Browsing by Subject "Education, Curriculum and Instruction"

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The affordances of multimodal texts and their impact on the reading process.
(2011-11) Voss, Scott M.
This mixed methodology study examines how students interact (and transact) with texts across modalities as evidenced by comprehension performance. In addition, it examines their perceptions of the texts and reading processes across each modality. The first phase of this study included a controlled experiment of 90 high school students. Using a passage from their Earth Science textbook, students were asked to read the text off the screen, use the assigned affordance (print only, print and audio, or print and video), and complete both comprehension and self-efficacy items. Analysis of this data showed that there were no statistically significant differences across the three treatments for either the comprehension or self-efficacy measures. The second phase of the study included a guided interview with 27 students. Employing the interpretive analysis of Grounded Theory, these interviews showed that students who successfully navigated these modalities were able to both perceive the affordances and strategically utilize them. This study holds implications for the notion of what an affordance is, how teachers use online digital textbooks, and how publishing companies design and format digital versions of their texts.
Argumentation in an online mathematics course.
(2009-11) Wentworth, Beth
Education systems are increasingly relying on online and distance education technology as a means of delivering instruction. The issues that are faced in online education settings include how to address the distance between participants and the instructor, and the best way to deliver instruction. Although new online technologies provide the opportunity for many types of synchronous and asynchronous communication, most education settings depend primarily on asynchronous communication, due to reduced cost and increased flexibility for participants. However, another concern in education settings is to provide a setting in which communication and discourse patterns can mirror a classroom setting and encourage critical thinking on the part of participants. This is particularly important in mathematics education, in which communication and discourse within classroom settings are included in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards. There is a need for discussions based on reasoning and evidence to be extended to online mathematics settings. One method which has been attempted to improve online discourse and argumentation is to request that students make use of formal argument models such as Toulmin (1958), and to compose their posts and responses to fit particular categories of argument structure. An example of such a study is Jeong and Joung (2007), in which participants discussing topics in educational technology were asked to use argument constraints for their posts, and sometimes to label their posts in terms of which argument category was used. Jeong and Joung found that the use of labels in addition to constraints reduced the number of times that participants challenged another student's post, and reduced the number of responses to challenges. Mathematics education may differ from other fields, due to the emphasis on argumentation and proof in classroom settings. Thus the current study attempted to replicate Jeong and Joung in the field of mathematics. Participants were 25 mathematics teachers involved in professional development who discussed five mathematics topics in an online setting. They were assigned to either a Constraints Only or a Constraints with Label condition. There were no differences between the two constraint conditions in terms of number of initial posts, challenges and challenge rebuttals. In terms of specific argument categories used, there were more Argument posts in the Constraints with Label condition, and more Critique and Explanation posts in the Constraints Only condition. Exploration of two-post sequences showed more complex patterns in the Constraints Only condition. Response quality did not differ across the two conditions. The results only partially replicate Jeong and Joung (2007). Specifically, the small sample and small discussion groups make direct comparison difficult. However, participants in mathematics education were not reluctant to use labels in their argument structure. Future research could explore other methods of use of argument structure in online discussion.
Art as visual literacy in literati`S Shishuhus (poetry-calligraphy-painting): self-expressive visual education as a primary discipline.
