Playing With Code: Big Ideas For Early Learners, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Publications & Research

For young children growing in today’s digital world, the acquisition of coding and computer programming skills has become a popular and appropriate focus in education. Beyond engaging in technology and coding applications as consumers – the passive act of sitting in front of a screen and merely pressing buttons without a high level of thought – early childhood students are capable of high-quality programming tasks through play-based learning experiences. As producers, our youngest students may explore the open-ended nature of computer programming and coding through design, art, and innovation. Engaging in coding builds valuable and transferable practices such as problem …

Teacher Perception Of Implicit Mindset And Its Influence On Math Instruction In Elementary Classrooms, Danielle E. Tamke

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Math achievement is frequently measured by various assessments. These assessments are then used to determine student and school success, often leading to high stakes decision making. Therefore, it is important to understand ways in which educators can improve student math achievement. Students with a growth mindset, as defined by Dweck (2006), exhibit higher math achievement than students with fixed mindsets. Additionally, teaching practices predict and influence the development of student mindsets. Therefore, one way to improve student math achievement may be through understanding the impact, as well as proper and consistent implementation of growth mindset instructional practices. This qualitative phenomenological …

Special Education Teacher Burnout: Examining The Role Of Educator Preparation Programs In Prevention, Brittany L. Straub

Dissertations

Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up …

Sharing The Pen: An Exploration Of Interactive Writing In Early Childhood Classrooms, Marilyn B. Keller Nicol

The Montana English Journal

Although preschool aged children begin to engage in a variety of early emergent writing tasks, research shows that teachers rarely engage in writing instruction in meaningful ways at this grade level (Gerde et al. 2015; Bingham et al. 2017). This practical teaching article will explore the implementation of interactive writing in early childhood classes. These tips and examples will help teachers move instruction beyond the foundation of letter formation, and onto the elements of writing as a process of creation.

Playing With Math And Science In The Early Childhood Classroom, Cassandra Armstrong, Lindsey Herlehy

Publications & Research

Young students are equipped with the curiosity and creativity to be successful scientists and mathematicians. In today’s classrooms, strong foundational skills in STEM promote success for years to come. Through play, young students can subitize, sort, draw, recognize patterns, and explore loose parts. Participants will actively take part in several activities highlighting each of these skills.

Exploring The Perceptions Of Faculty And Staff Regarding The Impact A Facility Dog Has On Elementary Students’ Learning Environment, Katherine T. Race

All Theses And Dissertations

Over the past decade there has been a drastic increase in students’ reporting and exhibiting feelings of overwhelming anxiety, depression, anger, and disengagement in the school setting (Relevette, 2020). To better appreciate these increases, one must first grasp the notion that two-thirds of school-aged students are experiencing toxic-stress, also known as long-term stress, on a daily basis. Toxic stress has been directly related to the halting of brain development in children (Rossen, 2020).

These experiences, often referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), are various traumatic events children have been victims of, or directly exposed to, during their first seventeen …

Happiness In Mathematics Education: The Experiences Of Preservice Elementary Teachers, Jeffrey Pair, Kent Dinh

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this paper, we discuss preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) self-report of their happiness or unhappiness. Several times throughout a mathematics content capstone course, PSTs responded to prompts in which they described times from their past schooling experiences or during the course in which they experienced happiness or unhappiness in learning mathematics. Through thematic analysis, we examined their common experiences related to happiness and their mathematics learning. We found that PSTs’ happiness is related to expectations of themselves, their teachers, their peers, and mathematics itself. The study illuminates PST beliefs about mathematics teaching, collaborative group work, and the nature of mathematical …

Flexible Facilitation: Coaching And Modelling To Support Inclusive Education, Danielle Lane, Sarah Semon, Nicholas Catania, Khalid M. Abu-Alghayth Phd

The Qualitative Report

The practices of education, such as separate and resource placements, pull-out services, scripted intervention programmes, an emphasis on diagnoses, and behaviorist discipline practices, are not conducive to the goals of inclusive education. This study demonstrates how one instructional coach worked to disrupt traditional special education practices and guide special educators towards the use of more effective research-based instructional strategies and collaborative practices to promote inclusion. Using Robert Stake’s intrinsic case study methodology, we explored the perceived roles of coaching and modelling to promote inclusion through the lens of one coach who modelled methods for the special education teachers in multiple …

In The Middle Of Appalachia: Balancing Teacher Talk With Student Discourse, Ronald V. Morris, Denise Shockley, Sonya Davis

