Educational Methods Commons^™

Academic Problem-Solving And Students’ Identities As Engineers, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, Elliot P. Douglas, Nathan J. Mcneill, David J. Therriault, Christine S. Lee, Zaria Malcolm

The Qualitative Report

Socially constructed identities and language practices influence the ways students perceive themselves as learners, problem solvers, and future professionals. While research has been conducted on individuals’ identity as engineers, less has been written about how the language used during engineering problem solving influences students’ perceptions and their construction of identities as learners and future engineers. This study investigated engineering students’ identities as reflected in their use of language and discourses while engaged in an engineering problem solving activity. We conducted interviews with eight engineering students at a large southeastern university about their approaches to open and closed-ended materials engineering problems. …

Ideas: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Project-Based Learning, James G. Laprad, Andrea M. Hyde

The Qualitative Report

As waves of the Global Educational Reform Movement, what Sahlberg (2015) identifies as GERM, still ripple around the world pushing for competition, standardization, the focus on the core subjects, and test-based accountability some schools like IDEAS choose what Hargreaves and Shirley (2012) call The Forth Way towards inspiration and innovation with their project-based learning pedagogy. IDEAS is a small public high school in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and a member of Ted Sizer’s Coalition of Essential Schools (CES). Our qualitative inquiry explores the implications of project-based learning on IDEAS’ students, teachers, academic program and school community. Data came from direct observation, interviews, …

Getting Off The Fast Track For The Long Haul: Becoming A Teacher, Ariel Sacks

Occasional Paper Series

Explores the author's path into the teaching profession.

Collaborations For Success: Teachers, Families, And Funders Working Together, Sarah Samuels

Occasional Paper Series

Samuels shows how collaboration with families, colleagues, and funders helped her to survive and thrive as a new teacher. She knew from the start that she could not go it alone and sought opportunities at every turn to work with others.

"I Hope This Will Be A Good Year For Me..." : A Career-Changer Stumbles On The Fast Track To Teaching, Miranda Barry

Occasional Paper Series

Describes the very difficult experience of a new teacher who was inadequately prepared to manage her classroom of 35 students.

Alternative Certification And Alternative Pathways: A Personal Take On A Core Policy Dilemma, Jon Snyder

Occasional Paper Series

A view on the structured and unstructured journey one goes on to becoming a great teacher.

Preface: Alternative Routes To Teacher Certification, Jonathan Silin

Occasional Paper Series

A growing research literature on non-traditional pathways suggests the complexity of the task ahead. Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification is our report from the front lines. We wanted to offer new teachers the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own words.

Stem High School Teachers’ Views Of Implementing Pbl: An Investigation Using Anecdote Circles, Aimée L. Dechambeau, Susan E. Ramlo

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been gaining in popularity, especially within the context of STEM-based (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) schools. Program assessments for these schools typically focus on student standardized test scores rather than the needs of the teachers. This study utilized anecdote circles, storytelling via moderated group discussions, to investigate teachers’ needs related to developing and implementing authentic, interdisciplinary PBL activities in an urban, public STEM high school. Teacher experiences and viewpoints were explored within three broad themes: assessment; coaching and training; and authentic learning. The analyses provide insights for transitioning a school for effective PBL implementation as well …

The Potential Scientist’S Dilemma: How The Masculine Framing Of Science Shapes Friendships And Science Job Aspirations, G. Robin Gauthier, Julia Mcquillan, Patricia Wonch Hill, Amy Spiegel, Judy Diamond

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

In the United States, girls and boys have similar science achievement, yet fewer girls aspire to science careers than boys. This paradox emerges in middle school, when peers begin to play a stronger role in shaping adolescent identities. We use complete network data on a single middle school and theories of gender, identity, and social distance to explore how friendship patterns might influence this gender and science paradox. Three patterns highlight the social dimensions of gendered science persistence: 1) Boys and girls do not differ in self-perceived science potential and science career aspirations; 2) Consistent with gender-based norms, both middle …

Fair And Equal, Dr. Deborah Bracke

Education: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This article addresses teaching and the often uncomfortable state of tension between what is "equal" and what is "fair." The author responds to the question, "Can teaching be personalized so that individual differences and learning styles are privileged in every classroom?"

