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Book Reviews

Perspectives In Learning

Book Reviews

Facebook As A Learning Tool, Rebecca Toland

Perspectives In Learning

Facebook is a social network that has been used by hundreds of people around the world. The network started as a technologically infused meeting place for college students to communicate socially. Since the inception, the network has blossomed into a global sensation. Such growth has spurred many uses for the site including the opportunity to add to the learning experiences for college students. Facebook is a tool in a learning revolution that incorporates the ease of technology and communication efforts between students and between teachers and students. This essay focuses on how Facebook can be used as a learning tool …

Reviewers For Volume 14

Perspectives In Learning

Reviewers for Volume 14

The Effect Of Peer Leader Instruction On Introductory University Science And Mathematics Course Performance: Preliminary Results, Kimberly Shaw, Cindy Ticknor, Timothy Howard

Perspectives In Learning

The Peer Instruction Leader (PIL) program at Columbus State University pairs courses having historically low success rates with dedicated peer helpers in an attempt to boost student learning and success. PILs are selected from undergraduate students who have demonstrated success in the targeted subject. They attend classes, meet with the assigned instructor periodically, participate in PIL training, and manage course focused discussion groups. The authors analyze data collected in the early stages of the program, which shows that students who attended the discussion groups fared better than those who did not.

Welcome To Volume 14

Perspectives In Learning

Welcome to Volume 14 of Perspectives in Learning

Teacher Self-Efficacy: Common Core State Standards Within A 21st Century Skills Framework, John Wilborn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to understand teachers' self-efficacy in instructing 21st century learning skills in a high school core curriculum. This study examined the impact of three highly qualified teachers' attitudes toward instructing the Common Core State Standards 4C's (critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity) within a 21st century skills framework. Four research questions guided this study. What attitudes do teachers exhibit regarding instruction of 21st century learning skills? To what extent do teachers seek to engage students in creativity and innovation? To what degree do teachers implement neomillennial learning styles? How will the participants measure their own …

Teachers’ Perceptions On The Changes In The Curriculum And Exit Examinations For Biology And Human Biology, Mirko Krüger, Mihye Won, David F. Treagust

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In the age of educational accountability, national and state-wide measures are assumed to secure and improve the educational quality. However, educators often wonder how much a new accountability measure may improve the actual teaching and learning practices when the agents of change (teachers) are not active participants of such educational reform. Nevertheless, in Australia, the National Curriculum is rolling in for the first time for K-10 school education in 2012-13. In Western Australia, the new Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) system with new compulsory exit examination requirements has been implemented recently for Years 11-12. In this study, using the …

Education Revitalization Is The New Reform: Five National Classroom Trends For Idaho, Diane Boothe

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Critics have long assailed American education for failing to train a globally competitive workforce. All too often, we are faced with a shortage of highly qualified graduates in fields that are essential to our economic growth as a state and nation. An emphasis on education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is crucial for our children’s future.

How To Read A Poem, Julie Patterson

Articles

Our writer-in-residence offers some insight into how to read a poem.

Call For Papers

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Collaboration: Talk. Trust. Write., Mark Letcher, Kristen Turner, Meredith Donovan, Leah Zuidema, Jim Fredricksen, Cathy Fleischer, Nicole Sieben, Laraine Wallowitz, Sarah Andrew-Vaughn

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This essay describes the professional collaborative writing process and activities of several pairs of prominent authors in English education.

All Hands On Deck: Bringing Together High School Teachers And Adjunct Instructors For Professional Development In The Teaching Of Writing, Jennifer S. Cook, Becky L. Caouette

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

in June of 2012, two Writing Program Administrators (WPAs) at Rhode Island College collaborated on a one-day professional development opportunity for adjunct instructors of First Year Writing. One of the WPAs was Director of the Rhode Island Writing Project; the other was the Director of Writing. Each saw an opportunity to further the reach of their program and better the quality of instruction in the K-16 landscape of Rhode Island. And, each program was facing real challenges institutionally, politically, and financially. In this article, the two authors outline the exegesis that led to their collaboration and the outcome of that …

What Are Preservice Teachers Taught About The Teaching Of Writing?: A Survey Of Ohio’S Undergraduate Writing Methods Courses, Christine E. Tulley

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Undergraduate “writing methods” courses, or courses training secondary teachers how to teach writing, have increased 42% over the past decade within college English departments. Whether in response to increasing accreditation standards or a reaction against alarmist rhetoric about the poor training of today’s secondary English teachers, the writing methods course is often categorized as a potential antidote to a lack of writing teacher training.

