Browsing by Subject "Teaching and Learning"
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Item Becoming aware of and learning how to navigate the SBIR program: the entrepreneurs‘ perspectives.(2011-04) Sarvela, Pamela M.Little is known about how much technological innovation is lost in the United States because technology entrepreneurs do not have the financial capability for the research and development necessary to bring an idea to a commercial level. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is part of a national innovation system developed to support research and development efforts for technological innovation by small business. The program is national in purpose, but regionally distributed. The old adage of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer seems to hold true with 56% of SBIR awards going to the same handful of states since the genesis of the program. This study explored the phenomenon of how entrepreneurs in Minnesota learned to navigate the SBIR program by interviewing six entrepreneurs who had experienced various levels of success. Intellectual capital—human, social, organization learning—served as the thread woven through all aspects of the participants learning how to navigate the SBIR program. As the stories unfolded, the participants description of learning by ―doing it‖ revealed the complexity of the interrelationships; and an adaptable and flexible learning style which Kolb (1984) refers to as learning in a holistic way.Item The community college baccalaureate and Iron Range Engineering: limiting rural brain drain in Northeastern Minnesota by offering a hands-on baccalaureate degree on a community college campus.(2011-05) Janezich, Trent PatrickTwo educational organizations have collaborated on a nationally recognized, innovative, project-centered engineering curriculum for the third and fourth year of a baccalaureate degree in which hands-on experiences and industry-sponsored projects are the fundamental component of the degree. The Iron Range Engineering (IRE) program curriculum is of a type that has never been attempted in the state of Minnesota. This program creates a career pathway for engineering students in rural northeastern Minnesota in the hopes to help stop rural brain drain in an area of Minnesota losing its young human capital in alarming numbers. IRE also provides access to a baccalaureate degree in engineering on a community college campus of the Northeast (Minnesota) Higher Education District by partnering with Minnesota State University, Mankato. The heart of this curricular innovation is a shift from a conventional classroom learning environment to industry-style learning environments where baccalaureate-level students will work on real-world projects alongside practicing engineers. These projects are not merely internships or field trips. They are in fact the very content of the curriculum, experienced by students in a competency-based, experiential approach never before used for engineering education in Minnesota. This descriptive case study allows the first generation cohort of students to describe in their own words the Iron Range Engineering program. Ten findings that describe the Iron Range Engineering program emerged. Implications for community college baccalaureate delivery are discussed, and future research possibilities are presented.Item Exploring learning during a business ethics simulation.(2011-04) Revoir, Richard LeonardThe purpose of this study was to explore a simulation incorporating online collaborative technologies in a business ethics course to examine whether it affects student learning. A qualitative case study method of inquiry was used to develop an in-depth description and analysis of student learning during a business ethics simulation using data collected through a questionnaire, student ratings of the simulation, focus groups, and a review of videos by the researcher. The results of this study provide insight into themes that may affect students' moral sensitivity and judgment. Three key themes emerged during data analysis: 1) working in groups, 2) watching YouTube videos, and 3) experiencing less nervousness. Working in groups appeared to affect moral sensitivity because the students were exposed to more perspectives from classmates who helped them interpret the case simulation and identify ethical issues. The students reported being able to rewind and review the YouTube videos was helpful to learning. The videos also provided more perspectives and multiple approaches for reasoning which may have affected students' moral sensitivity in their effort to interpret the simulations and identify ethical issues. Students reported being less nervous while recording their YouTube video than if they had to complete the assignment in-class in front of their peers. In addition, students came to class with their YouTube video completed, they had time in class to reflect on other students' performances during class time, rather than focus on their impending performance. The findings of this study add to the literature in the area of business ethics by describing how the integration of technology for ethical simulations may affect student learning. With the three themes identified, the results of this study have implications for college instructors who are teaching business ethics courses.Item "I‘ll get by with a little help from my friends": peer response groups in the composition classroom.(2011-05) Witikko, Neil BryanPeer response groups in the composition classroom have become a standard part of the writing process for many teachers. However, some teachers maintain that the results of peer response groups are uneven at best, noting that students do not stay on task or that the quality of the student response itself is superficial. These concerns and others led researchers to a great deal of study on this topic during the 1980s and 1990s. There is, however, a gap in current research about the students' discourse in peer response groups, how that discourse affects students revisions, and students' thought processes as they make their choices during the revision process. This qualitative study helps to fill this gap by taking a look inside eight writing groups of a College-in-the-Schools / AP composition class in northern Minnesota. Using an ethnographic and sociolinguistic analytical framework and the constant comparative method for the data analysis, this study examines the discourse of peer response groups and how that discourse relates to the revision of student writing. Findings of this study include observations of the intertextual nature of peer response, the collaborative generation of ideas in response sessions, and how the peer response process allows students to examine new perspectives. This study also includes implications for researchers and for teachers who are interested in using peer response groups in their classrooms.Item Nordic in nature: friluftsliv and environmental connectedness.