Educational Methods Commons^™

To What Degree Will Differentiated Instruction Impact Student Grades In A Middle School Classroom?, Maureen K. Wilke

Mathematics Graduate Theses

The middle school student population encompasses one of the widest ranges of diversity in the educational system. Besides cultural, religious, educational, economical diversity, the middle school student copes with physical and psychological changes as well. It is important to understand that reaching students successfully is not teaching one way, but providing a learning experience based on students’ needs. The five key differentiated strategies in the classroom are: knowing the student, the environment, meaningful lessons, tiered assignments, and assessment. Gather as much information on the students, such as data from past standardize tests, conversation with students, student journals about success and …

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's Message.

Believing And Doubting As Hermeneutic Method: Reading And Teaching Paradise Lost, Sheridan Blau

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Using a variation on Peter Elbow's believing game, I help students discover the degree to which Milton in Paradise Lost succeeds in his explicit attempt to justify God's ways to man and in that success also offers us an account of human happiness and misery that is psychologically sophisticated, spiritually illuminating, entirely rational, and supremely wise as a guide to living a humanly satisfying life. Such an approach to Paradise Lost also fosters an experience of the text through which many students undergo a modern version of the spiritual transformation and enlightenment that Milton explicitly aimed to make possible for …

Before Belief: Embodiment And The “Trying Game”, Donna Strickland

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I use my experience of teaching "Mindful Writing" to reflect on the pre-cognitive act of "trying out" new ideas. It seems that there's an important piece of the believing game that happens before the cognitive act of belief and that involves the body as much as the mind.

Reviews, Julie J. Nichols, Charles Suhor, Edward Sullivan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reviews

Julie J. Nichols - Meaning and The Evolution of Consciousness: A Retrospective on the Writing of Owen Barfield

Charles Suhor - The Great Transfonnation: The Beginnings of Our Religious Traditions

Charles Suhor - The Chalice and the Blade

Edward Sullivan - The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance

Believing, Doubting, Deciding, Acting, Clyde Moneyhun

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I used Peter Elbow's believing and doubting games and cooked up two games of my own, to structure a first-year writing class aimed at teaching students to read and reason critically. The first new game has been hinted at by Elbow himself: the deciding game, in which students used their exercises in believing and doubting to make up their minds about a topic. The second new game, which my students called the living game, asked them to extend their intellectual decisions into the world and take or recommend actions based on them. This was all enacted through a series of …

Friday Writes: An Exercise In The Believing Game, Stephanie Paterson

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I introduce the basic principles for the practice of proprioceptive writing and describe the experience and outcomes of incorporating this ungraded writing into three undergraduate compostion classes. I offer this as a case study of a writer, teacher, and reflective practitioner emboldened by Peter Elbow's believing game, and I point out some of the intellectual and pedagogical discoveries that emerged in my fourteen-week experiment.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Andrew Statum, Vic Kryston, Jie Li, Dominique Zino, Joonna Smitherman Trapp

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting - Helen Walker

Andrew Statum - The Question

Vic Kryston -Conflict Resolution

Jie Li - Teaching with Accent

Dominique Zino - Space

Joonna Smitherman Trapp - Composition Class 7:45 AM

Differentiated Instruction In The Secondary Social Studies Classroom, Chad A. Christopher

Graduate Research Papers

As an educator with fifteen years of experience, this author has experienced the frustrations of having to teach a wide range of student abilities at the secondary social studies level. There is a lot of support for differentiated instruction for special education, TAG, and elementary students, but there seems to be questions about the practicality and effectiveness of it in a secondary classroom.

The issues discussed in this paper will focus on the following questions: 1) Does Differentiated Instruction affect student learning? 2) Can Differentiated Instruction be implemented with secondary teachers in a practical way to help student learning and …

Accountability And Collaborative Inquiry In A School-Based Early Childhood Program, Sherri Peterson

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a professional learning community and the way in which an early childhood team can follow the developmentally appropriate practice guidelines and early learning standards to improve student outcomes.

