ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Outdoor Play and Learning: Policy and Practice
Author: Burriss, Kathleen
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Outdoor Education,Play,Questionnaires,School Districts,Board of Education Policy,Playgrounds,School Safety,Educational Administration,Inclusion,Disabilities,Administrator Role,Cognitive Development,Social Development,Emotional Development,Physical Development,Recess Breaks

This study describes national school district policy and practice regarding elementary school children's outdoor learning and play. District representatives from 173 randomly selected school districts completed questionnaires describing policy and practice related to recess, outdoor play, outdoor curricular studies, playground materials, ADA accessibility, and administrative support. Quantitative analyses indicate that although the largest proportion of school districts overall reported maintaining the same amount of outdoor activity time, more school districts reported decreasing time spent outdoors than school districts that reported increasing children's time outside. There were no significant differences in variables across the three different-sized school districts. These data are congruent with other findings indicating that decreasing children's outdoor time is a national trend. Data suggest administrators' greater support for outdoor play and learning than previously identified. These findings are discussed as an opening dialogue between administration and teachers to plan for children's quality outdoor experiences. (Contains 6 tables.)
Indigenous Systems within the African-American Community
Author: Marbley, Aretha Faye
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: African American Family,Slavery,African Americans,African American Culture,Indigenous Populations,United States History,African American History,Racial Bias,Social Bias,Resilience (Psychology),Cultural Influences,Mental Health Programs,Access to Education,Access to Health Care

For the African-American family, life ain't been no crystal stair. The African-American family has trotted for over 400 years through a wilderness of racism, poverty, discrimination of all kinds, crossing seas of monsters and forests of demons. Yet, despite the numerous obstacles and attacks that society has mounted against it since slavery, the authors believe that the African-American family has found creative ways to survive, retain some of its African values and structure, and fulfill its functions to this society. By presenting a variety of tools such as statistics, studies, and real-life stories, this article presents culturally compatible frameworks for understanding the delivery of educational, social, and mental health services to African-American families and communities. There are very few, if any, single theoretical models unique to understanding the nature and the complexity of African-American family life. Therefore, the authors offer a combination of Afrocentric and structural functional theories as theoretical lenses to organize the discussion of the available literature on African-American families. They present them as harmonious and mutually compatible frameworks for addressing not only the social, historical, political, and economic realities of African-American family life, but also as frameworks that aggressively wrestle with interlocking agendas, identities, oppressions, realities, and the marginality of the African-American family.
Culturally Relevant Political Education: Using Immigration as a Catalyst for Civic Understanding
Author: Journell, Wayne
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Culturally Relevant Education,Immigration,Political Issues,Immigrants,Social Studies,Hispanic American Students,Politics,Correlation,Civics,High School Students,Alienation,Course Content,Presidents,Elections,Teaching Methods

Latino students, in particular, often feel alienated from politics, especially at the federal level, and this political disengagement often correlates with the immigrant status of students or their families. However, recent research suggests that the amount and quality of social studies coursework taken by immigrant students can reverse these attitudes and produce positive feelings toward political engagement. Specifically, Torney-Purta and her colleagues (2007) posit that Latino students would benefit from "creating an open climate for discussion, and explicitly including the study of political topics in the curriculum [in their social studies curriculum]". The authors' analysis in this article details the efforts of one teacher, Mr. Harrison,  who followed this strategy with his predominately Latino high school civics class during his coverage of the 2008 Presidential election. Using immigration, a topic that elicited passionate reactions from his students, as a reoccurring theme throughout the semester, Mr. Harrison was able to engage in a type of culturally relevant pedagogy that allowed his students to involve themselves in discussions of the American political process. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 1 note.)
A Critical Look at Four Multicultural Reform Efforts in One Urban College of Education
Author: Gove, Mary K.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learning Problems,Indigenous Knowledge,Urban Areas,Schools of Education,Educational Change,Teacher Education,Criticism,Sociocultural Patterns,Critical Theory,Race,Communities of Practice,Diversity (Institutional)

This analysis encompassed four different projects that were implemented as reform initiatives at the college. The authors' collaborative work and this subsequent analysis have drawn on insights from Cochran-Smith (2004), who describes teacher education as both a "learning problem and a political problem" that involves the creation of inquiry communities. Grounded in a critical perspective, the authors' work and the projects described have all involved critical sociocultural theory, critical race theory, and a critical literacy perspective. In this article, the authors present descriptions of the individual projects and jointly analyze the projects through a lens created by four dimensions of critical perspective. Striving to meet Cochran-Smith's (2004) challenge, they then "work the dialectic" by generating both theory and practice from local knowledge that advances their college's mission relating to diversity. (Contains 1 note.)
Shared Success: Voices of First-Generation College-Bound Latino/as
Author: Borrero, Noah
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Multicultural Education,Hispanic American Students,First Generation College Students,Academic Achievement,White Students,Equal Education,Achievement Gap,High School Seniors,Student Attitudes,Academic Aspiration,Social Support Groups,Family Role,Family School Relationship,Cultural Differences,Community Resources