(2011-05) Beery, Thomas HaroldThis study explored the question of whether a relationship exists between the Nordic cultural idea of friluftsliv and the psychological construct of environmental connectedness. This quantitative study employed a correlational design with existing data from the Swedish Outdoor Recreation in Change national survey. Results indicate that there is a significant and meaningful relationship between nature-based outdoor recreation participation and environmental connectedness even when controlling for other predictor variables. In addition, research findings indicate that age group moderates this relationship with one group exception. It was also found that activity participation by respondents shows a correlation with both environmental connectedness and age group. Implications of this study support a cultural understanding of nature-based outdoor recreation and an awareness of the important role of access to nature as an essential component of nature-based outdoor recreation. Age group differences supported a variety of implications and recommendations for future research. A consideration of how the results may have implications for environmental education and sustainability efforts in Sweden and the U.S. was explored.Item Organizational perspectives on online programming implementation in three traditional high schools.(2011-05) Luehr, Dana DariceWith the rapid growth of online teaching and learning at the secondary education level, the question of whether online programming should be adopted is being replaced with questions of how online education should be implemented. Research identifying the experiences of online program implementation is lacking. This is especially true for traditional high schools. This qualitative multi-case study has identified the systemic changes experienced by three traditional high schools in the process of establishing online courses as part of their overall curricular offering, the impact online learning options have on organizational policies and procedures, and the factors needed to achieve practical and sustainable models for successful programs. Considering the operational changes online teaching and learning present compared to traditional face-to-face teaching and learning, data from surveys, personal interviews, and document review show numerous motivators for online program implementation. Systemic impact and implications of online programming implementation were dependent on the school culture and capacity developed by administrators and faculty. Organizational policies and procedures were also impacted by the incorporation of online programming. This multi-case study identified factors leading to practical, sustainable, and successful online programs. As traditional high schools implement this educational initiative, administrators, teachers, and policymakers need to be aware of not only the potential of online programming but also the impact this innovation will have on the whole educational system. Keywords: secondary online programming, systems thinking, change, educational policy, sustainabilityItem Student perceptions of professional identity and cultural competence.(2011-05) Godsey, Shannon RoseBy the time they reach their second year of graduate school, students of speech-language pathology are well into the process of developing a professional identity and have been exposed to academic and clinical experiences designed to develop their cultural competence. This grounded theory study was designed to investigate how students perceive their professional identities and how they perceive the concept of cultural competence. The results of this study indicate students are learning the knowledge programs are designed to teach them, but current practices may be limiting. Students understand the importance of culturally competent care, but they tend to narrow their concepts of cultural competence to facts and characteristics of cultural groups they see as other than themselves. The conclusions from this research encourage the development of cultural competence and professional identity through a process of examining interactive cultural relationships. Within this approach instruction and clinical experiences would involve a consistent recognition that each interaction is a relationship and each interaction involves the coming together of cultures. Helping students recognize the cultural relationship in every interaction allows them to develop their cultural competence and professional identities regardless of the demographics of their geographical placement and will provide them with the skills to adapt and meet the needs of each client and cultural group. Finally, this approach can shift the discourse of the profession away from the concept of how other cultures are different from the norm to one that considers all forms of similarities and differences in the provider-client relationship.Item Two worlds collide: caregiver perceptions of their interactions with help me grow home visitors.(2012-05) Pratt, Ana VioletA majority of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) Part C early intervention services are provided in the home setting. Relationships between families and home visitors are at the heart of how services are delivered through Part C programs. When the worlds of families and home visitors collide each caregiver is likely to have a unique perception of the supportive and non-supportive components of their interactions with their home visitor(s). This case study was designed to examine 10 caregivers' perceptions of their interactions with Part C home visitors providing services through Minnesota's Help Me Grow program. This research study demonstrates it is essential for home visitors to listen to caregivers' voices as a blueprint for designing family-centered home visits on a visit-by-visit basis. The seven components involved in home visit design include (a) giving caregivers options for their level of involvement during home visits, (b) providing options for modes of giving and receiving information, (c) being attentive to the family's desired boundaries within the home visiting processes, (d) being responsive to caregivers' priorities and concerns, (e) being attentive to the positive or negative energy the home visitor brings into the home, (f) being adaptable to the family and child's dynamic needs, and (g) providing families with phone numbers for third parties they can easily access when they have questions or concerns about service delivery or Part C personnel.Item Using data to increase student achievement:a case study of success in a sanctioned school.(2011-05) Fischer, Brenda ElaineThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 fundamentally changed the ways in which schools are held accountable for the academic achievement of all students. Each year, millions of tests are given to students in the United States to comply with the federal accountability mandates set forth by this unprecedented federal legislation. Since these tests are so plentiful and prevalent and so much time and energy is invested in gathering results, it seems it might be possible for this multitude of data to be used for purposes other than external accountability. Might school leaders be able to utilize the data from mandated standardized tests to strategically enable schools to move toward increased student achievement across curricular goals? This qualitative case study tells the story of how teachers and administrators at one Minnesota elementary school, that was labeled in need of improvement, used a variety of data available to them to increase student academic achievement scores. Findings from this study include discussions of the factors and combination of factors that led to increased academic success. This study also includes suggestions for teachers, principals, policy makers, and institutions of higher learning, based on information gained during interviews and from the literature, for creating the conditions under which data can be used as an essential component in the ongoing challenge to increase academic achievement for all students.