Though much has been written on the its graduate counterpart, the composition practicum, no similar in-depth studies have been conducted exploring the content of the undergraduate writing methods course, the credentials of those teaching the course, …

Positioning Preservice Teachers As Writers And Researchers, Jason H. Wirtz

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This essay illustrates three theoretical concepts for the pre-service writing classroom learned from Wendy Bishop and Diane Holt-Reynolds: teachers of writing should be writers themselves; testimonials from writers should shape pre-service writing curricula; and content knowledge and the ability to teach content knowledge are discreet skill sets. Three practical assignments are presented to articulate these theoretical concepts in the pre-service writing classroom: Digital Poetry, Qualitative Interview Study, and Embedded Research.

Content-Area Teachers As Teachers Of Writing, Angela Kohnen

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Drawing on work with high school science teachers as part of an NSF-funded grant, this article presents lessons learned for effectively incorporating writing across the curriculum. With many states preparing to implement the Common Core State Standards, teachers in all subject areas will be asked to require more writing in their classes. This article argues that most of these teachers are ill-prepared to assign writing beyond the most formulaic and superficial, yet with professional development training (including training that requires teachers to write themselves) and support tools, teachers can begin effectively using discipline-specific writing to achieve discipline-specific goals.

Becoming Peer Tutors Of Writing: Identity Development As A Mode Of Preparation, Alison Bright

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Primary and secondary teachers of English are typically the subjects of research centered on writing teacher education. However, at the college level writing teacher education also includes individuals who instruct and support undergraduate writing instruction, and who do not always identify as writing teachers, such as graduate teaching assistants and peer writing tutors writing. Writing program administrators responsible for preparing TAs and tutors can benefit from the results of relevant research from the K-12 discourse community to improve their preparation programs. For example, research in primary and secondary teacher education programs indicates that when preparatory sessions highlight the concept of …

Gatekeepers And Guides: Preparing Future Writing Teachers To Negotiate Standard Language Ideology, Melinda J. Mcbee Orzulak

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This study of pre-service English teachers suggests benefits for exploring standard language ideology with new teachers of writing, such as increased awareness of the dilemmic positions occupied by teachers of writing and better understanding of the relationship between oral and written language. Implications include the need for writing teacher education to focus on the relationship between ideologies and enactment of specific methods, as pre-service teachers may face dilemmas related to beliefs about standard language and their positions as gatekeepers. Exploring additional subject positions for writing teachers, such as guide or language user, may help support stances that promote equitable writing …

Opening Editorial, Jonathan Bush, Erinn Bentley

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Negotiating Expectations: Preserving Theoretical Research-Based Writing Pedagogy In The Field, Margaret Finders, Virginia Crank, Erika Kramer

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

A collaborative research project examining the challenges facing preservice teachers when placed in settings that may run counter to their notions of theoretical-research-based practices of teaching writing.

Cover And Table Of Contents, Jonathan Bush

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Teaching/Writing -- Winter/Spring 2013 (Full Issue), Jonathan Bush

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

A New Way To Assess Student Learning, Dr. Deborah Bracke

Education: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This article describes an alternative to the traditional pre-test, post-test assessment of student learning.