Iterative Approaches To Planning And Strategizing: Learning From The Architectural Studio Model, Shannon Chance

Conference papers

This paper investigates linear and non-linear strategies for organizing and planning, and explores how these strategies correlate to both higher education and architectural education. The study reveals that the strategies for planning and designing typically employed in the field of architecture reflect the sort of non-linear, iterative, and synthesizing processes scholars recommend universities use to improve the effectiveness of strategic planning (Birnbaum, 1988; Cutright, 2001; Presley & Leslie, 1999; Rowley, Lujan, & Dolence, 1998; Swenk, 2001). Opportunities abound for using design processes to enhance various institutional operations as explored in Proposal for using a studio format to enhance institutional advancement …

Response To Intervention: Reading Project For Intermediate Level Educators, Kevin Wayne Newell

All Graduate Projects

The author's project provides intermediate level reading teachers with a flowchart exemplifying a way to implement a Response to Intervention model. Research indicates that Response to Intervention models have greatly impacted student academic performance. The flowchart provides teachers with a blueprint which may be helpful in identifying and correcting student deficiencies. The flowchart clearly outlines instructional components of service delivery including duration of student sessions, the size of groups involved, length of intervention determined, and methods of assessment The specific detailed responsibilities outlined to staff are designed to improve not only the efficiency of service provided to students, but to …

Sitka School District Kindergarten Literacy Curriculum Handbook, Jacqueline Elizabeth Hedrick

All Graduate Projects

The intent of this handbook is to provide support to a teacher and be used as a resource. This document is intended to guide a Baranof Elementary Kindergarten teacher, through the year, with the use of a theme document. However, the scope and sequence contains the skills and content that must be addressed by the end of the year. The literacy curriculum handbook was developed based on Froebel's kindergarten philosophy and Bruner's educational philosophy that early childhood education should be hands-on and developmentally appropriate. The handbook includes programs available to kindergarten teachers in Sitka, Alaska while continuing to be content-based, …

Benefits Of Using Primary Sources In The High School United States History Classroom, Norene Lee Osborne

All Graduate Projects

History textbooks have not traditionally included the perspectives of the whole of society. The contributions of non-whites, women, the poor and the illiterate are consistently forgotten or ignored in the history classroom. When the stories of these groups are present, the content is incomplete and minimal, due to the resources available to the teacher within the curriculum provided by the textbook manufacturers or the school districts. Primary sources, or first hand accounts of history, can be used to supplement gaps in the curriculum, allowing students to construct a more authentic and complete knowledge of history. This project includes practical supplemental …

Using Blogs To Foster Inquiry, Collaboration, And Feedback In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Carol R. Rinke, Divonna M. Stebick, Lauren Schaefer, Michael Evan Gaffney

Education Faculty Publications

This chapter presents a critical case study on the use of information technology in a pre-service teacher education program. The authors integrated Weblogs (blogs) into two constructivist-oriented teacher preparation courses with the goal of helping students learn to think like a teacher through enhanced inquiry, collaboration, and feedback. The authors found that, through the use of blogs, pre-service teaching candidates grew in their abilities to reflect on their own teaching and to provide constructive comments to peers. The authors’ experience also indicated that while instructor and peer feedback via blogs was valuable, it functioned best when paired with face-to-face meetings …

Literacy Initiatives In The Urban Setting That Promote Higher Level Thinking, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

How does an urban district become a twice-nominated candidate by the Broad Foundation? In a district in which 72 languages are spoken, 38% of the students live in homes in which English is not the dominant language, and 91% of the population is minority (African American, Asian, and Hispanic), this largest school district in Connecticut not only made student learning a priority, but focused on higher level thinking as part of the process. This chapter provides insight to grassroots implementation of district and department initiatives over the course of five years that emphasized cognitive and metacognitive strategies in advancing the …

The Impact Of Homework On Academic Achievement Of Diverse Learners, Jed Batterson

Graduate Research Papers

Homework impacts the academic achievement of diverse learners. A student's learning disabilities, race, gender, socioeconomic status, and age affect the student and parents' perceptions of homework, as well as the efficacy of homework in improving student achievement. Politicians have placed great emphasis on the importance of the American education system staying competitive globally. This places pressure on both teachers and parents to ensure the success of students. Parents and educators struggle over the purpose of homework, what time commitment homework should require, and maintaining adequate communication between home and school. Because homework demonstrates a significant impact on student achievement, this …

Lessons From The Believing Game, Tim Doherty

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

My essay reflects on different lessons I have learned in using the believing game to promote deliberative dialogue in first-year writing courses. I have learned that it helps not to be in a hurry: spending enough preparation time with students thinking about belief itself, listening to students' stories and sense of attachment to beliefs, and playing the game repeatedly. I also explore the believing game as a mode of play, especially the fruitful way that role-play can be integrated into the believing game.

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The Believing Game In Mathematics: Stories In A Discipline Of Doubt, Shelly Sheats Harkness, Catherin Pullin Lane, Sue Mau, Amber Brass

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Many people view mathematics as a discipline of certainty and rigidity. Answers are either right or wrong, and, when they are wrong, it is easy to play the doubting game. We invite readers into our mathematics classrooms as we story our attempts to play the believing game. We provide a lens into how we suspended our own logic, assumptions, and interpretations until we first tried to "unpack, " understand, and honor our students' logic, assumptions, and interpreta· tions. Within our individual stories, elements of tension, surprise, and wonder emerged as collective themes.

