UNT Libraries - 44 Matching Results

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Impact of Instructional Technology on Student Motivation and Vocabulary Knowledge

Description: This study examined the influence of instructional technology on Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) vocabulary acquisition and the intrinsic motivation language learners present while learning vocabulary in a second language. A quasi-experimental design helped determine the impact of the instructional technology intervention using Quia and Quizlet to learn vocabulary over direct instruction. A nonrandom convenience sample of (N = 47) participants was divided into the experimental group (n = 25… more
Date: August 2021
Creator: Perez, Araceli
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Unlocking Digital Literacy: A Multiple Case Study of Digital Literacy Instruction and the Interactive Decision Making of Teachers in a Texas Charter School

Description: The rapid expansion of computers and digital technology requires citizens to be digitally literate. Teachers must prepare students for a digital world despite the lack of consensus on a definition or its components. This multiple case study explored the digital literacy instruction and interactive decision making of teachers with varied levels of expertise. Each participant completed a survey and the General Decision Making Style Questionnaire prior to a series of interviews and classroom obser… more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Stone, Barbara K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Equitable Early Childhood Education for Young Bilingual Learners in North Texas: Examining Kindergarten Entry Assessments for Bilingual Children

Description: A considerable amount of research has been done surrounding education in classrooms from kindergarten to Grade 12, but little research has been done surrounding early childhood education (ECE) beginning with birth to age 4. As a result, research is needed that examines interventions aimed to improve the quality of early childhood education for young bilingual learners at the earliest stages of schooling. The present study examines current efforts to serve the specific population of young biling… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: McEntire, Celina Angelica
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Double Down: The Autoethnography of Navigating as Black American Male Instructing Preservice Teachers Methods of Teaching Social Studies

Description: This inquiry is an autoethnography of my experiences as a Black American male serving as a methods of social studies instructor to preservice teachers. Although some may deem this study as subjective, I have embraced that designation to provide insider information to others that face intersectionality and to inform institutional practices in teacher education programs.
Date: December 2018
Creator: Levingston, Earl Ray
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Teachers on the Use of Technology Applications with Children: A Survey of PK-5 Teachers in a South Texas Region

Description: This quantitative methods study explored the knowledge, attitudes and practices of PK-5 teachers on the use of technology applications in the classroom. The Texas State Board of Education has set in place standards for technology applications that require the use of technology applications across all grades. Likewise, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published new guidelines on the use of technology by children. However, it is the responsibility of teachers to implement and embed these… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Prishker, Nydia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Urban Elementary School Students' Conception of Learning: A Phenomenographic Mapping of Variation

Description: For decades, urban public schools have been plagued by systemic and structural challenges that continue today. Scholars, policymakers, and the general public have pointed to problems of learning in urban schools and to low expectations for urban students' learning, but little attention has been given to how urban students themselves conceptualize learning. This study sought to fill the void by asking a group of urban students about their views of learning. A phenomenographic approach was emp… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: English, Sherril H
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

These Walls Can Talk: An Ethnographic Study of the Interior Schoolscape of Three High Schools

Description: The schoolhouse is a place in which messages for student consumption are typically found with classroom lectures, text, and activities. As with any social setting, however, the communication is not confined to one space but extends, in this case, to hallways, common spaces, and exterior of the building. One of the most common practices for the delivery of messages to students within the schoolhouse is through visual signage. Visual signage can traverse disciplines encompassing concepts from … more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Hamilton, Joshua
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Understanding the Perceptions and Indications of the Goals and Unique Aspects of the Foundations for Success (FFS) Curriculum Model: A Case Study in a North Texas Private Preschool

Description: This quantitative and qualitative case study examined the educators' perceptions of both the goals and unique aspects of the foundations for success (FFS) curriculum model. Specifically, this study was designed to explain the experiences of 55 early childhood educators and administrators who all had similar exposure to the FFS curriculum model. This study sought to understand the educators' perceptions of the specific goals of using pertinent curriculum and instruction terminology and the paral… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Jackey, Lisa
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Exploring the Dual-natured Impact of Digital Technology on Student-classroom Engagement in a Texas Public High School

Description: The past decade has become rife with an eagerness to integrate new digital technology into teaching. While there have been decades of research done on the importance of curriculum and pedagogy on student engagement, findings of actual technology integration are scarce. Moreover, what does it take to engage students in classroom activities and lessons when technology is introduced? The purpose of this study was to explore how digital technology, when integrated into classroom teaching and activi… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Ayers, Joseph J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Does an Online Post-baccalaureate Secondary Teacher Certification Program Produce Certified Teachers Who Remain in the Field?