Experiential Learning Enhances Physical Therapist Student Confidence In Management Of Neurologically-Involved Adults And Children, Kristen Barta, Megan Flores, Anna Edwards

Physical Therapy Collection

Purpose/ Hypothesis: As physical therapy (PT) students advance through an entry-level professional program, clinical decision making skills improve, though self-confidence in treating individuals with neurological impairments does not. One technique to improve PT student self-confidence with this population is the addition of experiential learning opportunities, which uses direct student interaction with community volunteers to simulate clinical application of didactic material. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of experiential learning using community participants who were neurologically-involved, on PT students’ perceived self-confidence. It was hypothesized that PT students would report greater levels of self-confidence in their neurological …

Early Childhood Teachers’ Pedagogical Reasoning About How Children Learn During Language And Literacy Instruction, Rachel E. Schachter

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The knowledge that teachers hold about children’s learning is important to teachers’ practice. Few studies have examined how early childhood teachers use such knowledge during moment-to-moment instruction for language and literacy learning. This study employed a phenomenological approach to understand the knowledge that eight early childhood teachers used to inform their pedagogical reasoning during language and literacy activities. Stimulated recall interviews about practice were conducted with the prekindergarten teachers. Results indicated that the teachers used multiple sources of knowledge to inform their pedagogical reasoning that included: conceptions about how children learn; knowledge about specific children and the learning goals for …

Educating Incarcerated Youth In Illinois: A Blended Learning Model, John Sonnenberg

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to better understand the reasons behind the apparent continued success of a blended learning educational model in place since 2012 in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ). Using a mixed methods approach, data were gathered and analyzed from a variety of records, reports, and other documentation that included: diplomas awarded, courses taken, course completion, enrollment trends, student mobility rates, GED testing information, and special education student enrollment and performance. Data were also gathered through classroom observations and individual and group interviews with the IDJJ district superintendent, principals, and teachers at six different …

Reinventing The Wheel Of Teaching Business? Learning In The Academic Classroom - The Case Of The Business Consulting Course, Francesco R. Frova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to use the case of the Business Consulting course to demonstrate and enhance the significance of the application of effective and experiential learning in the academic classroom. Three Learning Theories are considered: Classical, Social, and Experiential Learning. Principles of effective learning and learning goals are described, and are looked at through the description of a Business Strategy and Business Consulting courses run in a US North-Eastern public university. The Business Consulting course is then compared with a standard lecture course and a course that uses case studies to demonstrate how the learning goals can …

The Theory Of Special Education And The Necessity Of Historicizing: A Multilogue Response To Benjamin Kelsey Kearl And Donald Warren, Jason Ellis

Education's Histories

Jason Ellis responds to Benjamin Kelsey Kearl and Donald Warren's discussion of the use of philosophy in the history of special education.

Empirical Reflections On Women Students In Usa Nonprofit Academic Programs And Realizations About Ideological Influence, Norman A. Dolch

Journal of Ideology

This research reports on the beliefs of a select sample of women and men faculty across the USA regarding women in nonprofit organization academic programs. The main differences were on professional orientation among graduate students, difficulty with quantitative oriented courses, and portrayal of women in coursework. To eliminate these differences, beliefs (ideologies) among faculty and students need to be altered. Sanberg’s book Lean In is especially informative about changing beliefs about career orientation for both men and women to what she calls a belief in sustainable and fulfilling positions. Another valuable resource for faculty concerned about these issues is Creating …

The Utilization Of Peer Mentorship And Its Positive Impact On Student Retention, Timothy B. Holt, Jacqueline Luedtke, Claire Schindler

Publications

In recognition of increasing rates of repeated ground schools and flight lessons, in combination with decreasing retention rates in the flight programs at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Department of Aeronautical Science in the College of Aviation took initiative to create a program that identified struggle students before they reached excessive failure or financial distress. The students identified in the Student Success Initiative (SSI) after being assessed would be required to attend a mediation session with their academic and flight training staff in order to create a specialized training program.