Inquiry into the academic achievement of Latino/a youth in the United States should be of major interest to teachers, administrators, families, communities, scholars, and policy makers committed to equitable multicultural education in schools. Although the diversity of Latinos is well documented, academic achievement discourse continues to lump the group together and compare achievement outcomes between Latino students and White students. In this article, that all too common narrative is challenged by presenting the voices of a group of Latino/a public high school seniors who are graduating and will be attending four-year colleges and universities. As first-generation college-bound students, their voices tell of the immense excitement and responsibility that they feel as a result of achieving this academic goal while also revealing the challenges they have overcome and the support systems they have utilized to get to this place. Their voices are presented to show that there are success stories to be told about the academic achievement of Latino youth, and to reveal the strong cultural pride that they feel as students who have beaten the odds and who want to share their successes with their families and communities. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)
The Politics of a Child Study Team: Advocating for Immigrant Families
Author: Schoorman, Dilys
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Minorities,Equal Education,Educational Research,Learning Disabilities,Family Literacy,Grade 3,School Personnel,Immigrants,Advocacy,Educational Policy,Special Education,Referral,Case Studies,Decision Making,American Indians,Elementary School Students,Lunch Programs,Eligibility,Socioeconomic Status,Parent Role,Teacher Attitudes,Disadvantaged,Mothers

Educational research undertaken for the public good incites educators who work in under-served communities not only to highlight the educational policies and practices that lead to the further marginalization of these communities, but also to imagine ways in which such hegemony can be countered. This article focuses on an emerging challenge found within immigrant communities as families try to navigate the policies and standard operating practices of educational institutions in the context of special education referrals. That challenge is the accurate classification of students of language minority backgrounds for appropriate instructional support and educational programming, particularly when evaluating for a learning disability. This case study examines the decision making of a CST convened to address the placement of a third grade student of Guatemalan Maya descent in a school that serves a community that is predominantly of low economic status (90% qualify for free/reduced lunch) and of color (only 6% classified as White). Foregrounded in this study is the role that the child's parent plays in the decision-making of the CST. This role is examined through the perspective of the educators and tutors at a community-based Family Literacy Program (FLP) in which the child's mother and her children are enrolled as participants. While this study highlights the marginalization of the parent in the decision-making process, it also draws attention to how collaborations among university professors, community educators, and school personnel might be forged to counter such exclusion, and to re-envision possibilities for equity in education in non-dominant communities.
Do We Live in a Box of Crayons?: Looking at Multicultural Metaphors Written by Teachers
Author: Chung, Mi-Hyun
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Graduate Students,Literacy Education,Multicultural Education,Teacher Education Programs,Models,Figurative Language,Teacher Educators,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Teacher Attitudes,Language Teachers,Writing (Composition),Second Language Instruction,Classification,Role,Cultural Differences

It is essential for teachers and teacher educators alike to understand how teachers conceptualize multicultural education. It is such understandings that will help a teacher education program meet the real needs of both the teachers and their students. After all, it is the teacher who works with diversity in the classroom and who must make informed decisions about all students' learning. In this study, the authors attempt to understand how language teachers and literacy teachers conceptualize multicultural education by analyzing their writings, and specifically looking at their use of multicultural metaphors. They believe that language, literacy, and culture are intertwined, and therefore it is important to understand how language teachers view the role of different cultures in teaching and learning. They asked graduate students, most of whom were already teachers, in two teacher-education programs--Teaching Literacy and TESOL--to create a metaphor that portrays the multicultural characteristics of American culture and the important aspects which they believe constitute multicultural education. From the analysis of the teacher writings, the authors were able to categorize five different conceptualizations of multicultural education, which are discussed in this article and considered in comparison with other theoretical models. (Contains 1 table.)
Students Find Their Place in History: Using Theatre to Expand Pre-Service Teachers' Multicultural Awareness
Author: Stanton, Shannon M.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teacher Education,Theater Arts,Multicultural Education,Teacher Education Programs,Cultural Pluralism,Cultural Awareness,College Role,Course Descriptions,Immigration,Education Courses,Creative Activities,Self Concept,Empowerment,Cultural Background,Assignments,Teaching Methods

Scholars for decades now have argued for the importance of multiculturalism in the United States, as they become a more diverse society. Multicultural education has the potential to provide a curriculum that is inclusive, offering multiple perspectives, and concerned with equity. It is without question the responsibility of colleges and universities to make sure teachers are prepared to meet the needs of the students they will teach. This includes the need to provide cultural relevancy within a curriculum that still remains very Eurocentric. As the discussions around multicultural education grow, there is a rising concern about how it will best be implemented in the classroom--if it is to be implemented at all. To address the needs at the college, the authors created two courses, one in theatre and the second in education, with the goal of getting pre-service teachers to experience a multicultural curriculum in a more intimate way. This article offers an analysis of the midterm course project that linked these two courses. In the theatre class, "Improvisation for Teachers" (IT), students were asked to express archetypal characters found in migration stories as a way to get them to connect the themes of multiculturalism they were learning in the education course, Heritage, Identity, and Empowerment (HIE). What follows in the discussion on multicultural education is the authors' methodology, an analysis of one of their assignments in the paired courses, and implications for teacher education programs.
Study Orchestrations in Distance Learning: Identifying Dissonance and Its Implications for Distance Educators
Author: Anderson, Bill
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Environment,Learning Strategies,Study,Study Habits,Study Skills,Cognitive Style,Distance Education,Metacognition,Factor Analysis,Student Adjustment,Student Participation