Description: Given issues in education concerning teacher shortages, the omnipresence of alternative certification programs and the growth of online programs in higher education, this study investigated teacher retention for 77 secondary education teachers who completed an online teacher preparation program in Texas. Teacher retention was examined from 2003-2013 and investigated the influence of factors such personal characteristics, working conditions and school setting characteristics on teacher retention… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Brooks, Kanini Wanjira Ward
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Levanten La Mano Si Me Entienden: Receptive Bilinguals’ Linguistic and Cultural Perceptions in Secondary Spanish Classes

Description: Receptive bilinguals have been in a dilemma of knowing just enough Spanish to write and aurally comprehend the curriculum at the beginning-intermediate levels of a Spanish language course. This dichotomy in classrooms with mixed-ability learners has created a need to reconsider placement and pedagogical structures tailored for these students in foreign language courses. Thus, this descriptive study examined the perceptions of receptive bilinguals, drawn from two secondary Spanish courses regard… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Baker, Adelita Gonzales
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Measuring Teaching Effectiveness Using Value-Added and Observation Rubric Scores

Description: This mixed-methods study examined the extent to which teacher performance and student performance measures correlated, and to understand which specific practices of mathematics teachers in Grades 3-5 related to student performance. Research was conducted at five elementary schools in a large, urban north Texas school district. Data sources included component scores and recorded evidence from observation rubrics, interviews with campus administrators, and value-added modeling (VAM) student growt… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: McKenzie, Andrew
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Responsibilities in Teaching Social Emotional Skills: a Case Study

Description: This study investigated the beliefs of teachers at a particular elementary campus in North Texas during its first year of implementation of a social emotional curriculum regarding teaching social emotional skills and the influence of those beliefs on their classroom practices. The study drew from the works of Dewey and Bandura in the development of a framework for teacher decision making. A case study design incorporating multiple cases within the case study utilized a mixed-methods approach fo… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Madueke, Nkechi A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

A Descriptive Analysis of the Critical Thinking Model in Texas Elementary Education

Description: Contributions from elementary education to the practice and reality of critical thinking are rare, largely because attempts in basic education to elucidate a concept of critical thinking have a hard time breaking through the elusiveness and indeterminacy that characterize the history and reality of the concept. This situation is due to, and a consequence of, the difficulty of delimiting critical thinking from related fields, such as metacognition, higher-order-thinking, problem solving, informa… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Quijano, Oswaldo Jorge
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Funding and Effectiveness of Staff Development Programs in Three North Texas School Districts

Description: This dissertation study focused on three aspects of staff development in North Texas: 1) funding sources, 2) types of professional learning programs, and 3) teachers' views of the effectiveness of the funded programs. Qualitative data came from interviews with nine district administrators concerning funding sources and how those resources enhanced teacher skills. Quantitative data came from 1,277 responses from teachers regarding their background and perceptions about staff development. Data fr… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Ivey, Shannon Kay
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Teacher Implementation of a Pretreatment Assessment Procedure in a Public Middle School

Description: In an attempt to determine the effectiveness of a pretreatment assessment procedure known as the scatter plot (Touchette, MacDonald, & Langer, 1985), direct observational data was collected by 13 middle school teachers on four "problem" students. After four weeks of data collection, interobserver agreement probes were calculated and a visual analysis of the plotted data was performed to ascertain a possible pattern of problem behavior. Additionally, in an attempt to assess the teachers' percept… more
Date: May 1999
Creator: Alcala, Angelo L. (Angelo Lee)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Peer Mediation: an Empirical Exploration Empowering Elementary School Children to Resolve Conflicts Constructively