(2012-02) Shin, Hyunkyoung
This study re-examines integrative approaches to traditional literatifs education and explores the modern condition of Korean vision regarding the modern Cartesian perspective as a posed problem. The Cartesian perspective is a dichotomy with a rational self-centered perspective, supported by a text-based education system, but it has enhenced studentsf left brain laterality ignoring the harmonious both brainfs development of reason and emotion, and brought rationalization and marginalization of visual ability which are symptoms of visual immaturity. The modern condition has continued to degenerate this traditional harmonious way of seeing up to the present day along with losing the symbolic meaning of images. As a result of these large-scale cultural shifts, not only has the Eastern tradition of educating literati disappeared but the role of art has also become separated from everyday life, and become stifled without adapting to todayfs context. Losing traditional values means losing oneself as a cohesive whole. Koreans have lost their way of seeing which was previously unified within a monistic universe along with the changes from traditional ways, even though onefs visual ability is connected to their perceptions and cognition. We must start from a critical point of view to review the causes of this situation in terms of its historical, socio-cultural, and educational contexts. An educational goal is to find a way to solve this modern visual immaturity, which is the eyeless state in terms of Buddhism. Traditional education can play a role not only in relation to educational goals, but also as a means to recover the Korean identity and their way of seeing. To achieve the harmonious unification of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, we need to reinforce the right hemisphere of the brain in this left brain-centered educational environment. The main focus of this dissertation is to reconstruct this lost vision and to develop the right hemisphere of the brain, which is peoplefs latent ability in their true nature. These two goals can gain from recovering the role of Eastern literatifs Shishuhua (`á`, poetry, calligraphy and painting) education. Shishuhua unified philosopy/writing and art/drawing and painting is literatifs tool for learning and expressing their thoughts through symbolic meaning of a nature. Indeed, traditional education is Shishuhua practice. It provides a unifying worldview to solve the problems of modern times and is the way to teach visual self-expression which is the role of art as visual literacy as a contemporary conversion. However, literatifs Shishuhua tradition is already dead. To recover its role , we have to deconstruct the Cartesian, self-centered way of seeing and revitalize the role of traditional art as visual literacy. That is, it is to deconstruct the modern construction and reconstruct the lost vision and symbolic meaning within a mind and body connection. It is not to teach how to make a good art but to teach how to see well in our school curriculum. In conclusion, this dissertation proposes an emergence of self-expressive visual education. Issues of reeducating teachers and discussion for further implementation of visual self-expressive education are explored and described.
Assessing Christian Discipleship in Catholic Youth Ministry
(2008-10) Kaster, Jeffrey Joseph
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intermediate outcomes of a youth ministry curriculum seeking to foster Christian discipleship. The study developed and tested a preliminary Christian Discipleship Scale seeking to operationally define Christian discipleship for assessment purposes. Telephone surveys were conducted with a representative sample (n=76) of young adult Catholics (population=113) who participated in an intensive university/seminary sponsored youth ministry program between 2000 and 2004 as high school youth. Results indicate the curriculum of theological study, justice education, prayer, and vocational discernment was influential in fostering the Christian discipleship practices of theological education, volunteer service, and prayer in these young adults. Further study is warranted on the Christian Discipleship Scale as a tool for assessing Christian discipleship formation in adolescent religious education curricula as results showed it correlated with five variables including frequencies of Mass attendance, frequency of prayer, frequency of reading scripture, involvement in religious groups, and leadership in religious groups.
The brain is for action: embodiment, causality, and conceptual learning with video games to improve reading comprehension and scientific problem solving.
(2012-11) Dubbels, Brock Randall
This experiment compares children's comprehension and problem solving with the same information presented in three different media formats: an embodied video game, a first-person video, and a print narrative. The embodied video game emphasizes interaction and causation, where the player moves the narrative forward by causing change through interaction. According to embodiment theorists, the ability to create knowledge is predicated upon the ability to identify and connect changes, and what causes change in events. Comprehension is measured in this study with the Event-Indexing Model, (EIM). Research on the EIM indicates that identification of causation is often highly correlated to identification of other elements of comprehension, including memory of time, space, objects, and intentions across events. This experiment examines whether media format, which emphasizes embodied interaction and identification of causation, improves comprehension and problem solving. In question 1, this experiment examines whether the embodied video game will lead to superior comprehension and problem solving outcomes compared to the same information presented in a video or a printed text. Question 2 compares comprehension and problem solving when the reading text condition follows playing the game and watching the video. The third question examines the role of causation, which is the ability to identify actions that create changes between narrative events in a text. This dissertation analyzes comprehension and problem outcomes across media: as an embodied video game, a video, or a printed text. Additionally, it examines reading performance across presentation order, and the importance of identification in situation model construction.
Case study of a secondary online program in a large, diverse midwestern public school district.