Why Did They Come Here? - The Influences And Expectations Of First-Year Students’ College Experience, Louis S. Nadelson, Carrie Semmelroth, Gregory Martinez, Matthew Featherstone, Casey Alexander Fuhriman, Andrew Sell

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Students’ expectations and experiences with university life are influenced by a number of variables. Many universities develop programs or promote aspects of existing programs to market the university’s image. This research was motivated by our desire to determine the relationships between first-year students’ college expectations and experiences, their awareness of the university’s programming and projected image, the influence of the programming and image on their decision to attend the institution, and the students’ personal characteristics. Our survey of 351 first-year students revealed positive perceptions of their university expectations and experiences, a mixture of influences on their decision to attend the …

Associations Between Teacher Emotional Support And Depressive Symptoms In Australian Adolescents: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study, Patrick Pössel, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Michael G. Sawyer, Susan H. Spence, Annie C. Bjerg

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

Approximately 1/5 of adolescents develop depressive symptoms. Given that youths spend a good deal of their lives at school, it seems plausible that supportive relationships with teachers could benefit their emotional well-being. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the association between emotionally supportive teacher relationships and depression in adolescence. The so-called principle-effect and stress-buffer models could explain relationships between teacher emotional support and depressive symptoms, yet no study has used both models to test bidirectional relationships between teacher support and depressive symptoms in students separately by sex. Four-thousand three-hundred forty-one students (boys: n = 2,063; girls: n …

Perceived Professional Development Needs Of Idaho Secondary Career And Technical Education Teachers: Program Management, John G. Cannon, Karl Allen Kitchel, Dennis W. Duncan

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived professional development needs of Idaho secondary career and technical education teachers for a set of non-instructional competencies specifically associated with duties related to program management. The population of this study consisted of CTE teachers employed by Idaho secondary schools (N=725). Sixty-one percent (n=446) of the population participated in the study. The findings indicated that the top five perceived in-service training areas for the program management construct, as identified by a mean weighted discrepancy score (MWDS) ranking, to be “Grant writing & funding opportunities”; “Understanding federal (Perkins), state, and local funding”; …

Teaching In Northwestern China Under A Market Economy: Opportunities And Challenges, Gulbahar H. Beckett

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach …

Parts Of The Whole: When Variation Is The Goal, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

The goals of higher education are a population of extreme variability in expertise, a diffusion of specialized knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, and production of strong K-12 teachers. Promoting these three goals has implications at all granularities, from the pedagogy of an individual college professor to the incentives and policies that shape systemic change.

Effects Of An Inverted Instructional Delivery Model On Achievement Of Ninth-Grade Physical Science Honors Students, Donna Howell

Education Dissertations and Projects

This mixed-methods action research study was designed to assess the achievement of ninth-grade Physical Science Honors students by analysis of pre and posttest data. In addition, perceptual data from students, parents, and the researcher were collected to form a complete picture of the flipped lecture format versus the traditional lecture format.

The researcher utilized a 4MAT learning cycle in two Physical Science Honors classes. One of these classes was traditionally delivered with lecture-type activities taking place inside the classroom and homework-type activities taking place at home; the other inverted, or flipped, delivered with lecture-type activities taking place outside the classroom …

Attitudes And Beliefs Of Upper Elementary Teachers Regarding The Teaching Of Cursive Handwriting, Dorothy Myers

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study surveyed current third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in two small school districts in the southeast. One school district has initiated a technology initiative in its elementary schools. The other school district involved in the study incorporates technology but does not have a specified technology initiative. This dissertation was designed to provide information about the attitudes and beliefs of current third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade teachers about the necessity of teaching cursive handwriting. Many schools today either no longer teach cursive handwriting or do not spend the amount of time teaching cursive handwriting as in years past. With the age …

The Impact Of The One-To-One Laptop Initiative On Teacher Perceptions Of Instructional Delivery And Student Engagement In Middle School Mathematics, La'ronda Long Whiteside

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the impact of the one-to-one laptop initiative on teacher perceptions of instructional delivery and student engagement in middle school mathematics. Teacher perceptions of the initiative vary. Several school districts in North Carolina have implemented the initiative and are examining the impact it has on teaching and learning. The one-to-one initiative has been an essential paradigm shift for several national and international schools. The learning environment of the one-to-one initiative immerses students in a curriculum that integrates technology in all subject areas.