these and other key questions and then proposes a model of change that can be used as a lens for examining any project, program, or organization with the aim of creating positive change that is meaningful, sustainable, and holistic. The article provides both an explanation of the underlying interdisciplinary theoretical framework …

The Spirituality Of Immersion: Solidarity, Compassion, Relationship, Michael E. Lovette-Colyer

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

While the term spirituality can be problematic, obscuring as much as revealing, immersion experiences cannot be understood fully without exploring the contours of what can only be described as spirituality. To the extent that they work, immersions effect change when they speak to the deepest longings of the heart. While manifesting in many different ways, the spirituality of immersion revolves around three major components: solidarity, compassion, and relationship. The spirituality of immersion is a developed relationality, a desire to enter into richer, wider, more expansive relationships with others, which naturally leads into deeper relationship with God.

Reflections On Skipping Stones To Diving Deep: The Process Of Immersion As A Practice, Judith Liu Dr

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

Reflecting upon over 30 years of teaching courses with a community service-learning and engagement component, this article is a personal piece that explores the author’s journey through voluntarism, community service-learning and civic engagement, and how that path has led to embracing immersion as a critical pedagogical practice for community engagement.

A Review Of Video Triggers And Video Production In Higher Education And Continuing Education Pbl Settings, Päivi M. Rasi, Sari Poikela

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Higher education faces the challenges of bridging education and authentic work. In addition, it needs to respond to the highly multimodal and participatory communication and content creation practices, preferences, and cultures of present and future students. The aim of our article is to discuss how the use of video triggers and video production in PBL can help to respond to these challenges. Based on a literature review, we present and discuss the uses and outcomes of video triggers and video production within PBL contexts and related higher education and continuing education contexts. The research evidence reviewed in this article clearly …

Case Study: Provider For Program To Prevent The Revictimization Of Persons Trafficked For Sex, Janis G. Arlow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This case study seeks to identify behavior, skills, and attitudes of a professional providing an effective reintegration program for persons trafficked for sex. New demands on medical and social services were created over the past two decades by legislative changes. Initial research focuses on rescue and unmet primary needs. The service program selected for this study has stepped beyond awareness and rescue efforts to the rehabilitation and prevention of revictimization of trafficked persons. A literature review covers the history of sex trafficking in the United States; the recovery environment; materials, trainings and programs available for professionals seeking knowledge to serve …

A Grounded Theory Exploration Of The North Carolina Educator Evaluation System And Its Effects On Teaching Practices And Teacher Leadership, Daniel A. Wydo

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the effects of the recently implemented North Carolina Educator Evaluator System (NCEES) on teaching practices and teacher leadership in a mostly rural county in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. NCEES is designed to improve teaching practices and teacher leadership through performance-based standards. This mixed-methodology study began using grounded theory to form categories from qualitative data collected from piloted focus groups and interviews. Categories derived from the grounded theory analysis were refined in a secondary research method guided by a historical analysis of the processes related to teacher evaluation systems across many decades. The refined categories were …

Investigating The Relationship Between Equity And Graduate Outcomes In Australia, Sarah Richardson, Dawn Bennett, Lynne Roberts

Higher education research

Australian higher education equity policy focusses mostly on access and participation with the implicit assumption that disadvantage will be ameliorated through educational achievement. Less is known as to whether patterns of disadvantage continue post-completion. In a context in which graduate employability is becoming an important yardstick against which to measure institutional effectiveness, this question is of fundamental importance to higher education equity practitioners and policymakers. This study employed Commonwealth graduate outcome data to investigate relationships between disadvantage and graduate outcomes in Australia, with disadvantage defined as a graduate belonging to one or more of the following groups – low SES, …

Connected Classroom: A Program Evaluation Of The Professional Development Program Of A One-To-One Educational Technology Initiative In South Carolina, Kelly James Grant

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the first year of a multi-year, district-wide professional development program for teachers that accompanied a one-toone Apple device rollout for all students. A mixed-method research design was used to perform a logic model of program evaluation. Teacher self-reported proficiency in basic device usage, student productivity, student multimedia usage, and academic communication were gathered before the professional development program began and collected again at the 1-year mark. Data from both administrations were analyzed to determine the impact of professional development on teacher self-reported proficiency of technology integration. The researcher collected …

On The Move: A Mixed-Methods Study To Examine The Impact Of Kinesthetic Learning Tables On Student On-Task Behavior And Academic Growth, Natalie Boone

Education Dissertations and Projects

Kinesthetic learning tables, which incorporate movement, are innovative alternatives to traditional desks. The tables provide movement with bicycle pedals, balance seats, ski swings, cross lateralization, and elliptical, all while students are seated or standing. It is time to investigate whether incorporating movement within the classroom could impact student behavior and academic performance.

