Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Computer-Aided Instruction On Math Fact Fluency, Joseph Scott Bochniak

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sixth grade students at a Mid-Atlantic, urban, PreK-8 public school have shown weak mathematical performance. In accordance with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the local district has implemented numerous policy changes to improve performance, but no substantial improvements in test scores have been seen so far. This project study focused on the development of automaticity and fluency of math facts to address this problem. The theoretical framework of the study was based on Haring and Eaton's instructional competency hierarchy framework, which claims that students who master basic mathematics skills are better able to progress to more …

Nontraditional Hispanic College Students' Perceptions Of Their Sense Of Belonging At A 2-Year College In Southwest Texas, Ronald Eugene Zawacki-Maldonado

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to understand how a sense of belonging contributes to graduation persistence among nontraditional Hispanic college students. The collectivist culture among these adult learners often results in family and work obligations that curtail their pursuit of higher education. The voices of these students are mostly absent in the current literature and warrant the current research study. Sense of belonging and retention theory formed the conceptual framework for this phenomenological study. A purposeful sample of 16 nontraditional Hispanic students enrolled in a 2-year community college in Southwest Texas participated in interviews. Data analysis focused on themes …

Stakeholders' Roles In Prioritizing Technical Vocational Education And Training In Postconflict Liberia, Edward S. Forh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Postconflict governments and counterparts have collaborated to provide skills training to communities as a critical postconflict development strategy. In these undertakings, the role of community members remains largely undefined. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to understand the perceptions held by rural community members regarding the role they played in influencing government's policy priority for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as a local human development strategy in postconflict Liberia. The conceptual framework was based on human capital theory and concepts of motivation and achievement. Fourteen participants were purposefully selected for the study. Data were collected …

Middle School Teachers' Perspectives Of Classroom Bullying, Sareta Valdez Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers are faced with numerous interruptive bullying behaviors in middle school classrooms, which brought the quality of education into question. Bullying victims have shown decreased rates of academic success, measured by lower grades, compared to those not involved in bullying. The purpose of this basic interpretative qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of classroom bullying from the perspectives and experiences of 10 middle school teachers. The research questions examined teachers' experiences in witnessing bullying in their classrooms and the strategies they used to identify and effectively avert bullying in school. Bandura's theories of moral disengagement and social learning theory …

Teachers' Perspectives About Infusing Music Into Language Arts Instruction, Demetria Lucille Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Reading and writing curricula in more than 50% of America's schools have not been successful in assisting students to meet mandated academic performances for a number of reasons, including lack of student motivation and self-esteem. Research studies indicated that music can influence student motivation and academic performance in subjects such as language arts and that a music-infused curriculum could generate the positive difference between academic failure and academic success. For this qualitative case study with a constructivist paradigm, the purpose was to observe, document, and analyze music-infused lessons used by 4 teachers from prekindergarten to 5th grade with the goal …

Physician As Teacher: Promoting Health And Wellness Among Elementary School Students, Jill E. Stefaniak, Victoria C. Lucia

STEMPS Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Every day, physicians engage in teaching during their patient encounters. It may be that medical students who are introduced to the principles of teaching and learning are more likely to become good communicators and learners. Service-learning may be an effective way for medical students to practice skills in teaching and communication in a real-world setting, while also filling a need within the community. The purpose of this study was to identify common themes within medical students' reflections on what they learned through participating in a teaching exercise with local elementary school children.

METHODS: As a required component of a …

Integrating Technology And Engineering In A Stem Context, Barry N. Burke, Philip A. Reed, John G. Wells, Robert E. Yager (Ed.), Herbert Brunkhorst (Ed.)

STEMPS Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Imagine students entering the classroom with an enthusiasm that cannot be contained. They come from all walks of life and with different experiences and backgrounds and are eager to engage in learning. Inspiration and innovation are on their mind. What they learned in their science and math classes is now being applied in another class they take called Technology and Engineering. Opportunity is what they see for their future. Something about connecting all the dots from all their classes propels them to change their outlook, to get involved, to get excited about school and to envision their future.

