Educational Methods Commons^™

Telling Our Service-Learning Story: Instructor Perspectives On Service-Learning In The Leadership Classroom, Marianne Lorensen

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This phenomenological study examined the experiences of ten college instructors who use service-learning in the undergraduate leadership classroom. Since leadership is often a service-learning outcome for students (Bringle & Hatcher, 1996; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005), service-learning is regarded by many instructors as an appropriate pedagogical approach in leadership classes (Rama, Ravenscroft, Wolcott, & Zlotkowski, 2000; Zlotkowski, 1996). Thus, the focus on instructors of undergraduate leadership courses. The current study employed a phenomenological approach in order to deeply explore instructor experiences. The goal of this exploration was that instructor experiences and the meaning they make from those …

Exploring The Factors That Influence And Motivate Female Students To Enroll And Persist In Collegiate Stem Degree Programs: A Mixed Methods Study, Rosemary L. Edzie

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

Nationally, the need for an increase in interest, enrollment, and degrees awarded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree programs continues to suffer. While students are enrolling in collegiate STEM degree programs, it is not occurring at a rate that meets the workforce demand. In addition to the concern that there is not a sufficient amount of collegiate STEM majors, there is a concern over too few females enrolling and persisting in collegiate STEM degree programs.

This mixed methods sequential exploratory research study considered the factors that influence and motivate undergraduate female students to enroll and persist in collegiate …

Elementary School Teachers' Interpretation And Promotion Of Creativity In The Learning Of Mathematics: A Grounded Theory Study, Yinjing Shen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Creativity is important for young children learning mathematics. Comparing the investment theory of creativity and national standards and principles for early mathematics shows that doing mathematics is more than applying rules and procedures; rather, learning mathematics takes a lot of creativity. However, much literature claimed that creativity for young children in the learning of mathematics was not adequately supported by teachers in the classroom due to teachers’ poor college preparation in mathematics content knowledge, teachers’ negativity towards creative students, teachers’ occupational pressure, low quality curriculum, and the like. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to generate a model …

Student And Teacher Experiences With Informal Learning In A School Music Classroom: An Action Research Study, Mark C. Adams

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

Despite the ubiquitous nature of music in the lives of adolescents, school music education rarely offers experiences with the informal music making practices that are used by their favorite vernacular artists. This action research study implemented informal learning practices into the formal learning environment of my current teaching position in a rural Midwestern community, to understand more about student experiences and the educator’s role in such a classroom. The qualitative research approach used in this study borrowed from grounded theory techniques. Data collection included twenty-five total interviews with nine first-year beginning instrumentalists. Interviews were conducted in three waves, where the …

Exploring The Multiple Dimensions Of Intelligence Identity In High-Achieving Students, Amy A. Holland

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

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the important elements reported by second-year undergraduates at Midwestern University (MU) as they renegotiated their intelligence identity of being the smart one. The five participants were members of the 2012-2013 first-year cohort of Jumpstart Business Community (JBC). Per inclusion in JBC, the students identified as high-achieving students and/or were classified as accelerated learners in high school. The reconceptualized model of multiple dimensions of identity from Abes, Jones, and McEwen (2007) informed this study in the examination of renegotiation of the intelligence identity.

The main research question of this study was what …

Student Engagement And Action In Classroom And Community: Place-Based Education And Social Action For The High-Achieving Student, Rachel M. Jank

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This paper briefly discusses the work done in a college-preparatory, Senior English class to combat the disengagement present in many educational institutions. This disconnect does not allow for learning retention and, therefore, does not allow for students to apply the moment of learning to life outside of the secondary classroom. The work I do is based off of Jessica Singer Early, Bruce Bigelow, Linda Christensen, and many other master teachers who work with the educational designs of Place Consciousness and Social Action within their respective classrooms. The theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire suggest that a non-traditional style of …

Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Self-Efficacy And Self-Regulation While Learning In A 1:1 Laptop Environment, Joan M. Carraher

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

1:1 Laptop initiatives continue to grow throughout Nebraska schools. There are many questions regarding their effectiveness in improving student learning, justifications for expenses, and the process to guide such an initiative.

