Hands-On Activities and Engagement in Kindergarten Students

The purpose of this action research study is to investigate the effectiveness of implementing hands-on activities for increasing the engagement of kindergarten students. Participants will be the teacher/researcher’s 18 kindergarten students in a charter school. It is hypothesized that hands-on activities will increase students’ engagement in the class.

Factors that motivate RNs to return to school for the BSN and to remain in school to complete the degree

This exploratory descriptive study examined the factors that influence Registered Nurses (RNs) to return to school to pursue a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) and the factors that contribute to the decision to remain in school to complete the degree. Students (N = 226) enrolled in RN-BSN programs in three different universities in southeast Florida participated in the study by completing researcher developed questionnaires. The study group included 140 students who were newly enrolled in an RN-BSN program and 86 students who were preparing to graduate from an RN-BSN program. The instruments used in this study were two researcher developed questionnaires, the Corbett Nursing Educational Motivational Inventory - Form A (CNEMI-A), administered to the newly enrolled students, and the Corbett Nursing Educational Motivational Inventory - Form B (CNEMI-B), administered to the graduating students. The questionnaires included researcher-developed items in addition to items derived from a modified form of the Educational Participation Scale used by other researchers. Demographic data were also collected. Findings indicated that changes in health care, career goals, personal satisfaction, and flexible curriculum patterns are the major reasons why RNs return to school for the BSN. Less significant factors were social support, salary increase, and employer expectations. The factors considered most significant in the decision to remain in school to complete the degree were ranked in the following order: personal achievement, changes in health care, career change/advancement, enrollment options, faculty support, social support, and employer support. Implications for nurse educators related to the changing roles of RNs and the need to continue to assist RNs to adapt to new roles in health care. Recommendations for future research on RN-BSN nursing education included studies to identify the courses considered most useful by RN-BSN students as compared to courses considered repetitive of basic nursing programs. Studies were also recommended to examine the differences between the needs of RNs related to experience as an RN and recency of education. Additional studies were recommended to determine the feasibility of dual-enrollment ADN/BSN programs for last semester ADN students. ^

A historical study of selected documents from the period 1890--1920 with implications for understanding success in school

During the years 1890–1920, the public school education system established itself as the medium to transmit American values, knowledge and culture. This study described and explained why some individuals were destined to fail, and others succeed in America's public schools. The exploratory questions guiding this study were: What elements constitute society's perspective of whom it should educate during the years 1890–1920? What variables influenced society's perspective of whom it should educate during the years 1890–1920? ^ After explaining these issues, educators will then have a better understanding and awareness of why certain educational practices are currently implemented and will be able to critically evaluate which ones should be continued. The methodology chosen was historical. The approach for analyzing the data was coding. The information was coded in order to determine themes, concepts and ideas amongst the documents and as portrayed in the literature. The first step was to seek out patterns and then to write out words and phrases to represent these topics. Then, these phrases were attributed to networks. ^ The data indicated that public schools during this era were designed to conform and assimilate the new immigrants and factory workers in an efficient and standardized manner. Efficiency and standardization in production became the American way for government, commerce, personal, lives and the school. Many different approaches to education emerged during this time period, specifically those, which emphasized individuality; but only those, which paralleled the ideology of efficiency, standardization and conformity were adopted. Those students who were unable to conform to society's criteria for success were penalized in the classroom, on IQ examinations and national standardized exams. ^ This study was illuminative in that it explained the root cause as to why some individuals are meant to succeed while others are penalized in the classroom. Future studies connecting standardized assessments and learning styles are suggested. ^

Reducing the Discipline Gap Among African American Students: Learning in Classroom Communities of Practice

The author argues that learning in classroom communities of practice may reduce exclusionary school discipline practices and the discipline gap that disproportionately affect African American students. Communities of practice prioritize the social nature of learning as legitimate peripheral participation, encouraging community membership, social identity transformation, and synergistic relationships and spaces.

Metacognitive Functions, Interest, and Student Engagement in the Writing Process: A Review of the Literature

The purpose of this paper is to draw on research that discusses the relationship between interest and metacognitive functions and its effect on engaging students in the writing process. Results indicate students who are interested in their writing activities engage in metacognitive strategies, remain focused, and complete their tasks.

