Educational Methods Commons^™

Successful Use Of Group Assessment Procedures In An Undergraduate Stem Course, Kelly P. Massey

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

Assessing content heavy STEM courses using a Group Assessment Procedure (GAP) can assist with cognitive domain objectives by allowing groups to rely on each other in order to recall important content as well as formulate well-rounded explanations using course content during application exercises. Presentation includes ideas on how to implement a successful GAP testing protocol.

Food, Cooking And Nutrition-Engaging A Wide Audience To Explore Inter-Disciplinary Science Topics, Sharmistha Basu-Dutt, Victoria Geisler

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

Food and cooking have been a central theme in several courses developed recently at the University of West Georgia. In this presentation, the nature of the content and learning outcomes of these courses will be presented. A unique multi-tiered approach will be offered to show how this theme can be effectively used to engage audiences of all ages and capabilities to use the scientific method. Sample activities will show how to engage the young novice elementary student to explore introductory science concepts in a fun environment and challenge the college science major to design an effective experimental design to answer …

Google Chrome: More Than A Browser, Daniel E. Rivera

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

Chrome is more than a browser. It’s an operating system in itself, and it’s transforming the educational computing experience. Come learn about Chrome’s features such as data syncing across computers (bookmarks, passwords, settings, etc), and most importantly, Chrome-specific apps. Learn about Chromebooks as well - those powerful, fast, and cheap laptops that are spreading like wildfire.

Critical Transitions In Faculty Learning: The Teaching Academy Story, Judith Longfield

Centers for Teaching Excellence: Presentations

Parker Palmer speaks of the “privatization of teaching” as one of the factors that prevent faculty from growing “more fully into the demands of the teacher’s craft.” At the same time, new methodologies of teaching and learning are changing the landscape of higher education. Because of privatization, faculty and TA are often unaware of how learning works and continue to rely heavily on lecture. During this interactive session, participants will learn how an eight-week “course” known as the Teaching Academy transformed participants’ attitudes towards learning-centered teaching. By assuming the role of students while learning about teaching using these new methodologies …

Loss, Melancholy And Reverie In Education, Marla Morris

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Technology damages our sense of how to read and study as scholars. This loss (of knowing how to read and study) makes for melancholy. Melancholy is brought on as a result of not being able to find spaces of reverie in which to read and study. We need spaces of reverie in which to read and study. We need spaces of reverie so as to delve deeply into our studies and to produce and generate knowledge.

The Use Of Personal Responders In The Elementary Reading Classroom, Mitzi B. Helms

Instructional Technology Education Specialist Research Papers

This quasi-experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest design to determine if personal responders increased students’ comprehension level in a first grade classroom. The control group was the group that was taught reading comprehension strategies using traditional teaching methods. The experimental group was taught reading comprehension strategies using personal responders. This group was instructed using the same strategies as the control group except the experimental group used personal responders in the place of pencils and worksheets. The researcher was the instructor for the experimental group, and another first grade teacher at the school was the instructor for the control group. Each group …

Improving Reading Compliance And Quiz Scores Through The Use Of Reading Guides, Judith Longfield, Trent W. Maurer

Centers for Teaching Excellence: Presentations

Questions & Rationale: This session will present an inquiry into student learning as measured by reading compliance and quiz scores. Students’ reading compliance has declined substantially over the past 30 years from over 80% to less than 20% (Burchfield & Sappington, 2000). Even in textbook-reliant introductory courses, students read less than 1/3 of the assigned pages (Gurung & Martin, 2011), and reading compliance significantly predicts exam scores and final grades (Sappington et al., 2002). Students who have not completed the readings are unprepared for class activities based on that material, which makes it difficult for instructors to move beyond content-delivery …

Honors Research Symposium Program [Fall 2013], University Honors Program Students And Staff

Honors College: News & Publications (2008-2020)

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Student Academic Motivations Across Three Course Disciplines, Trent W. Maurer, Deborah Allen, Delena Bell Gatch, Padmini Shankar, Diana Sturges

Human Ecology: Faculty Publications

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of undergraduate students enrolled in human anatomy and physiology, physics, and nutrition courses were explored with course discipline-specific adapted versions of the Academic Motivation Scale. Information on students’ study habits and efforts, and final course grades were also collected. Results revealed the adapted versions of the Academic Motivation Scale had comparable reliabilities to previous investigations, significant differences in motivations across the students enrolled in the three courses and significant influences of motivation on academic behaviors and course performance.