The goal of this study was to examine the impact kinesthetic learning tables on student on-task behavior and academic growth with an emphasis on reading skills. The study considered the effectiveness of interventions implemented in one first-grade and one fourth-grade classroom based on current research on brain-based learning …

Exploring Effective Reading Strategies That Promote Higher Level Thinking And Comprehension For A Chinese-Speaking College Student, Panyang Wu

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of the case study was to explore some effective literacy strategies that prompt higher-level thinking abilities to help one Chinese English as Foreign Language (EFL) student who struggles with academic reading in college classes at a small, liberal arts college. Only one participant named Cathy was involved in the study. Cathy is a Chinese student who studied at college as a regular undergraduate student and had poor performance in her college level literacy class, as indicated by her professors and Cathy herself. Cathy was expected to improve reading comprehension by receiving an intensive one-month reading development intervention, which …

Fifth Grade Teachers’ Knowledge About Reading Instruction And Its Effects On Classroom Literacy Practices And Reading Achievement, Susan M. Dirnbeck

Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to discover the effectiveness of then-current teaching practices in fifth grade classrooms and to determine whether any of the strategies or practices observed yielded higher student achievement results than others. The researcher observed and recorded evidence of the use of the most effective practices, as identified by the Writing and Reading Observation Tool (WROT). Teachers’ scores obtained on the WROT were compared to the percentage of students reading at a proficient level, as measured by the Scholastic Reading Assessment. If high scores on the WROT indicated the use of effective teaching practices, then …

The Development Of The Scale Of Contemplative Practice In Higher Education, Maryann Krikorian

Educational Studies Dissertations

Some scholars have formed a more expansive view of knowledge that moves beyond the cognitive notion of intellect. For example, emotional intelligence (EI) theory posits that human intelligence encompasses both cognitive and emotional competencies, providing a framework for the concept of contemplative practices in an endeavor to support an eclectic understanding of cognition. Contemplative practices may benefit graduate student disposition and inform areas of educator preparation through the use of emotional adeptness in higher education. The purpose of this study was to: (a) develop a self-report measure: Scale of Contemplative Practice in Higher Education (SCOPE); (b) address the issues of …

A Review Of: The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed With Standardized Testing—But You Don’T Have To Be, Lasisi Ajayi

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This is a review of Anya Kamenetz's book, "The Test: Why our schools are obsessed with standardized testing—but you don’t have to be"

The Impact Of Educational Backgrounds On Academic Success At A Private Work College In The Midwest, Abbey Nicole Vogt

Dissertations

More families in the United States are beginning to choose private or homeschool education for children instead of a public school education (Hanna, 2011); therefore, college administrators must begin to evaluate each student’s educational background in order to help all students achieve academic success at the college level. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in multi-year college academic performance among public, private, and homeschool graduates who attended a private work college in the Midwest. The variables analyzed consisted of students’ final high school GPAs and ACT test scores, college cumulative GPAs and work point average (WPA) scores, …

An International Quantitative Comparative Content Analysis Of Reading Curriculum Using A 21st Century Framework, Tameka Tammy Moore

Dissertations

Research in the area of 21st century learning suggested the American public education system lacked educational preparation for students to compete in a global/connection economy. The United States performed lower than other nations on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 reading performance. However, the United States had a higher number of 21st century skills and knowledge embedded in the curriculum. The 21st century skills, referred to as the 4Cs (collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking) served as the foundation of this research. Moreover, while the United Sates performance on the PISA was no match to other developed nations; …

Challenges And Supports During The Transition From High School To College For Students With Traumatic Brain Injuries, Michaela M. Kramer, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Students who have sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) may experience a number of consequences, all of which can impede the transition from high school to postsecondary educational settings. This study, which relied on interviews with students who had sustained TBIs and who had persistent problems related to their traumas, helped gain an understanding of their postsecondary transition experiences. Students’ parents were also interviewed to provide a point of comparison. The reports of these students—all of whom were enrolled in college at the time of the study—revealed significant challenges with attention and focus, fatigue, short-term memory, and social situations. Comments from …