(2010-05) Cruzan, Carla Dale
In a time of growth in secondary education online programs, there have been few studies directed at understanding secondary online programs and the students they serve. That is particularly true for large, inner-city public school districts with a diverse student body. This is a mixed methods case study which identified that students' primary motive for taking online courses in school year 2007-2008 was to take courses in order to fulfill graduation requirements and graduate from high school on time. Considering the online course outcomes for 854 unique students, chi-square tests show that four factors were significant predictors of either a pass or fail outcome for a completed online course: (a) course titles, (b) student ethnicity, (c) student home computer and Internet access, and (d) year-in-school. Gender was not found to be a significant factor. Course frequency data were available for 1,995 courses taken by the 854 students, indicating that approximately two-thirds of courses completed were four core health and physical education online courses that students passed 90 percent of the time. The online program was in the forefront of leading the district toward a more standardized curriculum after many years of site-based management in its seven largest high schools. This case study indicated several areas that may prove beneficial if further research were conducted, including: (a) discovering why more young women than young men took online PE courses, and (b) discovering ways in which to identify at-risk online students who could benefit from additional support.
College students’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter across reaction the particulate nature of matter across reaction types.
(2012-05) Nyachwaya, James Mochoge
Research in chemical education has shown that while students (K-20) can perform well on tasks that require use of algorithmic and symbolic skills, they struggle with tasks that require conceptual understanding of chemistry. One area where such a trend has been observed is the Particulate Nature of Matter (PNM). A number of factors have been attributed to this struggle in developing conceptual understanding, for example, the abstract nature of the subject and concepts, the fact that most teaching and assessments focus on algorithmic understanding of content, and a missing connections to students' everyday lives. This semester-long grounded theory study examined college level general chemistry students' conceptual understanding of the particulate nature of matter across three different types of reactions. Students were asked to balance the chemical equations, and then draw particulate representations of the reactions. A sample of 10 participants was interviewed to probe for their understanding of underlying chemistry concepts represented by the equations and their particulate drawings. The study sought to compare students' understanding at the symbolic and particulate levels, look at trends across the different reactions, how the trends changed over the semester, and to reveal struggles with fundamental chemistry concepts. Analysis of the results shows that there is a gap between students' understanding at the particulate and symbolic levels, inconsistency in students' understanding across the three chemical reactions over the course of the semester, and struggles with fundamental chemistry concepts. This study reinforces the need to teach and assess for conceptual understanding, not just in chemistry, but in other subject areas as well. Suggestions for teaching and research are also made.
Comparing the effectiveness of three instructional approaches in a problem-centered, multimedia-based learning environment.
(2011-06) Wojtanowski, Scott Thomas
Throughout the history of the American public education system, many people have predicted that technology would significantly improve the way students learn and the way teachers provide instruction. Unfortunately, each technological innovation has failed on its promise to dramatically improve education. This has led some researchers to suggest that more research is needed to examine the influence that teacher's pedagogy has on technology integration. This study examines three different instructional approaches used within a multimedia-based learning environment and the impact they have on student knowledge. A total of 225 students of varied academic achievement levels and three middle school geography teachers participated in the study. An online multimedia-based learning environment, GeoThentic, required students to use data and information provided in the learning environment to identify the best location in which to build a hospital in San Francisco. Each teacher used a different instructional approach for each of the three classes he or she taught. These instructional approaches were defined by and based on the literature on directed instruction, structured problem solving, and minimally guided instruction. A written response exam and selected response exam measured the ability of a group of students to process information and analyze data provided in the GeoThentic environment. When comparing the results of these two different tests, the analyses found that students receiving minimally guided instruction performed significantly different than those students receiving directed instruction or structured problem solving instruction. Taken together, these results suggest that minimally guided instructional approaches are less effective than directed or structured problem solving instructional approaches for this particular type of learning environment. This study also suggests that teachers must provide a certain amount of guidance to students, however, more research is needed to identify the appropriate amount of guidance needed and when less direction can be provided to students.
Complications and complexities in the schooling experiences of young Northern Nigerian women living in Zaria
(2010-07) Jatau, Phebe Veronica
The purpose of this research was to share and interpret the stories of young women in Zaria, an urban city in northern Nigeria, in order to illustrate how their unique positions framed their identity and their attitude toward schooling. There has been a huge concern about the increasing school dropout rate among women in the country, particularly in northern Nigeria. The gender gap and inequities that pervade the educational system have remained daunting challenges. Many stories have been told and are still being told about these women and their ability or inability to access formal education. Most of the literature that examines this phenomenon comes at the problem from a quantitative research approach which beclouds important nuances. As such, a one-size-fits-all approach has been used to promote women's education in Nigeria without recognizing difference. In my research, the complexities and complications involved in the schooling process of these women were uncovered in order to deepen understanding about the issues that they grappled with as they went to school. Qualitative research methods, particularly interviews and deep conversations, were used to elicit the seventeen young women's (between the ages of 18 and 30) experiences. I chose these women purposively using criterion sampling and snowballing. Some women self-selected themselves to participate. Postmodernism, postcolonial feminism, socio-cultural perspectives on literacy, and funds of knowledge were theoretical frameworks that helped me to understand the forces at work in these women's schooling. These forces included poverty, ethnicity, religion, and lack of proficiency in English language, which together informed their identity construction and in the end complicated their schooling processes.