From Theory To College Classrooms: Collaborative/Cooperative Learning Techniques That Work, Judith Longfield

Centers for Teaching Excellence: Presentations

Research demonstrates that engaging students in the learning process leads to improved attitudes, enhanced learning and student retention. In this session attendees will learn about the research behind cooperative and collaborative learning, how to form groups and create effective learning tasks, and be introduced to a variety of active learning techniques. Participant will also practice integrating collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) into a course by developing a plan for using, grading and evaluating one or more CoLTs.

Using Collaborative Learning Techniques (Colts) To Promote Engaged Student Learning, Judith Longfield

Centers for Teaching Excellence: Presentations

Research demonstrates that engaging students in the learning process leads to improved attitudes, enhanced learning and student retention. In this interactive session you will learn about collaborative and cooperative learning, how to form groups and create effective learning tasks, and be introduced to a variety of active learning techniques. You will also practice integrating collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) into a course by developing a plan for using, grading and evaluating one or more CoLTs.

Honors Research Symposium Program [Spring 2013], University Honors Program Students And Staff

Honors College: News & Publications (2008-2020)

No abstract provided.

Teaching Certification Programs: Key Questions For Design & Refinement, Judith Longfield

Centers for Teaching Excellence: Presentations

In addition to learning about two Teaching Certification Programs at Georgia Southern, one for faculty and another for TAs, attendees will be asked to share their experiences with Teaching Certification Programs.

Changing Their Idea Of “Studying ” Into Our Idea Of “Learning ” - The Efficacy Of Interactive Online Programs, Leslie S. Jones

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

One of the most frustrating aspects of college teaching is facing a lecture hall full of students who sit in class trying to figure out the easiest ways to pass rather than the best way to actually learn. New online platforms provided by publishers are an effective way to beat these passive learners at their own game. Picture the joy of walking into your class knowing that students have read the text before your lecture. Imagine how you can teach if you do not have to assume you start with one big tabula rasa. Building assignments into course requirements will …

Teachers' Perceptions And Satisfaction With Pbis In A Southeast Georgia School District, Deidra C. Martin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In today’s educational system, an important concern is student behavior. Problem behaviors can affect students’ academic learning as well as teachers’ instructional time. Many programs and approaches are available to improve student behavior in schools. One school-wide program known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is designed to help schools create and sustain effective behavioral supports for students. PBIS is a national framework schools can use to help them design and implement behavioral practices for students. It involves all the faculty, staff, and students in a school system. Teachers are important stakeholders in implementing PBIS. If they do not …

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 …

Preparing Middle Grades Teachers To Use Drawn Models For Developing Arithmetic With Rational Numbers, Andrew Izsak, Erik Jacobson

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

We will report on-going efforts to design a research-based content and methods course for future middle grades teachers focused on numbers and operations. A main theme of the course is to solve problems using drawn models and to develop general numeric methods. Attendees will work on activities used in the course that elicit difficulties future teachers experience with this content.

Redesigning And Undergraduate Engineering Course, Elise Barrella

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

The presentation will consist of two parts: (1) description of the introductory engineering course and the experience of using a backwards design approach to create a more learner-centered and active course and (2) group discussion of simple, successful techniques for creating a more learner-centered course. The course was redesigned as part of a preparatory teaching program for graduate students.

