Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Koinonia, Brian Jensen, Emily J. Darnell, Philip Byers, Josh Arnold, Drew Moser, David Johnstone, Rob Pepper, Kim Stave, Ken Heffner, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma, Christopher Bohle, Bob Crow

Koinonia

Best Practice Features
Life on Life Learning: Steps Towards Authentic Mentoring, Brian Jensen

The Heart of the Honor Code: I am My Brother's Keeper, Emily J. Darnell

Spotlight Features
Old People are "Whole Persons," Too: Why Understanding Heritage is a Foundational Component of College Student Development, Philip Byers

Ministry and Learning in Residence Life, Josh Arnold

Shepherding in an Age of Edupunks, Drew Moser

The Gap in the Curtain: Seeing Pieces of a Residential Community's Future, David Johnstone

Interviews
A Conversation with Juana Bordas, conducted by Rob Pepper

Looking Into the Future: Two Educators' Perspectives on Christian Higher Education, by …

A Case Study: The Evaluation Of The Graduate Middle School Education Program At A Southeastern University, Abbigail Armstrong

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was designed to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's in Middle Level Education degree at the southeastern university. Since the program's initial on-campus cohort (2000) the graduation rate has decreased from 80% to 62.96% with the fourth on-campus cohort (2005). The current cohort currently has five students enrolled which will yield a 29% graduation rate depending on student choice. Program faculty is concerned about the increasing difference between the number of applicants and number of those completing the program.

The researcher conducted a program evaluation, using Guba and Lincoln's four phases of responsive …

Program Evaluation Of Making Great Readers, Shelly Bullard

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study was conducted to evaluate the Making Great Readers program which was piloted in two small Title I elementary schools in western North Carolina during the 2009-2010 school year. The study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program based on teacher perception and impact on student achievement.

A logic model was used to evaluate this pilot program with a focus on short-, intermediate-, and long-term outcomes. The research questions examined student reading achievement and teacher perspectives through a concurrent mixed methods approach. Quantitative analysis of phonemic awareness scores were taken from data gathered using the Dynamic Indicators …

The Impact Of Inclusion On The Academic Achievement Of High School Special Education Students, Harold Smith Dawkins

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examined the impact of inclusion on the academic achievement outcome of high school special education students as measured by English 1, biology, and algebra 1 as a function of gender, ethnicity, and years of inclusion. The study also examined the generalizations with confidence that could be made about the use of inclusion methodology in high schools within an urban North Carolina school district as measured by end-of-course test scale scores. Data from three traditional high schools within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District were used in this study. High school special education students lagged behind several other subgroups on end-of-course …

Gifted Education And National Standards: A K--5 Program Evaluation, Debra A. Harwell-Braun

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation of a K-5 Gifted Education Program. Program evaluation addressed how well the gifted education program studied met the National Association of Gifted Children standards. In addition, this study included stakeholder perceptions of the current gifted education program K-5.

This program evaluation utilized the Accreditation Approach as well as the Logic Model for program planning and evaluation. Instruments used included surveys, interview groups, and classroom observations. Review of district evidence to address the standards was completed.

Analyses of the data by geographical region of the district studied provided minimal differences …

Engaging Students, Assessing Learning: Just A Click Away, Linda C. Hodges

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Three ongoing challenges for those of us teaching today’s college students, especially in large lecture classes, are: getting students engaged in their learning, assessing what learning is actually taking place, and competing with students’ technology in keeping their attention. One teaching innovation that holds great promise for addressing these concerns is the use of personal response systems, also known as clickers. Clickers allow you to determine the level of student understanding at any given time with relatively little effort, and in the process encourage students to engage with class material by using the hook of technology. In this paper I …

Resolving A Cultural Conflict In The Classroom: An Exploration Of Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Effective Interventions, Catherine Polydore, Kamau Siwatu

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This study employed qualitative research methods to explore presservice teachers' thoughts about the effectiveness of interventions designed to resolve a cultural conflict involving an African American student. Ninety-five preservice teachers in the Southwest read a 300-word case study that was followed b y four experienced teachers' responses and their proposed culturally or non-culturally responsive interventions. Participants were asked to identify which of the four interventions were most and least effective and supplement their responses with an explanation. The results revealed that most preservice teachers were aware of the effectiveness of interventions that incorporated the student's culture into the teaching and …

Foreword, Mildred Pearson

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Mildred M. Pearson Dr.

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

“Math Is Hard,” Said Mrs. Ford; “Not For Me,” Said Mrs. Honda: Does Culture Matter In Teaching And Learning In Elementary Mathematics?, Shamah Md-Yunus

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This article is a discussion of the practices of teaching and learning in elementary mathematics from the perspectives of Eastern and Western cultures. It focuses on the differences in teaching pedagogy in math between the United States and three Asian countries: Singapore, Japan, and China.