The purpose of this case study was to explore students’ perceptions of academic self-efficacy and self-regulation while learning in a 1:1 district where students in grades 7 through 12 have 24/7 access to a school-issued laptop. Students in their first (8^th grade) and third-year (10^th grade) of learning in a 1:1 environment at a Nebraska school district participated in this study. Data was collected from an online …

Preparation For Practice: Elementary Preservice Teachers Learning And Using Scientific Classroom Discourse Community Instructional Strategies, Elizabeth Lewis, Oxana Dema, Dena Harshbarger

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Despite historical national efforts to improve elementary science education, science instruction continues to be marginalized, varying by state. This study was designed to address the ongoing challenge of educating elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach science. Elementary PSTs are one of the science education community's major links to schools and science education reform. However, they often lack a strong background in science, knowledge of effective science teaching strategies, and consequently have low confidence and self-efficacy. This investigation explored the initial learning of elementary PSTs using an interdisciplinary model of a scientific classroom discourse community during a science methods course. Findings …

Systems Thinking With Biology Models, Joseph Dauer

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The recent AAAS call to improve undergraduate biology education suggested university instruction should focus on teaching core concepts like matter and energy, evolution, and systems and core competences like quantitative reasoning, modeling and integrating disciplines. My research has focused on how undergraduate biology students organize their knowledge of biological systems and how they reason about the myriad interactions and potential outcomes inherent to these systems. I will report ongoing research into students’ model construction during an introductory biology course and during clinical interviews 2 years after the course. My colleagues and I have found students’ models change dramatically in both …

Drawing Their Way Into Writing: Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students Finding Voice Through Mini-Novelas, Stephanie Wessels, Socorro G. Herrera,

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Writing can be a difficult task for many students in today’s classrooms; however, for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), writing can be especially difficult. These students often are in the process of developing their facility with the English language, and they possess cultural backgrounds that differ from those of many of their peers and teachers. In addition to these challenges, they face the typical difficulties of selecting ideas to write about for their stories. One way to tap into the cultural backgrounds of Spanish-speaking CLD students is through the use of a strategy called the mini-novela. A …

Learning Catalytics Workshop, Chad Brassil

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Come and participate in a demonstration using Learning Catalytics in the classroom. Experience how this system takes a step behind clickers, facilitating peer learning and active learning pedagogies in even very large classrooms. Hear about experience of using this system from instructors at UNL. Note, attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop computer, smartphone, or tablet to the workshop and to contact Chad Brassil [email protected] beforehand to set‐up a demonstration Learning Catalytics account.

An Empirical Analysis Of Factors Affecting Honors Program Completion Rates, Hallie Savage, Rod D. Raehsler, Joseph Fiedor

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

One of the most important issues in any educational environment is identifying factors that promote academic success. A plethora of research on such factors exists across most academic fields, involving a wide range of student demographics, and the definition of student success varies across the range of studies published. While much of the research is devoted to looking at student performance in particular courses and concentrates on examination scores and grades, many authors have directed their attention to student success in the context of an entire academic program; student success in this context usually centers on program completion or graduation …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 15, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2014 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on Rubrics, Templates, and Measurable Outcomes in Honors

Joan Digby

Annmarie Guzy

Beata M. Jones and Catherine M. Wehlburg

Giovanna Walters

Ce Rosenow

research essays

Kim Andersen and Gary Thorgaard

Heather C. Camp

Jay Trucker

Deborah Engelen-Eigles and Janice Levinsohn Milner

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 15, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2014 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on Honors for Sale

Forum Articles

Gary Bell

Benjamin Moritz

Lisa Avery

Sam Schuman

Jeffrey A. Portnoy

Destenie Nock, Justice Plummer, Ashleigh R. Wilson, and Michael K. Cundall Jr.

Annmarie Guzy

Barbra Nightingale

Brian C. Etheridge

Research Essays

Ted M. Brimeyer, April M. Schueths, and William L. Smith

Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd

Hallie Savage, Rod D. Raehsler, and Joseph Fiedor

Kate Wintrol

Writing On Your Feet: Reflective Practices In City As Text™, A Tribute To The Career Of Bernice Braid, Ada Long

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

Introduction. . . . . . ix
Ada Long

CHAPTER 1: History and Theory of Recursive Writing in Experiential Education. . . . . .3
Bernice Braid

CHAPTER 2: Claiming a Voice through Writing. . . . .13
John Major

CHAPTER 3: The Role of Background Readings and Experts. .23
Ada Long

CHAPTER 4: The Beginner’s Mind: Recursive Writing in NCHC Faculty Institutes. . . . . . . .33
Sara E. Quay

CHAPTER 5: Assigning, Analyzing, and Assessing Recursive Writing in Honors Semesters. . . . . .41
Ann Raia