A Reflection On Habitual Belief And Habitual Doubt, Irene Papoulis

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Some people are habitual "believers" while others are habitual "doubters." I' m a believer, but doubting others helps me believe myself I explore the idea that examining our individual habitual relationships with believing and doubting helps us think better and relate better to others and to ourselves.

A Highly Incomplete Bibliography, Peter Elbow

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

I’m nervous to include this because I’ve not read a lot of these books and articles, and the whole thing is so inadequate for such a large topic. Many are titles I’ve jotted down for when I “have time.” But the list also includes a few suggestions from the authors in this issue, though this list mostly doesn’t duplicate the valuable Works Cited sections they’ve put with each of their essays. I’m risking the amateur quality of this enterprise in hopes that it can help others to pursue an important issue. (At the end, I’ve listed my various essays about …

Hungary And The United States: A Comparison Of Gifted Education, Julianna Connelly Stockton

Mathematics Faculty Publications

There is a lot that can be learned about a country based on the programs and provisions it has for mathematically talented students. While it is difficult to identify a single U.S. "program" or "approach" for gifted education, in general the trend is to put mathematically talented students through the standard mathematics sequence, just starting at an earlier age. In Hungary, on the other hand, the focus is on enrichment over acceleration. This paper explores how some very different historical, cultural, and political forces have shaped these two countries’ different approaches to educating mathematically talented students.

A Case Study About The Relationship Between Pds And Non Pds High School Variables And Student Outcomes In The State Of New Jersey, Maria A. Poidomani

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Impact Of A Freshman Academy Small Learning Community On Student Achievement And Engagement, Christopher M. Fulco

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Student Approaches To Learning: An Exploratory Study, Leila Halawi, Richard Mccarthy, Nenna Muoghalu

Publications

In this study, the partial least square approach (PLS) is applied to investigate students’ approaches to learning in the framework of online or hybrid courses. A total of 140 valid responses from students who have finished or are currently enrolled in at least one MIS online or hybrid course were analyzed using a structural equation model and the results are presented herein.

The Teaching/Learning Process Through Mosston's "Spectrum Of Teaching Styles: The Reciprocal Style", David C. Barney, Robert S. Christenson

Faculty Publications

Mosston (1994) created the Spectrum of Teaching Styles to identify the various alternatives that exist to design as well as present instructional episodes. As there are most likely as many ways to define the styles of teaching as there are learners, Mosston's original seven teaching styles have evolved into eleven. As identified by Mosston, each of the styles is differentiated by the decisions that are made by teacher or learner. The sequence of decisions that are made by either the teacher of learner during each of the three specified phases of instruction, before (pre-impact), during (impact) or after (post-impact) helps …

A Narrative Analysis Using Multiple Case Studies Of Nursing Graduates Who Overcame Academic Adversity, Judy C. Whedbee

Dissertations

Problem. This research poses the problem that academic adversity may be encountered in nursing students across three levels of nursing education, affecting retention. Because this adversity takes many forms, it is often difficult for nurse-educators to identify students who are at risk for academic adversity and subsequent failure. Identification of students facing academic adversity is the first step toward retention. An additional problem is that effective behaviors used by recent graduates of nursing programs in overcoming academic adversity have not been identified. There is a need for faculty to be able to identify ways that graduates overcome these adversities. …

Teaching Social And Emotional Competence In Early Childhood, Rita Coombs Richardson, Steve P. Myran, Steve Tonelson

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the impact of a social skills curriculum on the social behaviors of students in two pre-kindergarten classrooms. Participating were 30 students in a program based at a university child study center. The average age of the participants was four years ten months. The income levels of the families varied from low social economic status to high middle economic status. Two examiners independently completed the Social Skills and Attitude Scale (SSAS) for each child. The examiners observed the children and recorded children's pre and post intervention behaviors on a checklist. The study yielded positive evidence that the social …

The Effect Of Weekly Teacher Collaboration On Instructional Practices In The Classroom, Laurene A. Lanich

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Iowa Standards for School Leaders states that, “A principal is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program that is conducive to student learning and professional growth.” Instructional practices have a significant impact on student learning, with research indicating that effective teaching accounts for two thirds of the total effect of schooling on student learning. Moreover, the literature on school improvement and professional development emphasizes the building of organizational capacity through collegial interactions in school (Leonard & Leonard, 2003).

The Iowa Professional Development Model was developed …