Educational Methods Commons^™

Student Motivation And Academic Achievements, Zeenat Shah

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

No abstract provided.

Concept Inventory Design For Determining Students’ Conceptual Understanding Of Oceanography, Leilani Arthurs

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Concept inventories are relatively new types of diagnostic instruments intended to measure student learning. Concept inventories exist for astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, fluid mechanics, geology, and physics. None is yet available for oceanography, and development of the Introductory Oceanography Concept Inventory Survey (IO‐CIS) serves to fill this gap. A context‐driven development strategy was designed to create this instrument. Qualitative methods utilizing grounded theory and classical test theory were used to construct it. Quantitative methods, including statistical methods associated with classical test theory and item response theory, were used to evaluate and further refine the IO‐CIS. The instrument is valid and …

Creating Accessibility In Museums For Visitors With Visual Impairments: Teaching Museum Educators How To Write Verbal Descriptions Of Artifacts To Create A Meaningful Museum Experience, Monica Brandwein

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This Integrative Masters Project is a professional development workshop that was created to teach museum educators, staff, and Gallery Educators (the museum's docents) at the Museum of Jewish Heritage -A Living Memorial to the Holocaust how to create accessibility for visitors with visual impairments to increase the richness of the museum's artifacts within the collection.

Self-Made Writer: A Grounded Theory Investigation Of Writing Development Without Writing Instruction In A Charlotte Mason Home School, Jennifer C. Spencer

Education Dissertations and Projects

The aim of this study was to explore how one adult who learned at home under the holistic methods of Charlotte Mason developed as a writer when this model eschews direct instruction in composition. The participant in the study developed exemplary writing skills despite the fact that the teaching methods of the parent did not conform to state standards, nor even to techniques typically accepted as best practices by such organizations as the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). As states across the nation are adopting and implementing the Common Core, …

The Power Of Music: Song Serves As An Effective Recall Cue In Children, Tanisha Dews

McCabe Thesis Collection

Song, in some cases, can facilitate learning and recall. The experiments in this thesis demonstrate that information is better recalled when it is heard as a song rather than as speech or through lecture. This study further proves that when a combination of song and speech are taught to children, the retrieval of information is even greater. When the group of the second condition was tested, they were more successful in recalling the information learned. This study also recognizes that song can infuse difficulty due to music's rich structure and makeup of rhythm, tempo, and stress patterns. The overall paper …

Writing For The Web: Twitter As A Starting Point For Breaking News, Sue Burzynski Bullard, Michelle Carr Hassler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Students enrolled in a multimedia reporting course use Twitter to cover breaking news events as they unfold, capitalizing on the immediacy of the social media network and the Web. Using cellphones or laptops, they learn to tell stories 140 characters at a time. The second half of this assignment requires students to build on their Twitter stories by posting follow-up stories and photographs to a class website. The follow- ups, written within six hours of events, must include additional reporting. The assignment marries traditional writing and reporting skills with digital tools increasingly being used in the real world.

Testing The Effectiveness Of Lecture Capture Technology Using Prior Gpa As A Performance Indicator, Michael D. Stroup, Michael M. Pickard, Korey E. Kahler

Faculty Publications

This empirical study examines whether making lecture capture technology available in a face-to-face lecture environment can improve students’ ability to learn the course material. We examine student performance in undergraduate principles courses in computer science and economics. However, rather than simply comparing average course grades between lecture capture and non-lecture capture classes, we use student grade point average (GPA) as a predictor of course grades earned in non-lecture capture classes and lecture capture classes taught by the same professors using the same course materials. Our results imply that making lecture capture technology available in face-to-face lectures does not appear to …

Customised Learning Development - An Exploration Of Practice, Roadmap For Employment-Academic Partnerships, Irene Sheridan, John P. Murphy

Reports

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Relationship Of Learner-Centered Beliefs Of Seventh Grade Mathematics Teachers And Student Achievement On The Mathematics Section Of The North Carolina End-Of-Grade Assessment, Mary A. Steltz

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was designed to examine the personal domain in systemic reform. In an effort to improve student achievement, this study focused on accountability reform. The learner-centered model was based on what teachers believe about teaching and learning and how student motivation and achievement was influenced by those beliefs. Teacher practices, beliefs and behaviors had the greatest impact on student learning; therefore this study sought to establish identification of learner-centered teachers and their effectiveness on student achievement on the seventh grade mathematics section of the North Carolina End-of-Grade Assessment.

