Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Improving Math Performance In Adult Female Community College Students: An Evaluation Of Project Independence, Robin Tim Frodsham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project Independence (PI) is a community college immersion program dedicated to assisting women returning to college. The focus of this study and associated summative evaluation was to understand how the PI program addresses anxiety and other learning deficiencies associated with math. Knowle's andragogical models portray adults as motivated and self-directed, and the American college campus fosters a culture of independence. This culture is foreign to many minority, first-generation, and working class adults who learn through interdependence. This qualitative instrumental case study and evaluation is the first to examine the efficacy of PI. The guiding questions of this study concern early …

Researching The Historical Representations Of Ancient Egypt In Trade Books, Lieren Schuette

Masters Theses

State and national education initiatives require that historical information be introduced in the classroom through the utilization of multiple diverse texts. The role of non-fiction in the English/language arts classroom, as well as informational texts in the history/social studies classroom, increased considerably. The use of trade books allows teachers to connect the two curricula, while also meeting the standards. Primary sources can assist in filling the informational gap left by trade books and textbooks, which allow students to gain a more balanced view of historical events. Teachers, however, are not given direction as to which specific curricular materials are most …

Building A Discourse: Bridging The Gap Between New Media's Convergence And Rhetoric And Composition's Multimodality, Katherine G. Aho

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

My dissertation emphasizes the use of narrative structuralism and narrative theories about storytelling in order to build a discourse between the fields of New Media and Rhetoric and Composition. Propp's morphological analysis and the breaking down of stories into component pieces aides in the discussion of storytelling as it appears in and is mediated by digital and computer technologies. New Media and Rhetoric and Composition are aided by shared concerns for textual production and consumption.

In using the notion of "kairotic reading" (KR), I show the interconnectedness and interdisciplinarity required in the development of pedagogy utilized to teach students to …

Agro/Hort403/803: Scientific Writing And Communication—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Brian M. Waters

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Scientific writing is a skill that is useful for science students, since many of them will write about their research in theses, dissertations or journal articles. However, many students have not been trained in scientific writing, and the task seems insurmountable to some, who can develop a “fear of writing” that prevents them from finishing their program or manuscript. To effectively teach scientific writing, the instructor should devote the most effort to the most effective learning activities. Thus, this inquiry portfolio addresses two Research Questions: 1) “What is the most effective activity in my course for student learning?”, and 2) …

Hist 208: History Of World War Ii—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Thomas Berg

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This Inquiry Portfolio explores the efficacy of the “flipped classroom” format for university-level history courses for students, the professor, and the history department. While creating a clear outline of expectations, readings, examination and quiz requirements will allow the student to better organize their study time, I wanted to know if the “flipped format” would help my students master the knowledge, develop good discussion skills, and practice critical thinking skills learned during classroom discussions. Also, not having taught any flipped courses, I needed the experience to discuss cogently with my peers the desirability and practicality of offering flipped history courses.

Fors 401: Forensic Biochemistry—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Ashley Hall

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Students who participate in active and experiential learning activities develop a better understanding of basic scientific principles and are also more likely to be retained in a STEM discipline. Developing such activities, however, can be difficult. In the present study, we sought to develop classroom activities to engage university students and increase understanding of the theory and practice of forensic science. One common accessory amongst the target audience was the ever-present media, both social and popular (entertainment). In fact, a majority of students report watching at least one of the many popular forensic science shows on TV. Therefore, we hypothesized …

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

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Large lecture classes 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; and, while the research literature shows that this is the more traditional way of teaching, increasingly it is becoming apparent that this method of instruction often does not reach students in the way we hope and often assume (Harvard Magazine 2015). Most of the students populating these classes are born of the Digital Age and have different expectations for learning, requiring new approaches in the classroom …

Arab 102: First-Year Arabic Language—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Abla Hasan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Goals of the class are derived from goals nationally recognized and agreed upon for low intermediate Arabic learners .This systematic consistency with the nationally recognized standards -albeit can be more challenging- insures students' ability to pursue national major programs in Arabic or their ability to compete for national grants, scholarships and study abroad programs. The standers adopted by ACTFL and STARTALK equally consider the linguistic as well as the cultural content of teaching Arabic. These standers known as the five C's are: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Community. The cultural content of learning Arabic is part of the international and …

Adpr 450/850: Public Relations Theory And Strategy—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Ming Wang

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

I decided to join the Peer Review of Teaching program to achieve the following three objectives: to better align course objectives with course content, to improve ways of documenting and assessing student learning, and to fit the course into the broader curriculum.