CHAPTER 6: Finding Appropriate Assignments: Mapping an Honors Semester. …

Elements: Elementary Teachers Of Science – Building Collaborations Between Content And Pedagogy Communities, Krista Adams, Jenny Melander

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The current UNL elementary teaching program does not include a science methods practicum in which pre‐service elementary teachers could observe and teach reformed based science lessons in the classroom setting. The science methods course was modified during Spring 2013 to address this missing component. The exploratory course engages pre‐service teachers in designing and implementing a science unit (a series of lessons) to be taught as a science club in an after school program for K – 5th grade students. In Fall 2013, the course experiences expanded to include collaborating with biomedical engineering students in connecting real‐world applications to teaching science. …

Educating Highly‐Qualified Science Teachers, Elizabeth Lewis, Aaron A. Musson, Jia Lu

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Understanding what makes a highly‐qualified science teacher requires careful research on teacher education programs. Existing research pertaining to secondary science preservice teachers (PSTs) is limited in the areas of: (a) mastery of subject matter knowledge; (b) evolving teaching selfefficacy, and (c) inquiry‐based enacted curricular practices. We studied each issue over the course of an intensive, 14‐month, graduate teacher certification program for practicing scientists and recent science graduates. First, we asked if there was a relationship between amount of content area undergraduate coursework and performance (GPA in core content courses) and found an expected, yet preliminary, connection between higher undergraduate GPA …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 14, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2013 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on Admissions and Retention in Honors

Forum Articles

Jerry Herron

Sean K. Kelly

Michael K. Cundall, Jr.

Scott Carnicom

Annmarie Guzy

Jeffrey A. Portnoy

Research Essays

Patricia Joanne Smith and John Thomas Vitus Zagurski

Robert R. Keller and Michael G. Lacy

Lynne Goodstein and Patricia Szarek

Timothy J. Nichols and Kuo-Liang “Matt” Chang

Emily Stark

Question Order Effects On A General Chemistry Concept Inventory, Travis Lund

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

During the development of a general chemistry concept survey, interviews demonstrated that students used distinctly different problem‐solving strategies to answer two survey questions, one verbally‐based and one pictorially‐based, despite the fact that the questions were both designed to test the same concept of strong versus weak acids. Alternate versions of the concept survey were administered, with the order of the pictorial and verbal questions reversed. A significant ordering effect was observed in the questions of interest, and the incorrect answer choices that became better or worse distractors were identified. Current findings, future directions, and practical implications for instructors and researchers …

Insects As Educational Tools: An Online Course Teaching The Use Of Insects As Instructional Tools, Douglas A. Golick, Tiffany M. Heng-Moss

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Publication of the 1996 National Science Education Standards (NSES) initiated a push to transform science education by engaging K-12 students in active learning through inquiry-based teaching (National Research Council, 1996). Students need opportunities to construct knowledge by asking questions, developing hypotheses, collecting and analyzing data, and interpreting and communicating results. Inquiry teaching has been shown to improve students’ attitudes toward science, enhance their performance, and promote scientific literacy (Haury, 1993; Lindberg, 1990: Mattheis and Nakayama, 1988; Rakow, 1986).

Providing both pre- and in-service teachers with courses and professional development programs that promote inquiry teaching are vital to teacher education (National …

Creating Interdisciplinary Collaborations To Support And Understand Mathematics Teaching And Learning, Ruth Heaton, Wendy M. Smith, Traci Kutaka

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Teaching mathematics is a complex endeavor and requires a deep understanding of content and pedagogy. Helping teachers learn what they need to know requires the expertise of disciplinary area faculty as well as those with pedagogical expertise. Similarly, understanding the learning of teachers or their students requires complex analyses of messy data by teams of researchers representing differing but complementary perspectives. Cases describing the nature and process of interdisciplinary teaching and research collaborations in mathematics education will be presented and analyzed for lessons learned.