To that end, a non-experimental quantitative study design was used to …

Methodological Modes: Instructional Practice And 21 St Century Engagement In Secondary English Classrooms, Laurel Eury Naughton

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was designed to provide insight into the teaching practices of secondary English teachers. Current learners are in classrooms in which the instructional practices or methodologies are employed, but may not be engaging students. Information sought included the degree to which 21 st century practices were being incorporated into the lessons, and the level with which students were engaging with the material.

The researcher observed classrooms of junior and senior English, and measured the level of engagement triangulating the data from the local school agency's observation tool with that of Van Amburgh et al.'s (2007) active learning inventory tool …

Effects Of Multisensory Phonics-Based Training On The Word Recognition And Spelling Skills Of Adolescents With Reading Disabilities, Sallyann Geiss, Kenyatta O. Rivers, Kelly S. Kennedy, Linda J. Lombardino

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an Orton-Gillingham-based reading instruction system, the Barton Reading and Spelling System (BRSS; Barton 2000), that was used as a supplemental reading instruction program for increasing the lower-level reading skills of a group of adolescents with persistent reading problems. Nine students participated in the supplemental reading program based on pre-test scores of a spoken and written language assessment battery. Progress was measured at the end of intervention by post-testing students on the same assessment battery. Each student showed some improvements from their pretest to posttest scores on all of the …

Roots Of Farm And Family, Carol Gjenvick

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The current food industry is a vast and confusing system that often generates contradicting information, new jargon and trends on how and what to eat. Most families in urban and suburban regions shop at local grocery stores, supermarkets or chains and are far removed from the origins of their food supply. Even with the growing support of farmers markets and local farmers, the average person no longer has access to an actual farm. Children in particular, are less likely to understand how a farm operates, the essential role of the farmer, the impact of seasonal changes on food supplies and …

Team-Based Learning In Law, Sophie M. Sparrow, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

Used for over thirty years in a wide variety of fields, Team-Based Learning is a powerful teaching strategy that improves student learning. Used effectively, it enables students to actively engage in applying legal concepts in every class -- without sacrificing coverage. Because this teaching strategy has been used in classes with over 200 students, it also provides an efficient and affordable way to provide significant learning. Based on the principles of instructional design, Team-Based Learning has built-in student accountability, promotes independent student preparation, and fosters professional skills. This article provides an overview of Team-Based Learning, reasons to adopt this teaching …

Learning Interdisciplinary Pedagogies, Alison J. Friedow, Erin E. Blankenship, Jennifer L. Green, Walter Stroup

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Advocates of interdisciplinary teaching and learning in higher education suggest that interdisciplinary courses “promise a wide range of desirable educational outcomes for students” (Newell 1994: 35). These outcomes include enhanced affective and cognitive abilities, increased understanding of multiple perspectives, greater appreciation for ambiguity, and superior capacities for creative thinking, among others (35). Despite claims about the possibilities interdisciplinary learning offers, we have few examples of how faculty from different disciplines work together to create interdisciplinary classroom environments where such outcomes can occur. In short, more examples of how faculty from different disciplines actually develop, engage, and revise interdisciplinary pedagogies with …

Teachers’ Thoughts On E-Readers In The Elementary School Classroom, Marcy Zipke

Education Faculty Publications

Despite the popularity of e-readers and the enthusiasm of some for their use in secondary education, their utility in elementary education has not yet been systematically explored. Some advantages and disadvantages to teaching elementary literacy with e-readers are identified here. A convenience sample of ten teachers from a variety of different types of elementary schools and classrooms who were e-reader novices read a chapter of a grade-appropriate book on a Kindle and evaluated its use for their students. The teachers gave their opinions and ideas on how the devices could be implemented. Three specific technological affordances of an e-reader that …

Video Self-Modeling And Improving Oral Reading Fluency, Wanda G. Chandler

Special Education Faculty Publications

Self-modeling can take different forms but is described as a process where one observes one’s own successful behavior and learns from it without dependence on any particular medium. In this study, two separate experiments were conducted to evaluate a video self-modeling (VSM) feedforward intervention. VSM feedforward (independent variable, IV), was applied as an intervention to improve oral-reading fluency (dependent variable, DV). An adapted multiple-probe baseline, single-subject research design with a pre-test and post-test standardized reading assessment was employed for both experiments.

