Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Session B-1: The Prize: Teaching Early Illinois History To Secondary School Students, Claiborne A. Skinner Jr.

Professional Learning Day

This presentation will outline ways in which Illinois can be placed at the center of the story of colonial America and the events which triggered the Revolutionary War. The discussion will be accompanied by a bibliography of relevant secondary readings for instructors, lists of public domain primary sources for students, websites where these can be obtained, lists of Illinois historical sites connected to these materials, and suggestions as to how to interpret these sites for students.

Session B-2: Docsteach – An Online Tool For Teaching With National Archives Documents, Kristina Maldre

Professional Learning Day

The latest National Archives web site, DOCSTEACH, invites teachers to explore thousands of documents in a variety of media from the National Archives holdings – items such as George Washington’s draft of the Constitution, photographs capturing WPA and Civil Rights activities across the country, and Ronald Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech. This session will provide educators with an overview of DOCSTEACH and help prepare them to create and use primary-source based, interactive learning activities with their students.

Session C-1: What Goes Up Must Come Down – Are All Parachutes Created Equal, Mary Lou Lipscomb, Elizabeth Martinez

Professional Learning Day

Participants engage in a guided inquiry: making a parachute and investigating its falling behavior; then develop a list of questions about the behaviors and determine which are testable. Next, small groups each choose one question to test and do so. Finally participants reflect on the process skills used. Although designed as a professional development activity, the lesson may be used with students to focus on testable questions or process skills necessary for scientific investigation.

Session C-2: Putting The “E” In Learning, Tracy Miller

Professional Learning Day

Find out about web resources you can use with your class. Think creatively in designing an interactive environment to help foster collaborative teamwork. Wikis, blogs and electronic portfolios: what it all means, and how to meet students’ learning objectives.

Session A-1: Environmental Chemistry – Chemistry In Context, Branson Lawrence

Professional Learning Day

The use of the ACS curriculum combined with group and individual projects to teach entry level chemistry through the context of environmental chemistry.

Session A-1: The Cuban Missile Crisis: Understanding The Impact Of Personality On Leadership, Lee Eysturlid

Professional Learning Day

This session will explore the impact of the various types of personalities that were involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis. These differences had a direct impact on the way each leader reacted to the stresses and demands of the crisis as well as their own political objectives. Attendees will come away with an immediately teachable topic on world leadership and the Cuban Crisis as an event.

Session A-2: Leaders In World History: Role Play And Essay Writing, Steven Buenning

Professional Learning Day

Costumed students role-play world leaders in a classroom-tested simulation. This extended exercise builds skills in critical thinking, research, essay writing, oral communication, small group interaction and technological application. In the process, students develop their own ideas about the characteristics of a good leader.

Obstacles To Addressing Race And Ethnicity In The Mathematics Education Literature, Amy Noelle Parks, Mardi Schmeichel

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

This Research Commentary builds on a 2-stage literature review to argue that there are 4 obstacles to making a sociopolitical turn in mathematics education that would allow researchers to talk about race and ethnicity in ways that take both identity and power seriously. The obstacles discussed are (a) the marginalization of discussions of race and ethnicity; (b) the reiteration of race and ethnicity as independent variables; (c) absence of race and ethnicity from mathematics education research; and (d) the minimizing of discussions of race and ethnicity, even within equity-oriented work.

An Analysis Of Factors Expected To Impact Student End-Of-Course Grades In Introductory College Science Classes, Kimberly Shaw, Pinar Gurkas, Zodiac Webster

Perspectives In Learning

Research shows brain-based learning is achieved best when the students are in an active, low-stress state (Jensen, 2008), and people have unique learning styles that facilitate the assimilation of new knowledge (Gardner, 1983). However, current testing practices hinder the creation of an optimal learning environment, because teachers feel they have to build test-taking skills and spend valuable educational time teaching in ways they believe are not best practices. Changes in the brain can be seen with highly sophisticated imaging technology such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI, and positron emission tomography (PET) (Drevets & Raichle, 1998). This imaging technology …

Measles On The Rise: Academic Institutions Be Prepared, Sally Richter, Amanda Hawkins, Leslie Painter