Culture-Based Arts Integration: An examination of carefully developed space where art and culture exist from a place of new student voice, knowledge, and discourse.
(2010-07) Hrenko, Kelly A.
This dissertation looks at how White teachers of Native students learn to implement a culturally based art curriculum. I focus on two teachers over the course of 1 school year who have differing degrees of success in using this type of art curriculum to determine the factors important for teaching in this way and how they can be supported and promoted though the process. My study looks at the following questions: 1. How do teachers implement culturally based art curriculum in the classroom? a. What art practices and processes are used to engage students? b. What culture-based resources are included? 2. What impact does the curriculum have on the dynamics of the classroom in terms of patterns of discourse and student learning? a. Is there a thirdspace operating in the classroom? b. What are the characteristics of this space? How is it functioning? 3. What enables or constrains the teachers’ ability to achieve her pedagogical goals in teaching this curriculum? The work of culture-based arts integration is the act of bridging native art and culture with the traditional constructs of the k–12 schooling system. This work of integrating two constructs usually does not result in one changed classroom, but a “thirdspace” of hybrid knowledge and experience. Following the lead of many scholars, (Gutierrez, Baquedano-Lopez, Tejeda, & Rivera, 1999; Moje, Ciechanowski, Kramer, Ellis, Carrillo, & Collazo, 2004) I call this observed classroom space, a place of cultural bricolage. To examine these questions, I developed two case studies and a cross case analysis. I explored the development of what theorists term a “thirdspace” (Cook, 2005; Dunlop, 1999; Lipka, Brenner, &Sharp, 2005; Moje et al., 2004), along with the critical and social theories of American Indian education to develop a model of professional development that promotes the creation of cultural bricolage in classrooms as a productive approach to integrating culturally based curricula, as well as arts based curricula. Although this study looks at the use of culturally based art curricula for American Indian students, I believe there will be implications for teachers in diverse situations, who work in classrooms with students who are culturally and racially different from themselves.
De-emphasizing gender in talk about texts:literature response, discussion, and gender within a classroom community of practice.
(2012-05) Brendler, Beth Monica
Drawing on and reexamining theories on gender and literacy, derived from research performed between 1974 and 2002, this qualitative study explored the gender assumptions and expectations of 19 preservice and practicing secondary language arts teachers in a graduate level adolescent literature course. The theoretical framework was structured around a social constructionist lens, including reader response, gender, and communities of practice theories. The methodology employed ethnographic methods, as well as critical discourse analysis and conversational analysis techniques. This four-month study examined the ways the participants learned in a classroom community of practice and how that functioned. It also explored the ways class members identified with or resisted gender expectations in their book discussion groups and how their individual communities of practice may have influenced those expectations. It looked at the kind of discourses that were maintained and disrupted in the discussion groups, as well as the participants' responses to literature within the classroom community, and within their personal blogs and written responses. The group conversational dynamics provided an additional lens on gender beliefs and power relations. The participants showed diversity within gender that suggested that their varied communities of practice, including this classroom community of practice, most likely influenced their gender beliefs and their response to literature.
A descriptive study of cooperative problem solving introductory physics labs.