Participants included eight students with disabilities and a history of emotional and behavior problems in middle-school, special education, self-contained …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Mentoring Of New Teachers And Student Performance, David Shadwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While much research has explored the positive correlation between mentoring programs and resulting reduction in teacher attrition, the relationship between mentoring activities and student learning remains equivocal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between frequency and depth of mentoring activities in which high school teachers in their first three years of teaching report engaging, on the 2011 Colorado TELL (Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning) Survey, and examining concurrent student achievement growth and shifts in growth gaps as measured by the Colorado Growth Model in those teachers' schools. This mixed methods study also entailed open-ended interviews …

Creating A Classroom Environment That Nurtures Motivation In High School Students, Karen Ann Wirth

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to provide high school teachers with training to increase their understanding of how research-based information can help them create classroom environments that nurture motivation in adolescents. Participating teachers completed a pre-test questionnaire to assess goal orientation, teacher efficacy, theory of intelligence, perceptions of the importance of knowledge regarding adolescent development, and autonomy-supportive attitudes and behaviors. Participants included 10 high school teachers from a suburban high school in Southern California.

Teaching Mathematics In The Classroom With Powerpoint Software, Robert Ward Kopp

Theses Digitization Project

This study will look at at how to better student achievement in an Algebra II course. Specifically this study examines two different modifications made during the second semester of an Algebra II course taught at a high school in Riverside County. The modifications that were made were based on a detailed literature review that suggested looking at how students learn while using PowerPoint software as an instructional tool and at the same time investigate the consequence of rearranging a fairly common and predetermined curriculum pattern.

Toward Solving The Teacher-Student Contradiction: Using Whole-Class Workshops To Crate A Student-Focused, Rhizomic Writing Community, Bridgette Mary Callahan

Theses Digitization Project

Theorists have long spoken of solving the teacher-student contradiciton, but many teachers in practice find it difficult to create depolarized classrooms, classrooms in which the roles of teacher and student overlap. One way to create such classrooms, composition teachers have advocated small-group workshops (SGWs) since the late 1960's. SGWs have become a well-established and researched part of composition theory. Compositionists have largely ignored SGW's counterpart, the whole-class workshop (WCW) despite it's benefits. This thesis examines WCWs as a new solution to the teacher-student contradiction and thus add a study of WCWs to composition scholarship.

Academic Development Perspectives Of Blended Learning, Roisin Donnelly, Claire Macavinney

Books/Book Chapters

Technological advances in every aspect of today’s higher education environment create a forum for academic developers to re-examine existing delivery methods for professional development. Within the context of this case study, the term ‘academic developer’ is taken to encompass the role of learning technologist. In order to be responsive and accommodate the changes, traditional instruction methods are being extended to encompass the range of Web 2.0 tools available. Debate is ongoing in the area of blended learning as to the ultimate effectiveness of technology integration. Through exploration of the experiences of two academic developers involved in the design and delivery …

“Boyer Reconsidered”: Fostering Students’ Scholarly Habits Of Mind And Models Of Practice, Charles D. Morrison

Music Faculty Publications

In his Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate, Ernest L. Boyer argued for a conception of ‘scholarship’ that recognizes traditional research – what he termed the ‘scholarship of discovery’ – but which also includes the scholarly domains of ‘integration’, ‘application’, and ‘teaching’. His validation of teaching has spawned a virtual ‘industry’ devoted to what is now known as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).