Perspectives In Learning

Measles is a highly contagious, acute viral illness that can lead to serious complications and death. From January 1 through May 20, 2011, a total of 118 measles cases were reported from 23 states and New York City, the highest reported number for the same period since 1996. Patients ranged in age from 3 months to 68 years. Of the 118 cases, 105 unvaccinated persons were associated with importation from other countries. Transmission occurred in households, child care centers, shelters, schools, emergency departments, and at a large community event. It is important for those in academic institutions to understand measles …

The Impact Of The “Failure Is Not An Option Policy” On Student Grades, Tamara Brown

Perspectives In Learning

Benjamin Bloom, well known for his Bloom’s Taxonomy, coined the term “mastery learning”. Bloom’s process of mastery learning involved initial instruction, assessment, feedback, and corrective instruction. Various researchers demonstrated success with a mastery learning model at the elementary, middle school, high school, and community college levels. Based on the idea of mastery learning, a rural high school developed and implemented a “Failure is not an Option Policy”. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the “Failure is Not an Option Policy” at a rural high school on student grades. The program evaluation found the policy improved …

Reviewers For Volume 13

Perspectives In Learning

Reviewers for Volume 13

Editorial Board

Perspectives In Learning

Editorial Board

Cultivating An Environment For Continued Growth In Nurse Educators, Amanda Hawkins, Elizabeth Frander, Stephanie Lewis

Perspectives In Learning

Along with the significant shortage of registered nurses, the United States is also experiencing a serious shortage of nursing faculty. Despite the high demand for nurses, many nursing programs are unable to accept all qualified students due to this shortage. This essay identifies reasons why nurse educators are leaving the academic setting and why there are fewer qualified and willing candidates to fill the vacant positions. In addition to discussion of the problem, practical strategies for recruitment and retention are proposed. Through appropriate planning and leadership, there are many practical solutions that can be implemented in the workplace setting to …

The 4 Cs Of Teaching At-Risk Youth, Jeanine Fittipaldi-Wert, Claire Mowling

Perspectives In Learning

The purpose of this article is to assist educators in creating an environment that is safe and conducive to learning for at-risk students through implementation of the 4 Cs (caring, choices, commitment, and challenges). The 4 Cs can provide a framework for educators in providing suggestions on how to engage and meet the needs of all students, including those at-risk, while creating an emotionally safe environment that facilitates cooperation, responsibility, motivation, and respect for self and others.

Strategies For Success For English As A Second Language (Esl) Students In The Post-Secondary Setting, Tamara Condrey, Sherika Derico

Perspectives In Learning

English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the college setting have a higher rate of attrition than non-ESL students due, in part, to communication barriers. Retention and graduation rates of these students impact cultural diversity in practice settings for professionals who work with diverse populations. Colleges and universities must seek ways to assist ESL students with communication barriers in order to lower the attrition rate for this segment of the population and, ultimately, to improve the diversity needed in these professions. This article seeks to explore communication barriers for ESL students and offer strategies for overcoming these challenges in …

Table Of Contents

Perspectives In Learning

Table of Contents

About This Issue

Perspectives In Learning

About this Issue

Professional Learning Community Impacts On Student Achievement In Middle School Mathematics, Jessica Stuewe

Mathematics Graduate Theses

The development of professional learning communities in middle level education is a relatively new and trendy concept sweeping the nation. School professional development committees are training large numbers of teachers through conferences, book studies and online webinars on how to collaborate to improve student learning. This research will explore the impact of the first year of implementation of a departmental professional learning community (PLC) on student achievement at the middle school level in the content area of mathematics. Student standardized test scores from 2010 and 2011 will be compared as a measure of success of the PLC. Teacher surveys are …

Ua41 Information Literacy And Critical Thinking: Applying Elements To Academic Research Practices In The First Year, Sara Mccaslin

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Moving Beyond Seeing With Our Eyes Wide Shut. A Response To “There Is No Culturally Responsive Teaching Spoken Here”, Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner, Vanessa Dodo Seriki