Participation in the Peer Review of Teaching program has been most illuminating and beneficial. I got to focus on tackling three tangible objectives for my ADPR 450/850 Public Relations Theory and Strategy class. Then I got to apply many ideas introduced in this program, such as backward design principle and assessment methods, in my teaching. I had the …

Msym 109: Physical Principles In Agriculture And Life Sciences—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, David Mabie

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark course portfolio was developed for MSYM 109 - Physical Principles in Agriculture and Life Sciences. The class is a general service course taken by majors as a prerequisite for future coursework along with several other CASNR majors to fulfill their physics course requirement. MSYM 109 is a high enrollment course, with 115 students in lecture, along with four separate 30 person recitation sections. This portfolio was developed to assess the following objectives: 1. Identify, evaluate, and justify the course objectives 2. Assess and evaluate the course pedagogy and assessment methodology 3. Analyze the historical students assessment results against …

Span 202: Intermediate Spanish Ii (Focus On Literature & Culture)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Kelly Kingsbury Brunetto

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

During Spring 2015 I undertook a curricular revision of UNL's fourth-semester Spanish course (SPAN202) with the objective of improving the materials to help the course better achieve its stated goal of moving students "away from knowledge about the language and expertise in using isolated skills into a practical and fluid use of the language in which [they] synthesize [their] isolated skills." As it existed at the time, in theory SPAN202 focuses on synthesis and helping students negotiate higher levels of discourse, but in practice it tended to get bogged down in a comprehensive grammar review. In reality, some grammar topics …

Phys 231: Electric And Electronic Circuits—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Xiaoshan Xu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In this portfolio, I employed a backward design teaching approach on the course PHY231 (Electric and Electronic circuit). I first decide the course objectives and choose the teaching strategies and activities emphasizing student engagement and feedbacks. The effectiveness of the teaching strategies and activities are assessed throughout the course; the adjustments are made accordingly. The results are analyzed at the end of the semester. The assessments indicate that the course objectives are fundamentally achieved and the teaching strategies are effective.

The objectives of the course are:

1. Students will reinforce their understanding in electricity and magnetism.
2. Students will learn theory of …

Edps 859: Statistical Methods—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Matthew S. Fritz

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The key goal of creating this benchmark teaching portfolio is identifying what my course objectives for EDPS 859 really are and to revise my current course materials, activities, and evaluations to emphasize what I consider to be important in the class in order to better meet the course objectives. I would like this portfolio to serve primarily as a way for me to identify and address issues with my particular section of EDPS 859. The secondary purpose of this portfolio is to provide information regarding the purpose and placement of EDPS 859 as a service course within CEHS and the …

Teac 921b: Seminar In Literacy Studies (Special Topics: Schooling And The Multilingual Mind)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Theresa Catalano

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio will document the creation and implementation of a new doctoral seminar in my department. This introductory course to multilingualism and schooling (TEAC 921B) will cover topics related to teaching and learning in the multilingual classroom. The key goals for creating this portfolio are to aid me in creating this new doctoral seminar that reflects and builds on departmental goals for graduate students. In particular I would like to document and address the implementation of two new activities to my teaching ; a language study/journal, and the creation of a documentary film. I foresee using this course portfolio as …

Teac 315: Teaching Science In The Elementary School—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Krista Adams

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Teaching Science in the Elementary School (TEAC 315) is an upper-division course taken by elementary education majors as a requirement for the Bachelor of Science (BS) in Education. The peer review of teaching project had me identify concerns for teaching the elementary methods course. The concerns I wanted to address focused on eliciting teacher candidate’s views and experiences with teaching science as well as my ability to identify evidence of growth. The first area focuses on my needing to understand if I need to develop more instructional strategies to support teacher candidate growth. This involves both in terms of specific …

Teac 451p: Learning And Teaching Principles And Practices (Secondary Mathematics)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Lorraine Males