(2011-12) Knutson, Paul Aanond
A Descriptive Study of Cooperative Problem Solving Introductory Physics Labs: The purpose of this study was to determine the ways in which cooperative problem solving in physics instructional laboratories influenced the students’ ability to provide qualitative responses to problems. The literature shows that problem solving involves both qualitative and quantitative skills. Qualitative skills are important because those skills are the foundation for the quantitative aspects of problem solving. (Chi, et al., 1981). The literature also indicates that cooperative problem solving should enhance the students’ performance. As a practical matter surveys of departments that require introductory physics classes expect their students to have general qualitative problem solving skills. The students in this study were asked to solve problem(s) before coming to a lab session and then cooperatively assess whether or not their answers were correct by conducting a laboratory activity for which they had to plan the procedure and obtain the necessary results. TA’s were expected to provide instruction under a cognitive apprenticeship model. The results showed that the cooperative problem solving laboratories had almost no impact on the students’ problem solving skills as measured from the start of a two hour lab session to the end of the lab session...The reason for this may have been that students did not have enough experience in the solving of different kinds of problems in the two domains of Newton’s second Law and gravitation to overcome their misconceptions and become competent. Another possibility was that the TA’s did not follow the cognitive apprenticeship model as consistently as might have been needed.
Difficult Histories in an urban classroom
(2010-06) Sheppard, Maia G.
Academic standards for history in all states require students to learn about deeply troubling events, such as war, genocide, and slavery. Drawing on research and theories related to trauma studies and history education, this ethnographic study aims to better understand what happens when teachers and students examine the pain and suffering of others in the shared social place of an urban U.S. history classroom. In order to clarify how such troubling events are co-constructed and experienced in the classroom, I first outline a framework for conceptualizing difficult histories as histories where three interrelated components are present: (a) content centered on traumatic events; (b) a sense of identification between those studying the history and those represented in history; and (c) a moral response to these events. Analysis revealed that only two of the histories addressed over the course of one semester were co-constructed by the teacher and her students as difficult histories: slavery and Westward Expansion. Yet, even though slavery and Westward Expansion shared the defining characteristics of difficult histories, there were significant differences in how difficulty was constructed in the classroom. Analysis also revealed that the diverse group of students in this study used their understandings of these difficult histories to engage in similar activities, such as finding evidence of how they belong in America, making sense of America, and morally responding to past and present events. In both slavery and Westward Expansion, students relied heavily on their own personal experiences and beliefs to make sense of these histories. Throughout this research, the power of personal beliefs and experiences, especially those related to issues of race and ethnicity, remained crucial to students' historical understanding. They were central to students' participation in co-constructing slavery and Westward Expansion as difficult histories in the classroom and in their own applications of historical knowledge. At times these personal beliefs were vehicles to better understand distant others and at other times, they were barriers.
Discussing race and culture in the middle school classroom
(2009-08) Flynn, Jill Ewing
While many educators recognize the need for multicultural education in today's diverse schools, some teachers have struggled with how to meaningfully center culture in their teaching practices. This dissertation examines what happens when issues of race and culture are productively taken up in secondary classroom discussions. Eighth grade students of various racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds were the focus of the research, a year-long qualitative study of English and Social Studies classes with two white teachers where students did work related to race, culture, power, and privilege. To begin, I show how two middle school teachers structured a critical multicultural curriculum. I then explore in greater depth how students responded to this curriculum, particularly a unit called the "Race Discussions." Finally, I closely examine an interaction that occurred during this unit to illustrate the complexities and difficulties of teaching, learning about, and researching matters of race, culture, power, and identity. Findings reveal that as students worked through units defining culture, studying cultural conflicts, and understanding cultural resolution, many of them were able to come to a greater understanding of themselves as racial and cultural beings and of the institutional forces that influence our society. Trends emerged across racial groups; as evidenced in their class participation, interviews, and work samples, African American and bi/multiracial students tended to respond positively, valuing the chance to discuss race and racism with their white peers and share personal stories of discrimination. The reactions of Latino, Asian American, and white students were more varied, ranging from resistance to the idea of white privilege; to feelings of exclusion and guilt; to a sense of racial awakening, including the acceptance of responsibility and empowerment to act. The efforts of these teachers and their students contributes to a growing and important research and teaching dialogue around the successes and dilemmas of critical multicultural practice, helping us to consider how we may--that we must--enact this work in our own ways, in our own classrooms.
Earth science teachers' knowledge of the water system and Its reflections in their lesson plans.