Temperament In Early Childhood And Peer Interactions In Third Grade: The Role Of Teacher–Child Relationships In Early Elementary Grades, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Kate Niehaus, Eric S. Buhs, Jamie M. White

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Children’s interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to children’s success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher–child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine children’s early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher–child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The …

Process Drama: A Medium For Creating A Hospitable Space For Learning Through Reverent Listening, Kim Anne Anthony

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

This thesis explores how Process Drama, as pedagogy, can invite into educational discourse a conversation about the roles of hospitality and reverence in the classroom through reverent listening to self, others and context. It can become a medium for holistic learning in the drama classroom and in learning situations of all kinds. Process Drama, as an enactment of reverent listening, creates a space for theater to facilitate the engagement of all participants, creating a learningful experience that can transcend barriers of race and social economic status brought by the invited and uninvited learner. Reverent listening and hospitality become the catalyst …

Culturally Proficient Teachers, Lori R. Piowlski

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

Action needs to be taken by teacher preparation programs to prepare culturally proficient educators who are able to deliver equitable instruction and inspire all students to strive for greatness if the achievement gap is to be closed. Existing literature mainly describes the importance and urgency to prepare future teachers for the changing demographics with classrooms across the United States. There is not significant literature on how it is being done. Therefore the purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how university teacher education programs are preparing teachers to be culturally proficient. A cross-reference of data collected from Adequate Yearly …

A Distance Education Classroom Designed To Facilitate Synchronous Learner And Instructor Interactions, Stuart P. Bernstein

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

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a live, synchronous distance delivery technology would facilitate interaction, immediacy, and presence between an instructor and his contiguous and remote classrooms, and whether it would facilitate interaction between the two groups of students. This study researched the opinions of students on whether they felt the platform facilitated interaction between the two groups of learners, both groups of learners and the instructor, and both groups of learners and the content.

This research followed the development and testing of a synchronous delivery platform that would replicate a traditional, interactive, classroom in a remote …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 14, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2013 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on “Nontraditional Honors Students”

Forum Articles

Janice Rye Kinghorn and Whitney Womack Smith

Nancy Reichert

Angela M. Salas

Mimi Killinger, Rachel Binder-Hathaway, Paige Mitchell, and Emily Patrick

Kimberly Aramburo and Suketu Bhavsar

2012 NCHC Portz Scholar’s Essay

Jeffrey Cisneros

Research Essays

Melissa L. Johnson

John S. MacLean and Brian J. White

Theory Guided Professional Development In Early Childhood Science Education, Soo-Young Hong, Julia C. Torquati, Victoria J. Molfese

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The importance of early and developmentally appropriate science education is increasingly recognized. Consequently, creation of common guidelines and standards in early childhood science education has begun (National Research Council (NRC), 2012), and researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have shown great interest in aligning professional development with the new guidelines and standard. There are some important issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement guidelines and make progress toward accomplishing standards. Early childhood teachers have expressed a lack of confidence in teaching science and nature (Torquati, Cutler, Gilkerson, & Sarver, in press) and have limited science and pedagogical …

Fostering Climate Change Education In The Central Great Plains: A Public Engagement Approach, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Timonthy Steffensmeier, Amber Campbell Hibbs, Ben Champion, Eric Hunt, John Harrington Jr, Jacqueline D. Spears, Natalie Umphlett, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Roger Bruning, Daniel W. Kahl

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Despite its increasing importance for sustainability, building widespread competency in the basic principles of climate literacy among the United States general public is a great challenge. This article describes the methods and results of a public engagement approach to planning climate change education in the Central Great Plains of the United States. Our approach incorporated contextual and lay expertise approaches to public engagement with a focus on supporting the self-determination of the specific stakeholder groups–rural producers, educators, and community members. An integration of results from the focus groups reveal that our approach was received positively and elicited a number of …

Using A Cohort Approach To Convert Edd Students Into Critical Friends, Edmund T. Hamann, Susan Wunder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Exploring the role of critical collegiality and a cohort approach to doctoral education, this chapter considers the higher education design issues that have supported education doctorate candidates' pursuit of learning and degrees buoyed by the support—emotional, logistic, and content-based—of their graduate student colleagues.

A steadfast but not previously examined feature of our department’s six-year (and counting) experience with a Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED)-influenced Doctor of Education (EdD) program is the successful implementation of a cohort model and, in turn, the utilization of practitioners’ sense of belonging and familiarity to become each other’s Critical Friends. Looking across the …

Connecting Children To Nature: A Multiple Case Study Of Nature Center Preschools, Patti Ensel Bailie

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

Environmental degradation, childhood obesity, and aggression of youth are societal problems that appear unconnected. However, their cause (and possible solution) may be linked to a common experience – the amount and quality of time spent in the natural world. Environment based education, significant life experience research, and studies involving urban youth and green spaces have shown that children’s experiences in the natural world have a positive effect on their attitudes, behaviors, and environmental awareness. Nature center based preschools are one approach for connecting children and nature, but little is known about the quality and consistency of their practices. This study …