Corporate Social Responsibility Enrichment Exchange Program, Deborah Waggoner

Capstone Collection

In this globalized age, international companies and organizations are working in more countries than ever before, and consumers and concerned citizens now have the opportunity and, perhaps even the responsibility, to better understand the environmental and social impacts of the companies and organizations with which they do business.

The concept that businesses and organizations need to be responsible to society for their direct and indirect impacts on people and the environment has become known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). As CSR continues to be a growing practice, companies seem to be approaching it from very different angles, depending upon their …

Transition From Brick And Mortar To Online Teaching: Middle-Grade Teachers' Perspectives, Cathy Griffin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate and understand how middle-grades teachers describe the transition from brick and mortar to online teaching of middle-grades students. A qualitative, descriptive case study design provided the framework for this study. An investigation into the lived experiences of a group of online middle-grades instructors making the transition from a traditional classroom setting to an online environment was conducted using interviews and online journaling.

The questions guiding this study were (a) How does a middle-grade teacher describe the transition from brick and mortar to online teaching of middle-grades learners? (b) What do middle-school teachers …

The Risks And Rewards Of Personal Writing In The High School Classroom, Dannette L. Williamson

Masters Theses

In light of the Common Core State Standards, more research is needed on the importance and transfer value of personal writing high school classrooms. These standards have brought a more rigorous focus to student learning. With a stronger emphasis on argument and source-based writing, high school educators need to reexamine if or how personal writing should fit into curricula. For this study, approximately thirty students from each grade at Effingham High School were surveyed. The entire English department, as well as staff members from other disciplines at Effingham High School, were also surveyed. Prominent findings of the data show that …

The Effect Of A Professional Development Model On Teachers' Knowledge, Beliefs And Instructional Practices In Teaching Early Reading, Gemma Scarparolo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The release of several major evidence-based reports and reviews worldwmilcatide in the last 15 years on teaching reading, have reported that one of the most effective ways to teach the necessary decoding skills for beginning readers is to include and teach phonological awareness and phonics in an explicit, direct and systematic manner. To achieve this, researchers and educators have placed an emphasis on the key role that evidence-based professional development plays in providing teachers with the necessary knowledge, understandings and instructional skills to be able to teach these skills effectively to beginning readers. Professional development has three aims: to change …

Hist 340: American Legal History: A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Katrina Jagodinsky

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Because I am teaching HIST 340: U.S. Legal History for the first time and plan to make it a signature course of mine, I am using the course portfolio and peer review teaching workshop to carefully chart effective teaching strategies for this course. My goals are threefold: 1) to more deeply consider the constituency and position of this course as an important component of the Pre-Law Program and imagine ways to strengthen the History Department’s presence in that area; 2) to ensure the efficacy of teaching strategies and assessments in giving students the opportunities they need to meet course objectives; …

Meng 4200: Heat Transfer—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Yuebin Yu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The main goal of attending this course review project is to improve my teaching performance of technical courses so that both the students and I can enjoy the mutual-learning process. Teaching to me is really rewarding. I believe teaching is an art, which can be continuously improved through learning from the peers, collecting and analyzing students' feedback and practice, regardless whether it is technical or practical. With good teaching, any course can be taught in a joyful manner. The specific objectives of the course portfolio include the follows: 1. Document the main materials for future refining through the documentation process …

Ento 403/803: Management Of Horticultural Crop Pests—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Thomas J. Weissling

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

ENTO 403/803, management of horticultural crop pests, is an important class for many students. It is required by undergraduate horticulture majors at UNL, but because it is offered online, it is also of interest to entomology and horticulture graduate students across the U.S. and globally. I chose this class for the peer review process because I find it challenging due to online course delivery, and the breadth of knowledge of students that are enrolled. I feel I need to take this course to a higher level where I can engage students of all backgrounds, and ensure that each of them …

Thea 474: Digital Animation—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Steve Kolbe

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio provides an overview of student learning in my Digital Animation course - THEA 474. This report serves as documentation of my attempts to define and refine the course goals, activities, assignments, and assessment. Through this portfolio, I hope to more effectively see ways to make this course more impactful for the students, but also to lay the groundwork for additional courses within the major in order to open up a more realized and robust animation focus at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film. A facet of student learning that I plan to document and improve upon …