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Appalachian students co-constructed knowledge with their teacher while examining a non-fiction book about Thanksgiving. Fifth grade students used an informational trade book to promote student discourse while using text-based evidence. Students learned about Native Americans and Pilgrims as they engaged in student discourse balanced with teacher talk. Students used an inquiry arc that involved questioning texts and examining sources, and inquiry helped students to investigate narrative text as a source of data. Students used inquiry to enhance their metacognition about historical events. Students exercised agency as they recounted family history and their heritage as part of their memory. Remembering was …

History Or Heritage? An Analysis Of Ghana’S Primary School History Curriculum, Charles Adabo Oppong

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Abstract

At a time that history has gained its place in Ghana’s basic school curriculum, considerable differences of opinion arise, not about the subject’s significance in the school curriculum but concerning the legitimacy of the subject title - that is, whether or not the subject should be referenced ‘History of Ghana’ or ‘Heritage of Ghana’. The different opinions reflect Lowenthal’s (1998) observation that history and heritage are separate disciplines. However, the two subjects are often used interchangeably (Mermion, 2012) and “are habitually confused with each other” (Lowenthal 1998, p. x). While expert academics may be at ease with the distinctions …

Teacher Use And Perceptions Of Writing Practices In West Virginia: Policy And Leadership Implications, Margaret Luma

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

National standardized test scores indicate West Virginia students perform below the national average in writing achievement, yet little research has been conducted to investigate how writing is being taught. Gaining understanding of the instructional strategies West Virginia teachers use to teach writing may provide insight for educational leaders about how to better support and prepare teachers for the complex task of teaching writing. Identifying challenges and barriers to implementing evidence-based practices may provide areas of focus for school and policy improvements as they relate to writing expectations. This study investigated the practices and perceptions of fourth-grade teachers in West Virginia …

The Narratives Of Teacher Candidates In Clinical Practice Within Aa Teacher Residency: The Shaping Of Professional Teacher Identities, Lauren Laughlin

College of Education & Professional Studies (Darden) Posters

Clinical practice within teacher residencies offers contextually based experiences that are influential in the development of professional teacher identities. Additionally, the stories told by teacher candidates about these experiences are instrumental to this development as narratives and identity are intertwined (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Consequently, I employed a narrative inquiry to explore the three-dimensional space of time, place, and sociality that teacher candidates encountered for the first part of their clinical practice within a teacher residency. Additionally, I explored challenges each participant faced. Data collection included interviews, observations, and artifacts as each piece of data informed the other. Then, thinking …

Reading By Ear: Music Teachers' Roles In And Attitudes About Identifying Students With Dyslexia In Kentucky's Public School System, Alison Ward Brown

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Identifying students with literacy disabilities, such as dyslexia, efficiently in public schools is crucial for early intervention. Literacy and musical skills share common neurological pathways, so music educators possess a skill set that could be advantageous in screening students. This study utilized a descriptive research design to identify music educators’ roles in the identification of students with dyslexia/reading disabilities in Kentucky’s public schools, and their attitudes about those roles. Data was collected through a survey completed by Kentucky public school music teachers. Results indicated that 92% of respondents had not participated in the screening process for children with literacy disorders/dyslexia …

Accessible Computational Thinking In Elementary Science, Jeremy Bernier, Francheska Figueroa, Jesse Ha, Janice Mak, Man Su, Lin Yan, Brian Nelson, Lautaro Cabrera, Kristina Kramarczuk, Yue Xin, Diane Jass Ketelhut, Ebony Terrell Shockley

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Computational thinking (CT) is ubiquitous in modern science, yet rarely integrated at the elementary school level. Moreover, access to computer science education at the PK-12 level is inequitably distributed. We believe that access to CT must be available earlier and implemented with the support of an equitable pedagogical framework. Our poster will describe our Accessible Computational Thinking (ACT) research project exploring professional development with elementary teachers on integrating computational thinking with Culturally Responsive Teaching practices.