Description: Conflict is inevitable in school and in life. Many children lack skills necessary to resolve daily conflicts constructively. Without knowledge of positive ways to manage conflicts, violence may result. Limited research suggests that involvement in a peer mediation program may have a positive influence on children. This study assessed effects peer mediation training and mediation experience had on student mediators. The pretest-posttest, control-group, and quasi-experimental study investigated t… more
Date: August 1998
Creator: Link, Kathleen Elizabeth Barbieri
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

An Analysis of the Impact of Curriculum Management Audits on Public School Systems in Texas

Description: The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the recommendations of Curriculum Management Audits conducted in Texas Public School systems, (2) determine the degree to which each of the recommendations had been implemented, and (3) determine the perceptions of stakeholders as to the factors instrumental in the real and potential impact of the audit. The researcher conducted interviews with superintendents and key central office administrators with a working knowledge of the audit report in ea… more
Date: August 1997
Creator: Murdock, Sunnye (Sunnye J.)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Texas Public School Library Media Specialists' Perceptions of the Use of the Internet in their Schools

Description: With the advent of the 21st century, technological innovations are transforming the face of education and the school library media center. One of these significant developments is the ability to communicate through the Internet. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of Texas public school library media specialists who are active Internet users about their utilization of the Internet, and how their efforts in implementing and supervising Internet access in their school library … more
Date: June 1997
Creator: Bruns, Loretta A. (Loretta Ann)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Effect of Training in Test Item Writing on Test Performance of Junior High Students

Description: Students in an inner city junior high school in North Central Texas participated in a study whose purpose was to examine the effect of training in test item construction on their later test performance. The experimental group underwent twelve weeks of instruction using the Test Item Construction Method (TICM). In these sessions students learned to develop test items similar to those on which they were tested annually by the state via the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The TICM ali… more
Date: May 1997
Creator: Tunks, Jeanne L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Interpretations of the Concept of "Inclusion" Held by Key Policy Makers, Policy Drivers and Policy Implementers Concerned with Service Delivery to Special Education Students in Texas Urban Public School Settings

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine concepts of "inclusion" held by policy drivers (PD), policy makers (PM) and policy implementers (PI) from various national organizations, state agencies and school districts. Interviews were conducted with 14 informants, and responses recorded, transcribed and clustered according to patterns of language. Documents provided by informants were reviewed. A Likert-type questionnaire was developed, grounded in patterns of language used in interviews and docum… more
Date: May 1997
Creator: James, Leslie Charles
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Texas Teacher Education Reform of 1992: An Analysis of Events, Processes, and Results

Description: This was a qualitative study designed to document the historical process which brought about a performance-centered accountability (or results-based) system in educator preparation in Texas as reflected in the documents of the first 17 institutions approved under the new approval process for educator preparation. The study will also serve as a historical record which used the change process in political systems to analyze the adoption of the Accountability System for Educator Preparation (ASEP)… more
Date: May 1997
Creator: Dixon, Marva T. (Marva Thomas)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Patterns of Vision, Action, and Effects in Professional Development as Experienced in the Texas Centers for Professional Development and Technology

Description: In 1992, the state of Texas awarded a number of inducement grants to collaboratives of universities, schools, and service centers to develop field-based professional development schools (PDSs) and provide preservice and inservice teachers with extensive professional development. This study investigated the design and effects of the professional development models in these Texas Centers for Professional Development and Technology (CPDTs). This study used qualitative data collection and analysis … more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Kjelgaard, Peggy Anne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Relationship between School-Based Decision Making and Student Achievement in Elementary Schools in a Large Urban School District

Description: The purpose of this study was to explore whether school-based decision making (SBDM) impacts student achievement. Specifically, the study involved determining if the degree of teacher involvement in SBDM across eight decision dimensions differed between schools that demonstrated the most and schools that demonstrated the least district improvement in student achievement. The population consisted of elementary schools in a large urban school district with more than ten years of SBDM implementati… more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Standridge, Louise Norton
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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