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open access

Funds of Knowledge and Early Literacy: A Case Study

Description: When teachers are charged with educating students that are racially, culturally, or economically different from them, they may have little information on the culture and type of family involvement of their students. This lack of information contributes to perceptions of working-class families as socially disorganized and intellectually deficient. However, research embodying the theoretical framework funds of knowledge (FoK) attempts to counter deficient models through its assertion that all fam… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Butler, Ami R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

GIS in AP Human Geography: a Means of Developing Students’ Spatial Thinking?

Description: Geography education is undergoing change in K-12 education due in part to the introduction of geospatial technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS). Although active engagement in GIS mapping would seem to enhance students’ spatial thinking, little is known about the mapping strategies that students employ or about changes in their geographic knowledge that would result. This study, set in a high school Advanced Placement human geography class, sought to contribute to these are… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Webster, Megan L.
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

Student Teachers’ Changing Confidence in Teaching

Description: Research shows that student teachers find the mentor teacher and the student teaching experience itself the two most influential factors in their practicum experience. This study examined five student teachers and the two mentor teachers of each in elementary school settings within a metropolitan school district in North Texas. Lave and Wenger’s (1991, 2002) community of practice theory informed this study. Data sources included mentor teacher interviews, student teacher interviews, student tea… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Stearns, Catherine L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Transfer From a UTeach Replication Site to the Classroom: A Study of First and Second Year Instructional Practices

Description: Concerns based adoption model (CBAM) instruments were used to examine instructional practices of six graduates from a highly stylized, inquiry-based secondary math and science preparation program. Teachers were in the first or second years of teaching mathematics in six different secondary settings, ranging from poverty to wealthy schools. CBAM assumptions were tested. The primary assumption about concerns was that new teachers’ highest concerns would be within the self and task dimensions. Acc… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Fields, Melanie
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

Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences of Mathematics Intervention and Response to Intervention Practices

Description: Response to intervention has become a widely implemented early intervention and pre-referral program in many schools due to the reauthorization of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Limited studies exist that validate how teacher preparation programs are preparing the next generation of teachers to assess students, apply early academic interventions, monitor progress, and make educational decisions for students with learning difficulties as part of an RTI program. The purpose… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Hurlbut, Amanda Renee
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Physical Activity Impact on Executive Function and Academic Achievement with Elementary Students

Description: This study tested the hypothesis that daily physical activity improves the executive function and academic achievement of 9- to 11-year-old children. The quasi-experimental, pretest–posttest design included 60 eligible fourth and fifth grade students (51.7% female, 98% Hispanic; 10.26 years of age). Twenty-five students elected to participate in school day, zero-hour (1 hour before school starts) physical activity program for 8 weeks. The 35 students who did not sign up for the program served a… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: O’Brien, Caroline Clark
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Student and Family Perspectives on Gifted and Advanced Academics Participation for African American High School Students

Description: Many students and their families do not understand the impact of students’ involvement in gifted or advanced academics educational programs and their potentially positive effects and challenges. Nationally African American students are underrepresented in gifted and advanced academics courses in high schools; however, African American students and families often do not advocate for their inclusion in these educational pathways. A survey of literature supporting this study of voices of African … more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Zeske, Karen Marie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Supporting Mathematics Understanding Through Funds of Knowledge

Description: Parents are often criticized for the types of roles they play in their children’s education. Rather than assuming parents do not contribute to their children’s learning, this study identified the various ways Hispanic parents support mathematics learning in the home. Using a funds of knowledge lens, the history, practices, and experiences of families that contributed to their children’s mathematics understanding was explored. The purpose of this study was to identify the unique funds of knowled… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Williams, Julie J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Teachers’ Concerns and Uses of iPads in the Classroom with the Concerns-based Adoption Model

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the role of high school teachers’ concerns, willingness, aptitude, and use of iPads in the classroom during the adoption of a new technology. The design of this case study included a sample of eight teachers from the English, math, science, and history departments who were surveyed, observed, and interviewed using the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). This study is guided by three research questions: (1) What are teachers’ concerns about using iPads … more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Stewart, Gail
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

An Investigation of Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Buoyancy

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the conceptual understandings of 55 elementary preservice teachers for the concept of buoyancy. This study used Ausubel’s Assimilation Theory (Ausubel, 1963) as a framework for a 15-week intervention that used pre/post concept maps (Cmaps), pre/post face-to-face semi-structured interviews, and drawings as evidences for change of formation of cognitive structures. Using a convergent parallel design and mixed methods approach, preservice teachers’ concepti… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Kirby, Benjamin S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Teaching beyond the walls: A mixed method study of prospective elementary teacher's belief systems about science instruction

Description: This mixed method study investigated K-6 teacher candidates' beliefs about informal science instruction prior to and after their experiences in a 15-week science methods course and in comparison to a non-intervention group. The study is predicated by the literature that supports the extent to which teachers' beliefs influence their instructional practices. The intervention integrated the six strands of learning science in informal science education (NRC, 2009) and exposed candidates to out-of-s… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Asim, Sumreen
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Transfer of Instructional Practices From Freedom Schools to the Classroom