Teacher Resilience, Kristen Whipple

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The main purpose of this quantitative research study was to explore the influences that impact teacher resilience. Seven factors that potentially protect teacher resilience were chosen: competency, self-efficacy, agency, relationships, organizational culture, altruism, and sense of humor. These factors were tested against years of service categories and self-perceived resilience scores to determine if relationships exist. A two-part online survey gathered demographic information, self-perceived resilience scores, and resilience factor data from American PreK-12 teachers. To answer the three guiding research questions, the statistical tests of multiple linear regression, Pearson’s r correlation coefficient, and chi-square test of independence were utilized. The …

Assessing Teachers’ Pedagogical Practices And Students’ Learning Outcomes In Science And Mathematics Across Primary And Secondary School Level: A Nationwide Study (2018-21), Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta, Nusrat Fatima Rizvi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Developing Effective Professional Learning Communities At Target Elementary School, Bianca S. White-Jeffries

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This explanatory design was used to develop and implement effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at Target Elementary School (TES). The theoretical framework for this study began with the assumption that there was a direct link between PLCs, student data, and self-efficacy of educator collaboration. It should be the goal of every educator to provide a quality education for each student. When educators collaborate to provide success in each classroom, various goals can be met within each site. Several instruments were used to develop and implement professional collaboration. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to determine the effectiveness of the current …

Brain-Based Learning: Beliefs And Practice In One Australian Primary School Implementing A Neuroscience Pedagogical Framework, Christina Deans, Ellen Larsen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Pedagogy grounded in neuroscience is an influential approach in Australian schools, despite concerns regarding teachers’ beliefs in several neuromyths that go on to pervade their practice. This paper reports on a small study that explored teachers’ beliefs and implementation of brain-based learning in one Australian primary school whose pedagogy is specifically underpinned by neuroscience. Survey data collected from 14 teachers were analysed using simple descriptive statistics and content analysis. Findings indicated that these teachers, despite having some accurate brain-based knowledge, were still prone to endorsing common neuromyths regardless of the school’s teaching and learning framework, years at the school, …

Increasing In-Service Teachers’ Willingness To Be Videoed To Support Professional Learning, Marie-Christina Edwards

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Increasing and compelling research demonstrates the affordances of personal video footage as an informative and transformational tool in teacher professional learning (PL), yet many in-service teachers avoid engaging in this practice. This Australian Research Council funded study tracked teacher willingness to use video to capture the application of PL over 12 months in a rural Australian primary school. Data from questionnaires, video-based learning conversations, and collaborative sharing sessions demonstrated a strong increasing trend in the number of teachers volunteering to be videoed across three iterations of research. Thematic analysis highlighted five key factors as catalysts for increased teacher participation in …

Exploring Algebraic Thinking: In-Service Teacher Experiences, Outcomes, And Perceptions From An Algebra For All Capstone Unit Plan Project, Alexander J. Lord, Tallin Lamonaca

Publications and Research

Taking algebra is often noted as a key component for student preparation for college and career success. However, this course often serves as a barrier for secondary students to overcome due to their lack of preparation for such abstract contexts and due to a lack of meaningful professional experiences available to assist teachers develop those concepts. Initiatives such as Algebra for All were started to help educators at all grade levels develop methods to expose their students to algebraic thinking. In New York City, a five-course Algebra for All sequence was created for in-service public school educators at a local …

Pay It Forward: Realizing The Promise Of Oer For The Next Generation Of Learners, Kimberly S. Grotewold, Karen Kohler, Elisabeth M. Krimbill

Library Staff Publications (Archived)

Using Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice explores the opportunities and challenges of moving the discussion about open educational resources (OER) beyond affordability to address structural inequities found throughout academia and scholarly publishing. OER have the potential to celebrate research done by marginalized populations in the context of their own communities, to amplify the voices of those who have the knowledge but have been excluded from formal prestige networks, and to engage students as co-creators of learning content that is relevant and respectful of their cultural contexts. Edited by academic librarians with experience advocating across campus, Using Open Educational …

Special Needs Assistants In Primary Schools: An Investigation Of The Role, Function, And Expectations Of This Post In Ireland, Imaobong Maria Essien

Theses

This study aims to examine the role and function of the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) in Irish Primary Schools. The minimum requirement for a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) is three grade Ds in the Junior Certificate or an equivalent qualification. Existing research suggests that the role lacks clarity and has evolved to include taking on administrative, pedagogical, behavioral management, and therapeutic roles (INTO, 2017; Butler and Quinn, 2014; NCSE, 2011). This study explores the disparity between the SNA job descriptor to recognise the impact and importance of the SNA’s role in the education system. This study is underpinned by the …

See Me, Hear Me, Teach Me: Addressing Equity, Diversity, And Student Engagement Through Culturally Responsive Teaching, Diana Diiorio

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice aimed to investigate how teachers' cultural backgrounds and potential cultural biases were manifested in their teaching and determine the degree to which student engagement is impacted as a result of teachers' proficiency in the use of Cultural-linguistic Responsiveness (CLR). Additionally, this study aims to intervene in the problem of practice (lack of use of Cultural-linguistic Responsiveness strategies) through assessment of the impact of training to increase Cultural-linguistic Responsiveness strategies. By utilizing a convergent mixed-method approach, this study follows a team of devoted school community members as they planned, implemented, studied, and reflected on the …

Marshmallow Catapults, Crystal Confer

STEM Teacher Leaders in Action

Students are working to create catapults out of popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and spoons to launch mini marshmallows. They are changing variables to see if distance outcomes change.