In this paper I seize upon the fact that, in the process of assembling his argument for better recognition of the range of faculty work, Boyer reconsidered the very concept of scholarship, arriving at a …

Sense Of Community In Graduate Online Education: Contribution Of Learner To Learner Interaction, Jo Lita Shackelford, Margaret G. Maxwell

Communication Sciences & Disorders Faculty Publications

Distance learning technologies offer a multitude of ways to build interaction into online courses to support learning. Based on social constructivism theory, this study explored which types of interaction are most predictive of students’ sense of community in online graduate courses at a regional comprehensive university. Surveys were used to measure sense of community and the frequency and importance of nine learner–learner interactions.

Interactions that were most predictive of sense of community were introductions, collaborative group projects, sharing personal experiences, entire class discussions, and exchanging resources. The interaction that offered the highest payoff to instructors was exchanging resources. The article …

Pre-Service Generalist Teacher’S Self-Efficacy Beliefs In Their Abilities To Teach Music In Primary Schools, John Heyworth

Research Journeys in Education

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Audio Feedback To Develop Deeper Learning In Business Education, Daire Hooper

Conference Papers

It is widely regarded that providing students with feedback is central to their learning (Biggs & Tang, 2007). Traditionally feedback has been given to students either in person or in writing, however, due to advancements in technology, audio is now employed by a small minority of educators in Higher Education (Ice et al., 2007; Merry & Orsmond, 2007; Middleton, 2007; Nortcliffe & Middleton, 2007). Audio feedback is a feedback mechanism whereby feedback is given to students via mp3. To date, research on audio feedback has focused on students’ perceptions of audio as a feedback mechanism, and its ability to increase …

Conducting Focus Groups With College Students: Strategies To Ensure Success, Felice D. Billups

Research Methodology

Institutional researchers are often asked to conduct focus groups as an efficient way to address an institutional concern or problem. Typically, IR professionals depend on external consultants and specialists to conduct these group interviews for them; however, due to recent resource constraints (staffing, budgets), they are increasingly assuming responsibility for conducting the focus group sessions themselves. Institutional researchers require specialized skills in order to engage college students in this type of group interviewing; college students present specific characteristics and preferences that require careful consideration. Numerous research studies have used focus groups to support or augment research on college students (Breen, …

Action Research For Educators: Learning Innovation., Roisin Donnelly, Nuala Harding, Muireann Okeeffe, Michael Russell

Papers, presentations and other resources

This special purpose award was designed as part of the LIN flexible pathway to a postgraduate diploma in learning teaching and assessment. The certificate was developed by the AIT Learning and Teaching Unit in conjunction with experts from the DIT Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre with the support of the Learning Innovation Network (LIN).

Case Study: Ngo Staff Implement Educational Goals In Northside Richmond, Grace Leonard

VA Engage Journal

The Richmond non-profit organization, Kid's House, complements imperfect educational models with creative and flexible community-based programs. In Northern Richmond, children living in oppressed communities have diminished educational opportunities and outcomes. I use the term "oppressed" to describe these communities because it highlights various political, social, and economic power that has historically been exerted in the process of creating poverty. An NGO's staff is effective in reaching poor students and parents when they are attuned to local social processes. Kid's House teachers negotiate an uneasy existence as mediators between the spheres of structural bureaucracy and local poverty. This ethnographic study culminated …

The Effects Of Brain Compatible Instruction, Social Emotional Development And Classroom Community Structures On Students, Elizabeth Anne Glick

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was designed to gather data on the impact of several classroom structures/strategies on adolescent students. The objective of the study was to identify if an impact from these structures is positive or negative and the extent to which it exists, positively or negatively. The research aimed to answer the following question: to what extent do the practices of compatible teaching, social emotional education, and classroom community building have an impact on student behavior, achievement, and attendance?

The School Success Program: Improving Maltreated Children's Academic And School-Related Outcomes, Christopher A. Mallett

Social Work Faculty Publications

Many victims of childhood maltreatment experience difficulties in school and with academic performance. This article reviews the evidence on the connection between child- hood maltreatment and school performance and presents an evaluation of a unique program established by Children's Services in Lorain County, Ohio. Since 2001, the School Success Program, in collaboration with 18 Ohio public school districts, has provided individual tutoring and mentoring by certified teachers to 615 maltreated children and youths, working closely with the whole family in an in-home setting. Most children and youths in the program have progressed to their appropriate grade level while improving overall …