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The goal of my peer review portfolio was to better understand how to improve students' learning of how to teach secondary mathematics in reform-oriented ways. Most students that pursue admission into the Secondary Mathematics Teacher Education Program have little to no experience learning mathematics in reform-oriented ways. These preservice teachers (PSTs) were “successful” in mathematics courses in middle and high school, most of them taking honors or accelerated courses. However, many of these PSTs did not have opportunities to engage as active participants in their own learning and develop complex cognitive skills and processes, the focus of reform-oriented instruction. This …

The 1930s: The Great Depression And Beyond ; An Annotated Bibliography, Tydra Corbin

Graduate Research Papers

The amount of material a social studies teacher is expected to cover in a year can be overwhelming. Yet, when a search for picture books to support a unit on the 1930s in America was conducted, no comprehensive list was found. Therefore, the purpose of this research project was to create an annotated bibliography of high quality picture books aligned to the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies that would improve the teaching of a unit on the decade. After examining the picture books, gaps in the topics covered were identified, and vetted websites were selected to supplement coverage of …

Literacy Strategies Successfully Implemented By Secondary Social Studies Teachers, Kelly Killorn

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine which literacy strategies were used by secondary social studies teachers who were identified by their principals as having strong literacy integration skills. In addition, teachers' beliefs and purposes for utilizing said literacy strategies were examined. It was hypothesized that participants would incorporate literacy strategies into their instruction, and would utilize explicit vocabulary instructional methods and graphic organizers most frequently. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from five participants through three 50-minute behavioral observations apiece, followed by a 45-minute focus group discussion. Results indicated that these participants overwhelmingly utilized literacy strategies regularly …

Early Career Principal Development: A Qualitative Case Study Of Principals' Perceptions Of Participation In The Institute Of Engaged Principal Leadership, Teri Marie Preisler

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the perceptions of the participants in the Institute of Engaged Principal Leadership at the start and conclusion of their first year of sessions. The study used a single case study qualitative research approach incorporating semi-structured interviews questions, researcher observations, and review of documents throughout the 2012-2013 initial year of the Institute. The results indicate themes of growth within the participants' beliefs, confidence, focus on equity and student-centered school climate, and a need for networking within the educational leadership roles. Based upon these results, recommendations are provided for future Institutes as well as preparation programs for teachers and …

A Case Study Of A University's Remedial Program For Passing The Praxis I, Tassi Fite Brinkley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Underprepared students desiring to enter teacher education programs struggle to achieve minimum state-required Praxis I exam scores. This problem affects teacher education programs, student success, and university enrollment and retention. With proper resources and support, these students may experience personal and academic success that may be transferred to their own students once they are certified teachers. At the participating mid-South university, the effectiveness of the existing remedial program was unknown. The study's purpose, rooted in the constructivist learning principles of Dewey and Bruner, was to address the effectiveness of the local university's existing remedial program in assisting the teacher education …

Acculturation In Marital Satisfaction Among Mixed Caucasian And Asian American Heterosexual Couples, Lotes Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The growing population of the United States is linked to the increasing migration of individuals from other countries. With migration comes the development of cross-cultural and interracial romantic relationships, many leading to marriages. This qualitative grounded theory study sought to understand how a migrant partner's adjustment process, acculturation, contributes to cross-cultural marriages. The main research question and purpose of this study was to investigate the role of acculturation in marital satisfaction among mixed Caucasian and Asian American heterosexual couples. This study utilized multiple data sources and a purposive sampling of 11 mixed Asian and Caucasian heterosexual married couples, with one …

Understanding Doctoral Success Factors In Online Education Programs, Carissa Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The doctoral student completion rate in the United States is approximately 57% across all disciplines. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate doctoral students' perceptions of program completion across multiple online doctoral programs at a single university. The quantitative component examined differences in 4 doctoral program completion-related factors between students in 2 capstone completion stages and 6 academic programs. The qualitative component included an analysis of student perceptions of program completion. Attribution theory was used as a framework to understand the ways that personal attributions influence the success of the participants. The Doctoral Completion and Persistence Scale (DCPS) …