Complicating Students’ Historical Thinking Through Primary Source Reinvention, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

To best challenge students’ thinking, researchers and educators must locate or create innovative ways to spark enthusiasm and facilitate criticality. This paper investigates how middle school students analyzed various primary and secondary historical documents to construct original political cartoons. Students articulated newly generated understandings about the complex historical event within these original political cartoons. Students then examined and discussed peers’ original political cartoons. This approach was novel because the research literature indicated students rarely are asked to construct original political cartoons to express opinions and understandings. Political cartoons mostly are used as tools for interpretation and usually only with gifted …

The Work We Make Scriptures Do For Us: An Argument For Signifying (On) Scriptures As Intellectual Project, Vincent L. Wimbush

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

I propose to argue in this essay for the agenda and practices of a research institute that a new agenda and set of practices put forward by a particular research institute offers a compelling future for biblical studies. In order to make such an argument about a direction for the future, I think it important for me to provide my own unavoidably tendentious current perspective on the personal and intellectual experiences and challenges of the past that have led me to this point.

Teaching Pronunciation As A Core Skill Using The Silent Way Approach, Jordan Cael

MA TESOL Collection

These materials were developed as part of an exploration of how to interweave the study of pronunciation together with the study of the meaning and structure of the language in a way that makes pronunciation practice a central, present, and prominent part of every lesson. Within the framework of teaching pronunciation with the materials, techniques, and principles of the Silent Way Approach, the focus was placed on creating activities that would (1) help students to notice and practice the essential pronunciation elements of the language, known in the Silent Way as the ‘melody’ (i.e., intonation, stress, phrasing, rhythm, etc.), (2) …

Acting For Transformation: An Esl Teacher And Her Adult Immigrant Students Dramatize The Students’ Life Stories, Dana Horstein

MA TESOL Collection

This paper documents the implementation of a year-long drama project that was conducted with adult immigrant English as a Second Language (ESL) students at Asian Human Services, a community-based organization in Chicago. Throughout the year, during the fall, winter, and spring terms, three classes of students dramatized their life stories. This paper provides background for the project by explaining the history and role of drama in language education. It also considers the teacher’s motivations for the project and its design; its ultimate challenges and successes; as well as the insights that it provides about what it means to be a …

For Better Or Verse – Poetry In The Esl Classroom, Fredrick Schroeder

MA TESOL Collection

This Independent Personal Project considers the use of poetry with regard to reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. The first part of the paper deals with the author’s background in poetry and journey to using it in class. The next part is concerned with the reasons for using poetry in the ESL classroom. Then the paper focuses on general concerns using poetry in class, which segues into a more specific discussion of assessment and correction. The final part of the paper presents twenty activities that can be used in the classroom. The …

Grounding Theory In Practice: A Reflection On Designing And Delivering A Workshop On Intercultural Sensitivity For Korean Public School English Teachers, Kevin Giddens

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper I will use a process of rigorous reflection to explore the design and implementation of a cross-cultural simulation workshop as a means of developing intercultural sensitivity among Korean public school English teachers in Daegu, South Korea. After introducing the workshop design I will describe in detail my experience of delivering the workshop. I will overlay Milton J. Bennett’s model for developing intercultural sensitivity (1993) with participant reflections as a means of grounding theory to practice and exploring whether or not participants were able to demonstrate observable movement within Bennett’s model. I will then highlight some possible modifications …

Dance Your Way Into Culture: A Teacher’S Experience Using Dance In The Foreign Language Classroom, Jannely Almonte Ortiz

MA TESOL Collection

Although dance is an expression of culture, it has seldom been used in the foreign language classroom as a teaching tool. Using Patrick Moran’s Cultural Knowings Framework as an organizational foundation throughout the paper, the author shares why this topic became of great interest to her. She also addresses research and perceptions on movement and dance in an educational environment, and attempts to describe benefits and ways of including movement and dance in any foreign language classroom. Though this paper focuses on the author’s experience using merengue music and dance in the teaching of Spanish, it is intended for any …

A Competency-Based Proficiency Framework For Ritsumeikan Secondary Schools, Ann Flanagan

MA TESOL Collection

This paper describes the research and development of a competency-based Proficiency Framework for Ritsumeikan Secondary Schools in Kyoto, Japan as part of curriculum renewal with the campus relocation. The author developed a six-year competency-based curriculum for the EFL classes. It is based on the Common European Framework of Reference. In addition to creating guiding principles and proficiency frameworks, the author has included suggested vocabulary and content, sample themes and topics, entry and exit profiles, and teacher competencies. Two programs, extensive reading and pen pals, have been integrated into the curriculum in order to offer more support for students’ second language …

How Esol Teachers Become Aware Of Communicative Peace, Josette Leblanc

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the implications that the relationship between teacher language awareness and communicative peace may have on educational programs for teachers of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). The evaluation begins by analyzing proposals set out by the applied peace linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos, who suggests that ESOL teachers should teach communicative peace as an element of communicative competence, and also that education programs should provide training to support this approach. By juxtaposing current literature on structural and linguistic violence with Gomes de Matos' classroom techniques, the hypothesis is made that teachers who would teach communicative peace …

Transparent Alignment And Integrated Course Design, David W. Concepción

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

This essay addresses ways of making learning goals, and ways of reaching those goals, more transparent to our students, through a process called ‘alignment.’ After defining key terms, I illustrate integrated course design with an example from my Introduction to Philosophy class.