(2011-08) Nam, Younkyeong
Over the last two decades, scientists have recognized the necessity of studying the earth as an integrated system. Consequently, the knowledge of physical earth systems and human interactions was integrated to form a new discipline, Earth System Science (ESS). Given the acceleration of environmental change, such as that of the global climate system, understanding the earth as a system has become essential in order to create a scientifically literate citizenry. However, our understanding of teachers' and students' conceptual understanding of earth as a system is still in its infancy. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the ESS discipline as well as the complexity of the ESS knowledge structure, there is no consensus about important ESS knowledge for teachers or students. This study presents an analytical framework, Earth System Knowledge Framework (ESKF), to assess teachers' conceptual understanding of earth systems using the concept of water. By utilizing the framework, this study investigates five secondary earth science teachers' conceptual understandings of water in earth system. This study also probes how the teachers' conceptual understanding of water in the earth system affects their selection and organization of the topics and related content knowledge for lesson planning. Through intensive interviews with the teachers, this study employs multiple case studies using inductive and qualitative analysis methods. The findings of this study demonstrate that the teachers' conceptual understandings of water in earth system are highly related to their Earth System Knowledge (ESK). Furthermore, the science teachers' conceptual understanding of water in earth system directly affects the topic choices and content knowledge used for teaching the concept of water. This study implies that the teachers not only need to possess knowledge of physical earth systems but also knowledge of earth's biosphere and ecosystems to understand earth as a system. This study also suggests a need to reform teacher preparation in a way that the teachers could gain basic and fundamental knowledge of earth system and elaborate their skills to apply earth system knowledge for teaching.
The effects of experience grouping on achievement, problem-solving discourse, and satisfaction in professional technical training.
(2010-08) Mulcahy, Robert Sean
Learners inevitably enter adult technical training classrooms--indeed, in all classrooms--with different levels of expertise on the subject matter. When the diversity of expertise is wide and the course makes use of small group problem solving, instructors have a choice about how to group learners: they may distribute learners with greater expertise among the groups so they can provide tutoring to their less experienced classmates, or instructors may choose to segregate learners to keep those with greater expertise from dominating problem solving. The literature base on ability grouping in small groups, the bulk of which has been conducted on K-12 learners, provides no one-size-fits-all solution, and no systematic research has been conducted on post-college adult learners in technical training situations nor on learners grouped together to solve relatively ill-structured problems. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to study the relationship between experience grouping and learning gains in small groups of adults learning to solve technical, relatively ill-structured problems. Forty-six newly hired auditors beginning their careers by taking a mandatory course centered around relatively ill-structured problem solving were assigned to stratified random groups by experience level so that some groups featured similar levels of experience and other groups featured a relatively wide range of experience. No significant differences in learning gains or satisfaction were detected between heterogeneous and homogeneous groups. Analysis of qualitative data, however, indicated that small groups exhibited significantly different behaviors depending on whether they were asked to solve relatively well-structured or ill-structured problems. When groups were asked to solve relatively ill-structured problems, learners were three to five times as likely to exhibit behaviors associated with learning in problem-solving groups. Further, analysis of the qualitative data suggests, by trending toward significance, that during relatively ill-structured problem solving there is a strong parabolic relationship between the spread of experience in the small groups and the percentage of positive collaborative problem-solving strategies: as experience spread rose, groups either sought a larger or smaller percentage of explanations, a finding that reinforces other findings in the literature indicating that the relationship between high variability of expertise in small groups and achievement is complex.
Elementary teachers' perceptions of environmental education.
(2010-12) Bengtson, Karen Jo Maier
Efforts to develop and implement environmental education (EE) in classrooms across the United States need to be grounded in understanding teachers' perceptions of EE. A case study format was selected as an effective means of eliciting a wide range of the teachers' perceptions and capturing an in-depth elaboration of the complexity and internal consistency of those perceptions. The research questions for this study are: 1) What are the participating elementary teachers' perceptions of EE? 2) What are the participating elementary teachers' perceptions of ideal EE? 3) What are the participating elementary teachers' perceptions of the reality of teaching EE? And 4) How do the individual participating teachers' three types of EE perceptions misalign? Case studies of four elementary classroom teachers from the same school building were constructed from survey questions, interviews, and resource materials. Analysis and interpretation of the data were conducted using two sets of descriptors, strength and development, of the identified themes. The major implications of this study include (a) efforts supporting the implementation of EE need to account for the context that exists in the school, and how the structure of the school interplays with the implementation; (b) the need for teacher professional development in EE with considerations for teaching context, teachers' personal EE connections, and variability in teacher understanding, and (c) the complexity and diversity in the expression of teachers' EE perceptions needs to be attended in EE implementation efforts, as well as in research exploring teacher perceptions of EE.