Effect Of A Lifetime Health And Fitness Class On College Students, Tiffany Tara Young Klockziem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Physical inactivity and obesity, both of which are modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, increase substantially during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. CVD is the 5th leading cause of death in people ages 18 to 29. This disease has enormous social and financial repercussions; however, many college age students do not see chronic disease as a personal threat. Few researchers have examined chronic disease risk in young adults or used a consistent, objective measurement of physical activity. A pre-post, quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the association between a health and fitness class, physical education 215 (PHED 215) …

Supporting Elementary Teachers In Effective Writing Instruction Through Professional Development, Whitney Nash Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing have created a challenge for teachers at an urban elementary school as they struggled to provide effective writing instruction to support the rigorous expectations of the standards. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary teachers' lived experiences of instruction and better understand instructional writing procedures and strategies. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Dennick's work for incorporating educational theory into teaching practices, which combined elements of constructivist, experiential, and humanist learning theories. Research questions investigated how teachers perceived the impact of the CCSS writing standards on their practice …

Speech-Language Pathologists On Multicultural Counseling Competency, Denise Moore Revel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite reports of speech-language pathology graduate-level programs focusing on multicultural competence, the literature suggests speech-language pathologists are not adequately educated and trained to be culturally competent. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of public school-based speech-language pathologists' graduate-level academic instruction and the clinical practicum experiences in multicultural competence, specifically in the area of multicultural counseling. Guided by the theory of multicultural counseling and therapy, this study used a phenomenological approach, employing semistructured, in-person interviews with 7 participants. The inclusion criteria used for selecting study participants included: having a master's degree in speech-language pathology, graduation from an …

Employing Plns For The Self-Development Of Army Leaders: A Connectivist Approach, James K. Greer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The post-9/11 security environment is one that confronts the United States, and specifically the U.S. Army, with complex problems that require development of leaders with improved knowledge, skills, and attributes to meet the challenges of defending the nation. The problem confronting the U.S. Army is that Army leaders lack a learning environment or methodology that enables effective self-development throughout their career. Research suggests that PLNs (PLNs) and a connectivist approach may address that problem, but these have been limited to civilian educational environments. This qualitative case study explored the use of PLNs with a connectivist approach for leader self-development in …

An Examination Of The Differential Impact Of University/College Research Emphasis On Levels Of Counselors' Resilience, Erica Ann Handon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counselor resilience is the ability to transform adversity into growth opportunities that become part of the professional's identity and the core values of a counselor. However, researchers have yet to identify why some counselors exhibit higher levels of resilience while others exhibit less. Counselor resilience can be learned and nurtured at any point of an individual's development. The purpose of this study was to examine how differences within the foundational edification of a research-embedded curriculum impact a counselor's level of resilience. Participants included practicing counselors who received their counseling degrees from a 2014 U.S News and World Report (USNWR) Nationally …

Second Chance For School Dropouts In Kenya Through Adult Education, Lombo Lombo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Most Kenyan high school dropouts do not have a school reentry option, and without a high school diploma, they lack access to tertiary or higher education institutions for training and career development. This case study was an investigation of how an adult learning center in Kenya educated high school dropouts and helped them to gain access to vocational training or higher education. The research questions addressed the pedagogy, learning experiences, and curriculum of the Baraka Adult Learning Center (BALC) and also focused on how the BALC met students' aspirations, needs, and goals based on the perceptions of teachers and adult …

Increasing School Commitment By Listening To Veteran Teachers' Needs And Concerns, Carrie Mcatee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The role that support systems play in new teachers' levels of school commitment has been widely documented. However, veteran teachers' levels of commitment have not been as closely studied. According to the department of education in a Southeastern state, the veteran teacher attrition rate at a Title I school in an urban school district was in the double digits for several years. High veteran teacher attrition rates and low levels of commitment can cause problems such as loss of continuity of instruction for students. The purpose of this study was to identify veteran teachers' perceptions of their levels of school …

School Bullying And Teacher Professional Development, Demita Sidonia Parson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying has become a serious concern in many American public middle schools in recent years. Inadequate professional development (PD) in bullying prevention and response strategies has compounded this problem. The overarching purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the growing problem of school bullying. Bronfenbrenner's socioecological theory, which states that environment and relationships influence student behavior, served as the conceptual framework for this qualitative study. Guiding research questions, grounded in socioecological theory, were used to examine middle school teachers' views of PD and their perceived skills in responding to or preventing bullying. Through purposeful sampling, 8 middle school …