Project-Based Learning, Achievement, and Engagement in Second Graders

Second graders have fertile minds that are constrained by dull curriculums. Teachers fail to foster their interests, students are unengaged and as a result, their achievement suffers. This research will implement Project-Based learning (PBL) with the intention of increasing engagement, which is predicted to also increase achievement.

Effects of a modified English listening comprehension curriculum on students' achievement in English listening comprehension at Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan

Due to increased international trade, English as a foreign language is important to Taiwan. However, ESL teaching and learning in Taiwan emphasizes reading and writing skills only. ESL teaching in Taiwan causes students to lack competence in complete communication. Improving students' listening and speaking is a vital issue in Taiwan. ^ The purposes of this study are to determine the effects of a modified curriculum for the English listening comprehension course, to investigate whether the modified curriculum results in a significant improvement in student's listening comprehension, and to determine whether students were motivated to increase listening comprehension ability as a result of the new listening activities. An experimental and a control group, randomly assigned, received either the modified or the traditional curriculum at Tamsui Oxford University College (TOUC) in Taiwan over a fourteen week period of time. ^ A Michigan Listening Comprehension posttest was used to determine the difference in achievement between the two groups. A final examination was conducted to compare the two groups' achievement and to determine whether the goal of increasing listening comprehension achievement by using a modified curriculum was met. Subjects completed two questionnaires, one common form prior to class and another unique form for each group at the end of instruction. ^ Frequency distribution, chi-square, t-test for independent samples and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that there were no significant differences in students' attitude and interest in English listening comprehension between those who were taught with an English listening modified curriculum compared with those students who were taught with a traditional curriculum. The findings also indicated that there was a difference in the final examination with the control group taught using the traditional curriculum scoring higher than the experimental group taught using the modified curriculum for performance in English listening comprehension, but there was no difference in scores on the Michigan Listening Comprehension Test (posttest). In addition, it was found that learning attitude and motivation influence students' learning. ^

Placing immigrant incorporation: Identity, trust, and civic engagement in Little Havana

Immigrant incorporation in the United States has been a topic of concern and debate since the founding of the nation. Scholars have studied many aspects of the phenomenon, including economic, political, social, and spatial. The most influential paradigm of immigrant incorporation in the US has been, and continues to be, assimilation, and the most important place in and scale at which incorporation occurs is the neighborhood. This dissertation captures both of these integral aspects of immigrant incorporation through its consideration of three dimensions of assimilation – identity, trust, and civic engagement – among Latin American immigrants and American-born Latinos in Little Havana, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Data discussed in the dissertation were gathered through surveys and interviews as part of a National Science Foundation-funded study carried out in 2005-2006. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data allows for a nuanced understanding of how immigrant incorporation is occurring locally during the first decade of the twentieth century. Findings reveal that overall Latin American immigrants and their American-born offspring appear to be becoming American with regard to their ethnic and racial identities quickly, evidenced through the salience and active employment of panethnic labels, while at the same time they are actively reshaping the identificational structure. The Latino population, however, is not monolithic and is cleaved by diversity within the group, including country of origin and socioeconomic status. These same factors impede group cohesion in terms of trust and its correlate, community. Nevertheless, the historically dominant ancestry group in Little Havana – Cubans – has been able to reach notable levels of trust and build and conserve a more solid sense of community than non-Cuban residents. With respect to civic engagement, neighborhood residents generally participate at rates lower than the overall US population and ethnic subpopulations. This is not the case for political engagement, however, where self-reported voting registration and turnout in Little Havana surpasses that of most benchmarked populations. The empirical evidence presented in this dissertation on the case of Latinos in Little Havana challenges the ways that identity, trust, and civic engagement are conceptualized and theorized, especially among immigrants to the US.

The Integrated Process of Engagement in Adult Learning

This paper explores the role of engagement in adult learning based on Illeris’ three dimensional model of learning and Yang’s holistic theory of knowledge and learning. Engagement and learning are integrated processes by which adult learners gain a deeper understanding and make meaning of the activities he or she is exposed to in a given learning environment.