Engaging disengaged students: the lived experience of teachers who try and try again.
(2010-05) Beaton, Anne Marie Meitz
In public education and most recently with the No Child Left Behind Act, there is a nation-wide push for every student to learn regardless of his or her background or ability (H.R. Rep. No 107-63, 2001; U.S. Department of Education, 2006; Symonds, 2001). Engagement is thought to be a key to student success (Bowen, 2005; Shulman, 2002). As a result, teachers are called upon and expected to find ways to engage all students - even the most disengaged (Barkley, 2010). Research has focused on what motivates students (Barkley, 2010) as well as how teachers can better engage students (Bryson & Hand, 2007), yet research has not questioned the human aspect of this endeavor or stopped to ask what it is like for teachers to do this work. In this study, phenomenological interviews of 6 secondary English teachers are used to generate a description of the teacher's lived experience of working to engage disengaged students. A hermeneutic approach is used to deepen and interpret the meaning of the essence of the teacher's lived experience. Emerging themes reveal a recurring cycle that exposes the intellectual challenge and emotional drain for the teacher. Implications from the study reach past the nuts and bolts of instructional practice to draw attention to the teacher as human in this work and will inform teacher preparation and professional development.
Epistemology and prospective content-area teacher candidates: preparing for teaching adolescent literacy.
(2011-05) Johnson, Christopher William
Research into student epistemology provides us with descriptions of learners as they encounter academic challenges. Content-area teachers approach the problem of teaching adolescent literacy with particular attitudes toward learning, knowledge, and texts, and these beliefs affect their effectiveness as future literacy teachers. This project investigated content-area pre-service teachers' beliefs about knowledge, learning, and texts, adding to the literature about teacher-candidate epistemology and content-area literacy teaching. The study utilized mixed methods: content-area teacher candidates were surveyed in the first stage of the research study, and a sample of these candidates were interviewed in the second stage of the study. Research findings included the development of a new inventory for learner epistemology measurement. This epistemology of reading inventory offers researchers and educators a measure of learners' beliefs about reading, texts, and comprehension. Study results offer a salient description of teacher candidates' epistemological traits as they approach the problem of teaching content-area reading and literacy to adolescents.
Examining the implementation of an innovative mathematics curriculum.
(2010-07) Hansen, Heidi Britte
Reform in mathematics instruction at the college level has been slow to arrive (Dossey, Halvorson, & McCrone, 2008), and many institutions of higher learning still follow the calculus model, while fewer and fewer students need calculus for their chosen areas of study (Ganter & Barker, 2003). Instead, mathematics that is applicable and transferable to other disciplines is more useful to many of today's college students. The Introduction to the Mathematical Sciences course that was the subject of this research study is a standards-based laboratory class that integrates algebra, statistics, and computer science. It was designed for students at both the high school and college levels who have struggled in mathematics. The intent of the course is to provide students with mathematics that they will find useful in their future careers, or future classes. The course is intended to reflect the ideals of reform mathematics at the college level. The purpose of the study was to examine the implementation of this curriculum, and its impact on student thinking and learning of algebra. In exploring the research questions, the researcher found that the Introduction to the Mathematical Sciences course provided a reform-instruction setting where students were able to demonstrate their understanding of algebra, statistics and computer science. The students showed skill at moving between a number of representations of algebra concepts, indicating they were developing deeper understanding of those concepts. One of the key components of this course that reflected reform ideals was the extensive discussion that took place in the course. This instance of the implementation of the Introduction to the Mathematical Sciences course provides an example of how reform instruction in line with the recommendations of NCTM, MAA and AMATYC (Baxter Hastings, et al., 2006) can be successful in helping students at the introductory college level gain understanding of mathematics. This research study describes a course that successfully plays out using reform instructional methods that are in sharp contrast to other college courses taught using traditional lecture style methods. High DWF rates among students who take college algebra (Lutzer, et al., 2005) indicate that the current model of instruction at the college level is not working. For students who lack confidence in their mathematical abilities and have seen little success in mathematics, this type of course may be a tool that can provide students the mathematical skills necessary to move forward in their studies and their careers.

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