• Student Success Initiative (SSI)
• Identifies "at risk" students
• Implemented training plan …

Mini-Symposium: Best Practices For Reu Programs And Unl, Mark A. Griep

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

If you want to learn how to run an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program (or to make your REU program run more smoothly), then this is your opportunity to ask questions. The presentation will begin with 5-min talks from five REU program coordinators. These coordinators run a wide range of programs and have experience ranging from 1 year to 12 years. They will mention things such as how many applicants their program receives, how they review those files, an outline of the non-research portion of their summer program, and what sorts of outcomes they collect so they can report …

Empowering Belizean Youth Through Photovoice, Daniel Chase

The Qualitative Report

Today's youth are faced with a number of different "roadblocks" on their way to becoming successful adults. Navigating adolescence is often difficult in its own right, but many youths have to deal with issues such as, poverty, unsafe neighborhoods and schools, drug/alcohol addiction, and disjointed homes to name a few. Although not all youth are faced with the same obstacles, these abovementioned obstacles can detract youth from becoming socially productive. Using Photovoice, a process by which participants identify, represent and enhance their community using a specific photographic technique, this study connected Belizean youth to their community through the process of …

“Science Is Not My Thing”: Exploring Deaf Non-Science Majors’ Science Identities, Cara L. Gormally, Amber Marchut

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing are underrepresented in science majors, yet we know little about why. Students from other underrepresented groups in science—women and people of color—tend to highly value altruistic or communal career goals, while perceiving science as uncommunal. Research suggests that holding stereotypical conceptions about scientists and perceptions of science as uncommunal may strongly hinder recruitment into science majors. This study sought to explore the science identities of students who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing signers. The study focused on non-science majors in bilingual (American Sign Language and written English) biology laboratory courses. This study is the …

Increasing Identification, Thus Success And Graduation From Unlv, Emmanuel Ayim

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

When our students are connected to UNLV at multiple levels, and identify as UNLV students, they will more likely persist and graduate.

Using Mastery Learning To Help All Students Achieve, Jori S. Beck, Christina J. Santoyo

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

In 1968, Benjamin Bloom outlined a specific strategy that he dubbed learning for mastery, which later became mastery learning (Guskey, 2007).

Service Learning Collaboration With Student Affairs, Nathan Hanke, Leanne Soter, Kelsi Sullivan

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Service Learning is Applicable to courses across academic disciplines

Instant Class Polling Using Mobile Devices: An Interactive And Effective Pedagogical Tool, Lori D. Johnson, Emma Babler

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Available methods of instant class feedback had been limited to technology associated with clickers purchased by students, or tied to responses from laptops, which professors have begun banning from the classroom due to distraction. However, obtaining real-time feedback on students’ comprehension of complex concepts remains a critical pedagogical goal, particularly in rule-based courses such as Professional Responsibility.

Large Class Splitting To Reduce Class Size, Ed Jorgensen

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

It is well recognized that smaller classes lead to improved student outcomes. However, instructor resources are limited, particularly for first year introductory classes.

In “Kahoots” With Student Engagement In The Classroom, Kim Nehls

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

In a recent classroom survey, 95 percent of my students recommended additional use of Kahoot. One student remarked that he was more likely to complete the reading in advance and participate in class if he was going to be part of a friendly competition. Kahoot is an exciting and fun way to utilize the cell phones and tablets already in play in the classroom.

Critical Pedagogy: Building Strong Learning Communities, Malayka Neith Cornejo

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Strengthens instructor-student relationship; peer interactions; connection to course content, and sense of belonging. Shifts normative power structures and empowers students to co-construct the learning experience. Student voice matters.

Linking Information With Knowledge For Enhanced Learning, Haroon Stephen

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Learning in classroom needs continuous engagement and triggering of curiosity. A non-stop delivery of information without context becomes “blah-blah-blah”. There is a need to create a link at every step of the way in learning.

The Las Vegas Wash: Student Real-World Site Involvement, Erica S. Tietjen

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Students from all disciplines (not just Environmental Science) can gain experience with and appreciation of their local natural resources

Truthiness Or Evidence-Based Reasoning? A Critical Thinking Exercise For The First Year Experience, Diane Villa

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Barriers to Critical Thinking Biases Emotional reasoning (truthiness) Overuse of personal experience Small case studies