In this lesson students will create a catapult to launch marshmallows. Variables will be changed to determine if outcome is changed.

Developing Self-Efficacy In Mathematics Through Visual Art: An Observational Research Report On A Preschool Child With Exceptionalities, Ever Daw-Powers

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Self-efficacy is a skill that can inspire problem solving, high confidence, and critical thinking skills. As educators seek to create an enriching, inclusive, and engaging academic environment for students with disabilities, it is important to incorporate strategies for building self-efficacy throughout learning. I pose a potential solution to integrate self-efficacy building into mathematical concepts through visual art. The participant in this study is a four-year-old child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), sensory input issues, and a developmental delay. Over a four-week period, I performed a pre-assessment, four lesson plans, and a post-assessment. I created the assessment to measure …

Developing Mathematical Identities: Australian Children’S Gendered Constructs In The First Formal Year Of School, Rachelle Glynn

Theses

Researchers have been intrigued by the dichotomy of similar achievement levels between boys and girls but disparate mathematical attitudes, which show that girls are much less likely to enjoy or engage with mathematics or choose professions involving mathematics (Kyriacou & Goulding, 2006; Vale, 2008). Although studies have explored differences in boys' and girls' perceptions of their mathematical identity from age seven, there has not been research conducted on students as they begin school to see what gendered perceptions they bring to their mathematical learning. This study seeks to answer the question: How are girls’ and boys’ mathematical identities being informed …

Making A Difference Through Sustained In-Service Teacher Training, Abha Gupta, Guang Lea Lee

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study is based on collaboration between a school and a university on professional development training of 4th and 5th grade elementary school teachers in a southeastern state in the USA. The study was three-pronged and focused on teacher knowledge, pedagogy, and student achievement. We examined how the building of teacher capacity affected the performance of underachieving students in math and literacy. Underachieving students were targeted with specific strategies, projects, problems solving stories, self-reflection, and higher-level thinking questions. Student performance was measured for literacy achievement, with quantitative and qualitative measures used for data collection purposes. Students showed progress over previous …

Generalist Primary School Teachers’ Preferences For Becoming Subject Matter Specialists, James Russo, Ellen Corovic, Jane Hubbard, Janette Bobis, Ann Downton, Sharyn L. Livy, Peter A. Sullivan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Traditionally Australian primary school teachers have been viewed as generalists responsible for instruction across all content areas. Adopting self-determination theory as a lens, the aim of the study was to explore the extent to which generalist primary school teachers are interested in becoming subject matter specialists. Questionnaire data were collected from 104 early years primary school teachers. Findings suggest that two-thirds of these generalist teachers expressed an interest in specialising in either English, mathematics, and to a far lesser extent, science, such that they would be responsible for exclusively teaching this subject. Preferences for specialisation were based on teachers’ self-perceived …

Exploring The Changing Nature Of Teachers’ Pedagogic Identities During The Delivery Of Online Literacy Teaching, Deb L. Brosseuk, Lynn Downes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the interconnectedness between Australian teachers’ literacy practices and their pedagogic identity during the global pandemic. In doing so, the paper presents pedagogic identity as a dynamic, ever-evolving construct involving teachers and their teaching environment. Findings are reported from a case study of early years and primary teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. From teachers’ self-reported teaching experiences, we identify three orientations to pedagogic identity: The Driver; The Collaborator; and The Apprentice. Drawing on analytic work, the paper finds that the online delivery of literacy teaching brought opportunities for teachers to shift between pedagogic identities, …

Generating Reflections Through Professional Collaborative Storytelling, Anne Keary, Narelle Wood, Karina Barley, Kelly Carabott

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

For teachers, storytelling is a way of making sense of everyday pedagogical practices and connecting with colleagues. In this paper, we explore how storytelling contributed to a collaborative culture indicative of our professional journey as four teacher educators. We examine six online weekly Zoom conversations we participated in as a teaching group to share our pedagogical ideas for enhancing an English education unit of work. During this storytelling, we discussed how we engaged with the teaching of, teaching about and teaching through the teaching and learning curriculum cycle to a first-year cohort of preservice teachers (PSTs). Importantly, we deliberated on …