Description: The instructional practices of three current classroom teachers who formerly served as Servant Leader Interns (SLIs) in the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools (CDFFS) Program were examined. Haskell (2001) outlined eleven principles of transfer of learning, which were used to survey the levels of transfer established from service in Freedom Schools to practice in the traditional classroom. Individual surveys, The Freedom School Pedagogies Teacher Observation Record (FSPTOR) along with inte… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Stanford, Myah D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Artistic Decision Making and Implications for Engaging Theatrically Gifted and Talented Students in Non-Arts Classes

Description: This cognitive ethnographic study explored the mental processes that professional actors used when making artistic choices while engaged in creative practices to begin a conversation about how the theatrically gifted and talented population is viewed, researched, and educated in non-arts subjects. Professional actors at two sites were observed, videotaped, and interviewed over several rehearsals during play production. The major thematic findings indicated that artistic decision making result… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Willerson, Amy
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Effect of a Change Facilitator on Project-Based Learning Curriculum Design

Description: This study sought to understand concerns and levels of use of a group of teachers in the process of developing a project-based learning (PBL) program, and the effect of a change facilitator on these processes. The research was guided by the following research questions: One, what are the concerns of teachers regarding the planning of a PBL curriculum? Two, what are the levels of use of teachers in the process of planning the PBL curriculum? Three, how does a change facilitator affect the proces… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Fry, Jana
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Multimodal Design for Secondary English Language Arts: A Portraiture Study

Description: Employing the research approach known as portraiture, this study investigated the varying ways in which three secondary English language arts teachers at a visual and performing arts high school conceptualized and designed multimodal literacy learning. Also studied were the ways in which their students responded to these designs; and in keeping with portraiture, attention went to the changes in the researcher's own understandings. This multi-case study and cross-case analysis built on prior mul… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Price, Cecelia Joyce
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Multimodal Literacy Portfolios: Expressive and Receptive Opportunities for Children Labeled "At-Risk"

Description: Current literacy assessments are focused on a single mode of meaning-making (reading and writing, whether oral or written) and assume that literacy and language are "fixed systems"-- comprised of discrete skills that can be taught and measured in isolation. This validation and privileging of a single mode of assessment has resulted in children labeled "At-risk" falling significantly behind those without this label. This study investigates what a teacher can learn from a diverse range of asses… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Young, Whitney
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Validation of an Observation and Evaluation Instrument for the Supervision of Middle and Secondary Pre-Service Teachers

Description: The purpose of the study was to determine the validity and reliability of a revised observation and evaluation instrument of middle and secondary pre-service clinical teaching to be used as part of the clinical supervision cycle and for formative purposes. The North Texas Appraisal of Classroom Teaching (NTACT) serves as a performance assessment tool utilized by a south-central university-based educator preparation program for the evaluation and supervision of pre-service teachers during their … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Bush, Brandon (Brandon Lee)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

A Case Study of Mathematics Teachers' Use of Short-Cycle Formative Assessment Strategies

Description: A single case study was used to examine two middle grades mathematics teachers' use of short-cycle formative assessment strategies. Data was collected using multiple sources to provide a description of this single case. Participant change in knowledge of short-cycle formative assessment strategies was collected and analyzed through participant pre- and post-interviews and targeted instructional support was provided through professional development sessions designed to meet diverse needs of part… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Davis, Adreana A
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Social and Emotional Learning and Preservice Teacher Education: Assessing Preservice Teachers' Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes

Description: In response to the main federal K-12 law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the teacher education program standards, teacher education programs have tried to address social and emotional learning (SEL) content in their curricula. Adding information on SEL alone may not be enough to overcome the shortenings of many existing early childhood programs. The current study attempted to address these shortenings through the inclusion of specialized SEL strategies and sample activities in additi… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Dolzhenko, Inna Nickole
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Transfer of Learning in a K-8 STEM Academy Project Based Learning (PBL) Environment

Description: The multiple case study investigated levels and types of transfer observed in a K-8 STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) academy in a project-based learning (PBL) environment. The academy was constructed two years prior to the study and conducive to PBL instruction. The students and teachers were in the second year of using PBL in the subject of science at the time of the study. The grade levels observed were second, fourth, and sixth grade and each grade level had three PBL units exam… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Fuller, Mary A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Preservice Teachers' Beliefs about Writing and Their Plans to Teach Writing: The Apprenticeship of Observation

Description: Preservice teachers (PSTs) bring a plethora of knowledge and experiences to their educator preparation courses. The PSTs have also formed ideas about how to teach based on their observations during the thousands of hours they spent as students in the classroom from kindergarten through high school graduation. This phenomenon, coined by Lortie, is called the apprenticeship of observation. Past research has focused on the apprenticeship of observation in general while neglecting to specifically e… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Thompson, Emily Kyle
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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