Using The Sunspotter In The Stem Curriculum, Richard Schmude

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

Attendees will be introduced to the Sunspotter in this workshop. This is a device that projects an image of the Sun safely. Attendees can expect to learn how to incorporate this instrument into their classroom.

Student Success And Time Management In College Algebra, Steven Wallace, Mary Wolfe, June Jones, Gaston Brouwer

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

The panel will illustrate how the students’ completion of the instructional system ALEKS objectives correlates with student success and retention rates. The panel will also discuss the influence of factors such as time management on success and the promotion of good study practices for students using computer-based learning systems.

Methodology And/Or Technology: Making Difference In Improving Students' Problem Solving Skills, Zdeslav Hrepic, Katherine Lodder, Kimberly Shaw

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

Wirelessly networked, in-class computing opens a wide array of possibilities for active instructional methodologies (Hrepic, Rebello, & Zollman, 2009). Earlier studies showed a substantial potential that the pen input computers combined with interactive software like DyKnow (www.dyknow.com) may have in facilitating students’ problem solving ability. The session has two goals. The first one is to demonstrate the instructor-student classroom interaction dynamics enabled or facilitated by DyKnow software and pen-input computers. The second one is to present selected research findings associated with student learning while using this technology. The most recent of our studies was to isolate the effect of the …

Implementing A Blended Model Of Mathematics Instruction – Issues And Outcomes, Natasha Brewley, Alvina Atkinson, Barry Biddlecomb

SoTL Commons Conference

The session will present issues and results from the implementation of a blended instruction model at the authors' institution. The blended instruction model involves coming together as a class less often and encourages student learning by making them more responsible for their learning outside of the classroom. In addition to describing the authors' home institution, this presentation will have three objectives: (1) Describe the blended instructional model (What is Blended learning and what does it look like?), (2) Present student evaluations. (What have students said about taking a course like this?), and (3) Present quantitative comparisons between blended and traditional …

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 …

A Quantitative Content Analysis Of Mercer University Theses, Justus J. Randolph, Lura S. Gaiek, Torian A. White, Lisa A. Slappey, Andrea Chastain, Rose Prejean-Harris, Cole Hansard

Georgia Educational Researcher

Quantitative content analysis of a body of research not only helps budding researchers understand the culture, language, and expectations of scholarship, it helps identify deficiencies and inform policy and practice. Because of these benefits, an analysis of a census of 980 Mercer University M.Ed., Ed.S., and doctoral theses was conducted. Each thesis was coded on 10 variables. The descriptive characteristics of the theses, the predictors of the length of the theses, and the predictors of the type of research method used were investigated. The main results were that: (a) the vast majority of thesis authors was female, (b) the number …

Honors Research Symposium Program [2012], University Honors Program Students And Staff

Honors College: News & Publications (2008-2020)

No abstract provided.

"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 …

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.

Creating A Teaching Portfolio: Guidelines For Teaching Assistants, Judith Longfield

Faculty Center Publications

“Creating a Teaching Portfolio: Guidelines for Teaching Assistants,” written by Judith Longfield at Georgia Southern University, provides basic information on portfolios. It is intended primarily for those new to teaching portfolios and includes information on how to get started, what to include, steps to follow and how to assess a portfolio. Included in the appendix is a teaching portfolio rubric and an annotated list of resources accessible via the Internet.

Effects Of Student-Centered, Inquiry-Based Teaching On Performance, Attitudes, And Efficacy, Brad Bailey, Karen Briggs, Tom Cooper

SoTL Commons Conference

As part of research supported by the Educational Advancement Foundation, the authors conducted a quasi-experimental study comparing the effects of a student-centered and inquiry-based teaching technique, known as a Modified Moore Method or MMM, with those of lecture-based teaching methods. To study the students' attitudes, beliefs and self-efficacy and performance, the students were asked to complete a survey twice each semester and take a common final exam. This panel session includes a description of what MMM entails, what the students and instructors do both in class and out, and how MMM could be used in other classes. We will discuss …