Principal Led In-Class Positive Behavioral Support Intervention, David Lavender, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Results of this one-year study supported the use of an in-class behavioral intervention program that allowed 8th-grade students to reclaim themselves after verbally disruptive behavioral incidences with direct principal led administrator assistance resulting in student return to differentiated individualized instructional classroom activities. Students involved in a second verbally disruptive incident in the classroom were identified for intervention. Academic and behavioral improvement noted for verbally disruptive students with co-occurring below grade level reading test scores (n = 23) and verbally disruptive students with grade level reading scores (n = 12) suggests continued use of this intervention. All participants were in attendance …

Catalogue 2010-2011, Bank Street College Of Education

Graduate School of Education

This course catalog from a past academic year is a resource for referring to previous course offerings, degree requirements, institutional policies, and more.

Millennial Sex Habits: The Sexual Attitudes And Behaviors Of Unmarried Undergraduate Males At A Small, Private, Christian Institution, Travis T. York

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

This study analyzed the sexual attitudes and behaviors of 211 unmarried, traditionally-aged undergraduate males at a small, private, Christian, liberal arts institution in western Pennsylvania. As hypothesized, data were largely consistent with millennial theorists’ projections about current students’ decline in sexual activity in comparison to data from the past. The results of this project also confirm the relevance of the Social Norms Theory to the study of sexual behavior (Berkowitz, 2003). Descriptive data and definitions of sex, virginity, and abstinence are also discussed. This research suggests that student development professionals should invest in education and programming that provides accurate statistics …

Research-Based Strategies To Promote Academic Integrity, Michele Dipietro

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

A cursory glance at the literature on cheating paints a bleak picture. In the past decades, the prevalence of cheating has hovered at discouragingly high level, with about 75% of students admitting to some sort of cheating, and with peaks of over 90% in some prevalence studies. Given these figures, where does a wellintentioned instructor start? A good place to start untangling this complex problem is to understand it better. Academic dishonest behaviors vary in their frequency, seriousness, and motivations behind them, but they have been extensively researched, and we can abstract general principles to conceptualize this problem. Once we …

Deep/Surface Approaches To Learning In Higher Education: A Research Update, James Rhem

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Instead of looking at and trying to adjust to differences, the deep/surface researchers concentrated on observing commonalities. How did actual students actually study and what were the environmental cues that prompted them to take the approach (“deep” or “surface”) they chose? This research and renewed awareness of it here have had a powerful influence on thinking about teaching and learning in higher education in the United States especially with regard to assessment. Why? Because the research has found that students’ intention in studying/learning relates strongly to their perceptions of what they will be assessed on and how they will be …

Using Undergraduate Students As Teaching Assistants, Joseph "Mick" La Lopa

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Given the procedure for recruiting and selecting undergraduate students to be teaching assistants (TAs) and the pros and cons mentioned, there is every reason to continue using them to help administer my classes. I completely trust undergraduate TAs to keep an accurate record of attendance, grade assignments based on the rubric, and adhere to the course policies concerning attendance and assignment deadlines. Other educators should consider using the recruitment techniques suggested in this essay to select bright undergraduates to serve as a TA. They will reap many benefits from their work.

Facilitating Group Discussions: Understanding Group Development And Dynamics, Kathy Takayama

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Facilitating discussions requires the ability to engage different perspectives and skills in response to the needs of the group. How well a group works together depends upon the dynamics among participants and the ability of the facilitator to gauge and respond to these dynamics. An effective facilitator works to create an inclusive learning environment while being prepared to set boundaries and rules when necessary. Yet, even experienced facilitators can be confronted with situations or individuals that prevent the group from functioning. Such situations are even more daunting for new faculty and graduate student Teaching Assistants (TAs) who are new to …

The Value Of The Narrative Teaching Observation, Niki Young

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Narrative teaching observations allow educational developers to document a variety of teaching behaviors and, by framing these behaviors with the appropriate vocabulary, to highlight their pedagogical functions. We use the vocabulary not to obfuscate good teaching in educational jargon but to illuminate effective teaching behaviors using an agreed upon professional vocabulary and to make the teaching process more transparent (Hatzipanagos ND Lygo-Baker, 2006). Similarly, through its examples of narrative teaching observations, this essay adds to the literature by making our contribution as faculty developers more evident and making our professional practice more explicit.

Honors College & Office Of Scholar Development [Western Kentucky University], Wku Honors College

Mahurin Honors College & Office of Scholar Development

No abstract provided.

Extensive Reading In The Classroom, Petulla Domenica

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper I explore the advantages and benefits of extensive reading in an ESL classroom. The purpose of my paper is to further my understanding of reading in a second language and to start the process of implementing an extensive reading program for my particular teaching context. In the first half of the paper there is an overview of reading in a second language, the benefits of extensive reading and Louis M. Rosenblatt's aesthetic and efferent reading stances. The last two chapters focus on particular challenges, issues and questions I must resolve before I am able to implement extensive …