Agen/Bsen 344: Biological And Environmental Transport Processes—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Shadi F. Othman

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The course I am providing a portfolio for is BSEN/AGEN 344 which is a required course for all our undergraduate students. The Department provides an assessment for the course to align itself with the ABET's Accreditation Process. I taught the course in Spring 2012 adapting a new Team Based Learning Approach. I have three main objective from my portfolio: (1) refine my methods in documenting the linkage between my course goals and assessment measures, (2) document the efficacy of team based learning approach, (3) refine team based learning approach for the current course and adapt the approach to future courses, …

Ento 401: Insect Physiology—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Nicholas Miller

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Insect Physiology (ENTO 401) is a required course for majors in Insect Science. This portfolio documents my efforts to improve the course as I teach it for the second time. My intention was to use the development of a portfolio as a vehicle to modify the course so that the methods I use are better aligned to my overall goals for the course. Consequently, I have produced a portfolio that is directed toward my efforts to develop a more varied approach that improves integrated understanding and scientific thinking and to better document that the development of integrated understanding and scientific …

Metr 341: Synoptic Meteorology—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Project, Matthew S. Van Den Broeke

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Synoptic meteorology is foundational to atmospheric science, and it is critical that students strengthen their ability to think critically and independently in this course. Anecdotal evidence from teaching similar courses, and from education literature in the physical sciences, has pointed to the value of problem solving using data from real events. This inquiry project allowed further investigation of optimal instructional methods for this particular course, and led to the qualitative and partially quantified conclusion that hands-on in-class activities seem to support the most significant learning gains. In addition, this project led to the conclusion that a high degree of peer …

Geog 140: Human Geography—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Katherine Nashleanas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Large lecture classes, often of 100 students or more, present unique challenges to both teaching and learning. The common method of “delivery” by instructors is lecture, often augmented by a set of Power Point slides while the research literature shows that this more traditional way of teaching does not reach students in the way we hope and often assume. At the same time, most of the current students populating these classes are born of the Digital Age and have different expectations for learning, requiring new approaches in the classroom. Faculty are exhorted to incorporate more critical thinking in their classes …

Jour 302: Reporting Ii—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Joseph Weber

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This document summarizes the results of an inquiry conducted as part of an advanced reporting course. The questions at hand were, “can students be taught to avoid bias in their journalistic work and to provide fair accounts of news developments?” and “how might they best be taught that?” This exploration revolved around a single lecture and discussion session, several reading assignments and the viewing of a video interview, and involved two writing assignments. The results suggest that both the teaching and evaluation of bias and fairness are difficult and complex. The findings suggest a single lesson may not be adequate …

Muop 356/856: Intermediate/Advanced Opera Techniques—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Jamie M. Reimer

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Intermediate/Advanced Opera Techniques is a two credit elective course offered each spring at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At its genesis, the course was primarily an opera scenes workshop, focused solely on the preparation and performance of an opera scene in a final concert. It is a cross-listed course meaning that students from the first year through advanced graduate study may enroll. Students may or may not have any experience on the music theater stage, nor have they had training in how to prepare a new role from casting to completed performance.

This course is an elective in the School of …

Thea 234: Scripts In Performance—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Ian Borden

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This had traditionally been a theatre based course for the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film when I took over teaching it in the Fall semester of 2008. At that time, the course (a requirement for Theatre majors, Film and New Media majors, as well as Theatre and Musical Theatre minors) was populated almost entirely by upper level Theatre majors, particularly those in the performance stream. Over the next few years as the Film and new Media program grew, the needs of those students increased in relative importance as they comprised a larger and larger percentage of the class. …

Teac 452v/852v: Curriculum Principles And Practices—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Elizabeth B. Lewis

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Objective: My goal for this teacher action research project was to better understand how to improve students' learning of how to teach science through active and inquiry-based learning experiences.