Democracy & Education

A struggle exists to engage in culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) that authentically represents the voices and interests of all across the K–20 spectrum, from higher education institutions, to teacher preparation programs, and into U.S. classrooms. This article responds to Hayes and Juárez's piece “There Is No Culturally Responsive Teaching Spoken Here” by extending the conversation with the suggestion that one of the major problems in speaking CRP has to do with a disconnect between articulated commitments and actual practices. This response article takes a critical look at the landscape in which educators work to reveal the nature of overrepresentation of …

Some Assembly Required: How Scientific Explanations Are Constructed During Clinical Interviews, Bruce L. Sherin, Moshe Krakowski, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article is concerned with commonsense science knowledge, the informally-gained knowledge of the natural world that students possess prior to formal instruction in a scientific discipline. Although commonsense science has been the focus of substantial study for more than two decades, there are still profound disagreements about its nature and origin, and its role in science learning. What is the reason that it has been so difficult to reach consensus? We believe that the problems run deep; there are difficulties both with how the field has framed questions and the way that it has gone about seeking answers. In order …

Teaching Computer Skills To Senior Citizens: A Library Assistant’S Learning Experience, Ngaire I R Smith

Georgia Library Quarterly

This paper describes the challenges of teaching senior citizens in their 70s and 80s elementary Web and computer skills at the University of Georgia’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Simple tasks such as clicking on links and understanding the difference between the address bar and a search box confused class members and the instructor attempted to address this age divide by developing activities that would make using the Web easier and more fun.

Assessing The Presence And Use Of Nonverbal Communication In Primary Reading Instruction, Amelia C. Ferrell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research examined the presence and types of nonverbal communication presented in primary reading instruction. Primary instructors were surveyed about their use and types of nonverbal communication employed during reading instruction. Nonverbal communication variables studied were determined from relevant literature regarding nonverbal immediacy, primary education, and reading instruction. Findings revealed that almost all nonverbal communication variables studied were employed frequently and most respondents had no prior training. Findings suggest how future studies can better evaluate the role of nonverbal communication in reading instruction and provide education for primary teachers in hopes of improving literacy education.

A Descriptive Study Of Response To Intervention (Rti) Implementation At The Elementary Level In West Virginia, Sarah L. Lee

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to describe levels of RTI implementation in West Virginia elementary schools. Little is known about the national efforts that states are collectively undertaking to scale up implementation of RTI (Hoover, Baca, Wexler-Love, & Saenz, 2008). West Virginia’s elementary schools were required by state policy to implement RTI in reading by July 1, 2009. A wide-scale implementation status check has not been conducted since that date. A cross-sectional research design using members of the school’s curriculum team to complete the RTI Implementation Inventory was used to provide a description of RTI implementation fidelity. All eight …

Best Instructional Practices In Developmental Education: Faculty Perspectives, Calisa A. Pierce

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This descriptive study employed a survey to examine the perspectives of developmental education faculty members at public community colleges regarding instructional practices that have been identified in the literature as effective for developmental education. The study focused on two major areas related to the instructional practices surveyed: the degree to which faculty members perceive the practices to be effective and the degree to which they report they employ the practices. The entire population of West Virginia full-time faculty members teaching developmental education regularly in public community and technical colleges was surveyed with an 89.6% response rate. In addition, demographic information …

The Perceived Self- Efficacy Of West Virginia Public Elementary School Teachers To Teach Character Education, Hannah R. Toney

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of West Virginia public elementary school teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching character education. Questions addressed teachers’ overall level of perceived self-efficacy for teaching character education; the levels of perceived self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management; and the differences between levels of perceived self-efficacy and selected school and teacher demographic/attribute variables. Teacher self-efficacy to instruct character education was measured using the Teacher Self-Efficacy to Instruct Character Education (TSICE) survey, an adaptation of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) designed by Megan Tschannen-Moran and Anita Woolfolk Hoy (2001). The …

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 …

A Course Redesign Project To Change Faculty Orientation Toward Teaching, Susan Eliason, Christine L. Holmes

Elementary and Early Childhood Education Faculty Publications

This article discusses the development, implementation, and outcomes of a Faculty Course Redesign Camp for full-time and adjunct faculty members. The purpose of the camp was to educate and coach faculty in effective strategies to promote learner-centered teaching skills. Evaluation results show that the participants changed their orientation toward teaching in the dimension of their role in instruction, but they made little change in balance of power and responsibility for learning.

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 …