A comparison of the self -esteem of freshman community college students enrolled in remedial and regular academic programs

This study examined relationships among self-esteem, remedial academic placement, ethnicity, gender, and enrollment status, using a nonexperimental, ex post facto research design. Participants were 113 freshman community college students attending Broward Community College in South Florida. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (Adult Form) was used to measure the self-esteem of the participants. The results of this study indicate a significant difference between the mean self-esteem levels of the students enrolled in remedial academic classes (m = 66.08) and those enrolled in regular academic classes (m = 73.97). An independent samples t-test at the.05 significance level indicated that regular students were found to have higher levels of self-esteem than remedial students (t(112) = 2.14, p =.03). Two-way analyses of variance of placement status by ethnicity, of placement status by gender, and of placement status by enrollment status on self-esteem were also conducted. Interactions between placement status and the other factors were not found to be significant (p $>$.05). However, a significant main effect for ethnicity was found (p $<$.05). The results indicated that white students had a mean self-esteem level (m = 75.30) significantly higher than non-white students (m = 62.76, p =.002).^ The results of this study suggests that many community college students have problems related to self-esteem. Further research should be conducted on remedial and minority college students using a larger sample size and additional variables, such as socio-economic status. ^

Commitment language as a predictor of alcohol and marijuana use outcomes among adolescents in school -based group treatment

Despite widespread recognition of the problem of adolescent alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse, research on its most common treatment modality, group work, is lacking. This research gap is alarming given that outcomes range from positive to potentially iatrogenic. This study sought to identify change mechanisms and/or treatment factors that are observable within group treatment sessions and that may predict AOD use outcomes. This NIH (F31 DA 020233-01A1) study evaluated 108, 10-19 year olds and the 19 school-based treatment groups to which they were previously assigned (R01 AA10246; PI: Wagner). Associations between motivational interviewing (MI) based change talk variables, group leader MI skills, and alcohol and marijuana use outcomes up to 12-months following treatment were evaluated. Treatment session audio recordings and transcripts (1R21AA015679-01; PI: Macgowan) were coded using a new discourse analysis coding scheme for measuring group member change talk (Amrhein, 2003). Therapist MI skills were similarly measured using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity instrument. Group member responses to commitment predicted group marijuana use at the 1-month follow up. Also, group leader empathy was significantly associated with group commitment for marijuana use at the middle and ending stages of treatment. Both of the above process measures were applied in a group setting for the first time. Building upon MI and social learning theory principles, group commitment and group member responses to commitment are new observable, in-session, process constructs that may predict positive and negative adolescent group treatment outcomes. These constructs, as well as the discourse analysis method and instruments used to measure them, raise many possibilities for future group work process research and practice.

The relationship between the teacher's experience, the teacher's college major, and the teacher's level of education in predicting classroom attitudes in high school science students

A review of the literature reveals few research has attempted to demonstrate if a relationship exists between the type of teacher training a science teacher has received and the perceived attitudes of his/her students. Some of the teacher preparation factors examined in this study include the college major chosen by the science teacher, the highest degree earned, the number of years of teaching experience, the type of science course taught, and the grade level taught by the teacher. This study examined how the various factors mentioned, could influence the behaviors which are characteristic of the teacher, and how these behaviors could be reflective in the classroom environment experienced by the students.^ The instrument used in the study was the Classroom Environment Scale (CES), Real Form. The measured classroom environment was broken down into three separate dimensions, with three components within each dimension in the CES. Multiple Regression statistical analyses examined how components of the teachers' education influenced the perceived dimensions of the classroom environment from the students.^ The study occurred in Miami-Dade County Florida, with a predominantly urban high school student population. There were 40 secondary science teachers involved, each with an average of 30 students. The total number of students sampled in the study was 1200. The teachers who participated in the study taught the entire range of secondary science courses offered at this large school district. All teachers were selected by the researcher so that a balance would occur in the sample between teachers who were education major versus science major. Additionally, the researcher selected teachers so that a balance occurred in regards to the different levels of college degrees earned among those involved in the study.^ Several research questions sought to determine if there was significant difference between the type of the educational background obtained by secondary science teachers and the students' perception of the classroom environment. Other research questions sought to determine if there were significant differences in the students' perceptions of the classroom environment for secondary science teachers who taught biological content, or non-biological content sciences. An additional research question sought to evaluate if the grade level taught would affect the students' perception of the classroom environment. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) ^

Academic performance of college students in financial management and related prerequisite courses: A comparison of senior high school and commercial high school graduates attending Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan

In Taiwan, the college freshmen are recruited graduates of both senior high school and senior vocational school. The Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Republic of China prescribes the standards of curriculum and equipment for schools at all levels and categories. There exists a considerably different curriculum arrangement for senior high schools and vocational high schools in Taiwan at the present time. The present study used a causal-comparative research design to identify the influences of different post-secondary educational background on specialized course performance of college business majors. ^ The students involved in this study were limited to the students of four business-related departments at Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan. Students were assigned to comparison groups based on their post-secondary educational background as senior high school graduates and commercial high school graduates. The analysis of this study included a comparison of students' performance on lower level courses and a comparison of students' performance in financial management. The analysis also considered the relationship between the students' performance in financial management and its related prerequisite courses. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) survey was administered to categorize subjects' learning styles and to compare the learning styles between the two groups in this study. The applied statistical methods included t-test, correlation, multiple regression, and Chi-square. ^ The findings of this study indicated that there were significant differences between the commercial high school graduates and the senior high school graduates on academic performances in specialized courses but not in general courses. There were no significant differences in learning styles between the two groups. These findings lead to the conclusion that business majors' academic performance in specialized courses were influenced by their post-secondary educational background. ^

A comparison of the effects of social constructivist and traditional approaches to teaching on students' attitude and achievement in high school chemistry

Current views of the nature of knowledge and of learning suggest that instructional approaches in science education pay closer attention to how students learn rather than on teaching. This study examined the use of approaches to teaching science based on two contrasting perspectives in learning, social constructivist and traditional, and the effects they have on students' attitudes and achievement. Four categories of attitudes were measured using the Upper Secondary Attitude Questionnaire: Attitude towards school, towards the importance of science, towards science as a career, and towards science as a subject in school. Achievement was measured by average class grades and also with a researcher/teacher constructed 30-item test that involved three sub-scales of items based on knowledge, and applications involving near-transfer and far-transfer of concepts. The sample consisted of 202 students in nine intact classrooms in chemistry at a large high school in Miami, Florida, and involved two teachers. Results were analyzed using a two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with a pretest in attitude as the covariate for attitudes and prior achievement as the covariate for achievement. A comparison of the adjusted mean scores was made between the two groups and between females and males. ^ With constructivist-based teaching, students showed more favorable attitude towards science as a subject, obtained significantly higher scores in class achievement, total achievement and achievement on the knowledge sub-scale of the knowledge and application test. Students in the traditional group showed more favorable attitude towards school. Females showed significantly more positive attitude towards the importance of science and obtained significantly higher scores in class achievement. No significant interaction effects were obtained for method of instruction by gender. ^ This study lends some support to the view that constructivist-based approaches to teaching science is a viable alternative to traditional modes of teaching. It is suggested that in science education, more consideration be given to those aspects of classroom teaching that foster closer coordination between social influences and individual learning. ^

The relationship between educational placement, instructional practices, and achievement gains of Black students with specific learning disabilities in secondary urban school settings

Black students, in general, are underserved academically (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Townsend, 2002) and overrepresented in special education (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Black students with disabilities are further overrepresented in more restrictive educational environments (Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Gallini, Simmons & Feggins-Azziz, 2006). Although the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) revealed that the academic performance of students with learning disabilities is positively related to the percentage of courses taken in the general education setting (Newman, 2006), the research specifically on placement of Black students with disabilities, particularly at the secondary level, as it relates to academic achievement is lacking. While previous studies have sought to determine which placement is better for students with disabilities, no study was found that specifically examined the impact of placement specific to Black students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in urban settings (Fore, III, Hagan-Burke, Burke, Boon & Smith, 2008; Rea, McLaughlin & Walther-Thomas, 2002). This study examined educational placement, instructional best practices, and achievement gains of Black students with SLD in urban secondary settings using an ex post facto research design. Achievement, placement, and demographic data were collected and analyzed on approximately 314 Black eighth grade students with SLD. The Teacher Instructional Practices Survey was developed and used to collect and analyze data from the teachers of 78 of these students as it relates to instructional best practices. Results indicate no significant difference in reading but a significant difference in math gains of students served in inclusive settings as compared to resource settings with a small effect size. Also, no significant relationship was found between achievement gains and the reported use of instructional best practices. However, there was a relationship between educational placement and the use of instructional best practices. The results implied that there is a need for training with both general and special education teachers on instructional best practices for SWD and that there should be certain IEP team considerations when making placement decisions for this population of students with disabilities. It is recommended that future research in this area include classroom observations and factors other than test scores to measure growth in achievement.