Abstract: I framed the course under study around an essential question which was: How does a scientific classroom discourse community support student learning? Inquiry-based instruction is a cornerstone of science teaching, thus I investigated preservice science teachers' learning about how to teach science through inquiry-based instruction. By the end of the course all of the students had improved their understanding of inquiry-based instruction and were able to generate better science lessons …

Bioc 435: Advanced Topics In Biochemistry—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Edward N. Harris

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

BIOC 435 or Advanced Topics in Biochemistry is an ACE 10 (Achievement centered education)course for students in their senior year. This is a capstone course for Biochemistry majors and is the last of several biochemistry courses that they will take in their undergraduate enrollment. The course is also open to non-majors in a related science such as Biology and Biological Sciences, although these students typically do not do as well as the majors. Students who take this course should be well-prepared in the basic concepts of biochemistry with regards to nucleic acids and proteins as well as some familiarity with …

Agro/Hort 403/803: Scientific Writing And Communication—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Brian M. Waters

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The course portfolio overviews AGRO/HORT 403/803: "Scientific Writing and Communication”. This course combines science disciplines with English and communications. The course has 3 subsections. In phase 1, students learn to read and critically evaluate scientific literature in Plant Biology. In phase 2, which is the bulk of the course, students write a research paper based on their own original research, and peer-review research papers of fellow students. In phase 3, students present their research in a poster format. The overarching major goal for this course is to use the formal scientific research paper format to provide a framework for student …

Larc 331: Site Systems Iii: Landscape Implementation—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Bret Betnar

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

LARC 331 Site Systems III: Landscape Implementation is a 3rd year undergraduate course that focuses on the implementation of landscape architectural designs. The course is the final in a 3-course Site Systems sequence. In LARC 331, students take the final design proposal from the previous semester’s Site Design studio, LARC 210 or 211, and develop a set of construction documents for that design.

The research question asked through this inquiry is as follows: Can the inclusion of a drawing and building exercise improve students’ understanding of The Ten Fundamentals of drafting? It is believed that by including an additional drawing …

Alec 397: Media Literacy And Popular Portrayals Of Agriculture—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Annie R. Specht

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

My goal is to disseminate this portfolio as a guide for other instructors who are interested in using media literacy as a guiding pedagogical principle for new courses as well as those who wish to incorporate popular media in existing curricula. My objectives for this Peer Review of Teaching benchmark portfolio are:

1. To produce a detailed overview of ALEC 397-001: Media Literacy and Popular Portrayals of Agriculture with extensive attention paid to text selection (identifying and choosing the proper materials to best enhance student learning outcomes).
2. To assist future instructors interested in media literacy with designing and implementing assessments. Assignment …

Training And Burnout Among Paraprofessionals Who Work With Children With Emotional Behavioral Disorders, Jenna Robinson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

To assist the Waseca school district in addressing the training and self-care needs of paraprofessionals, keeping the overall mission in mind of empowering students to succeed in the academic environment, this project examined the training received and factors related to subsequent professional burnout among paraprofessionals in Waseca schools.

Implementing Pbis In A Rural Junior High School: Reducing Negative Behaviors And Gaining Future Teacher Buy-In, Kelly T. Vourlos

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) improves student outcomes including higher graduation rates, improved classroom behaviors and management, less discipline referrals, increased student engagement, improved academic performance, increased faculty retention, and an overall better school experience for staff and students. Staff buy-in can be difficult to obtain, but is critically important for school-wide success of PBIS. The purpose of this project was to investigate if a short-term exposure to PBIS-like intervention would change buy-in for junior high school teachers in Belle Plaine School District and evaluate their opinions about PBIS, along with comparing student incident reports before and throughout the …

Veteran Educators' Perceptions Of The Internet's Impact On Learning And Social Development, Matthew Vincent Glowiak

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a time where some 2.4 billion Internet users exist worldwide, children are increasingly impacted by the Internet's influence, both directly and indirectly. With technology now playing a significant role in childhood learning and social development, many unforeseen shifts are occurring that will ultimately impact lifespan development. Although researchers have provided mixed results concerning the impact of the Internet on learning and social development, the body of evidence indicates that veteran K-8 educators who are comfortable and experienced with the Internet view it more favorably. This grounded theory study systematically generated the multisystem technological engagement theory (MSTET) to explain the …