The exploration of study orchestrations emphasises students' active participation in learning, describing the ways in which they marshal the resources available to them in response to their learning environment. This study reports the identification of study orchestrations in a group of distance students and identifies the existence of dissonant study orchestrations, which previous research has linked with poor achievement, in approximately one-fifth of the group. Data came from responses by 176 students to the ASSIST questionnaire. The data was subject to factor analysis to ensure commensurability with previous studies, and then cluster analysis was used to identify groups with similar study orchestrations. Four clusters were identified. One of these was clearly dissonant, pointing toward problematic links between learning environments and student approaches to study. The implications of dissonant study orchestrations are explored and further research is suggested, along with implications for the practice of distance educators. (Contains 2 tables.)
Open-Access Textbooks and Financial Sustainability: A Case Study on Flat World Knowledge
Author: Hilton, John, III
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Textbooks,Higher Education,College Students,Case Studies,Electronic Publishing,Access to Information,Student Costs,Electronic Learning

Many college students and their families are concerned about the high costs of textbooks. A company called Flat World Knowledge both gives away and sells open-source textbooks in a way it believes to be financially sustainable. This article reports on the financial sustainability of the Flat World Knowledge open-source textbook model after one year of operation. (Contains 2 tables.)
Liminality and Disinhibition in Online Language Learning
Author: Cunningham, Una
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Computer Mediated Communication,Online Courses,Educational Technology,Synchronous Communication,Distance Education,Web Based Instruction,Internet,Higher Education,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language)

The aim of this paper is to bring theoretical concepts from other areas of scholarly research to bear on synchronous online education in a cross-disciplinary effort to shed light on what is going on by introducing systems of thought from other areas. The liminality and associated communitas which are found in synchronous online learning environments are examined for their possible consequences for learning in general and language learning in particular. Like computer-mediated communication, liminality has been associated with disinhibitory effects. Lack of excessive inhibition has been shown to have positive effects on second language production. The position of the online learner as "neither here nor there" or perhaps simultaneously both here and there is investigated and discussed.
Social Presence within the Community of Inquiry Framework
Author: Annand, David
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Constructivism (Learning),Computer Mediated Communication,Models,Online Courses,Teaching Methods,Outcomes of Education,Educational Environment,Inquiry,Distance Education,Educational Technology,Individualized Instruction,Feedback (Response),Higher Education

The role of social presence as defined by the community of inquiry (CoI) framework is critiqued through a review of recent literature. Evidence is presented that questions the actual extent of knowledge co-construction that occurs in most higher education settings and therefore challenges the framework's underlying assumption of the need for sustained, contiguous, two-way communication in higher-level online learning environments. The CoI framework has evolved from the description of a learning process within a social constructivist paradigm to an empirically testable construct in an objectivist paradigm. Related research results indicate that social presence does not impact cognitive presence in a meaningful way and that best teaching practices suggested by CoI-based studies are informed by objectivist, cognitively oriented learning theories. These suggest that higher-order cognition may be achieved through wide and varied combinations of learner-teacher, learner-content, and learner-learner interaction. Controlled studies can and should be undertaken to compare learning outcomes using sustained, contiguous, two-way communication to other learning models. To facilitate this, subcategories of social and teaching presences need to be revamped and analysis adjusted to separate processes that support explicitly group-based learning activities from those used by individual students. (Contains 3 figures.)
Role Engagement and Anonymity in Synchronous Online Role Play
Author: Cornelius, Sarah
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Role Playing,Computer Mediated Communication,Online Courses,Adult Education,Interviews,Program Effectiveness,Teaching Methods,Synchronous Communication,Electronic Learning,Electronic Mail,Web 2.0 Technologies,Case Studies,Educational Technology

Role play activities provide opportunities for learners to adopt unfamiliar roles, engage in interactions with others, and get involved in realistic tasks. They are often recommended to foster the development of soft skills and a wider perspective of the world. Such activities are widely used as an online teaching approach, with examples ranging from the simple use of email to the employment of virtual worlds and Web 2.0 technologies. This paper provides a case study of a role play activity which employs real-time anonymous discussion forums and aims to improve our understanding of effective role play and the impact of anonymity. This role play has been effective in educating learners about different perspectives on the issue of Quality in Further Education. The context and implementation of the role play are outlined, and the learners' interactions and experiences are explored using an investigative analysis of discussion transcripts and semi-structured interviews with participants. The findings suggest that role engagement and anonymity are important components for success in synchronous online role play. Evidence is presented that provides an insight into the factors which encourage role engagement, including prior experiences and contributions from peers. The impact of anonymity is also explored since many participants did not regard the study environment as real and attempted to identify their peers.
Assessment of Learner Acceptance and Satisfaction with Video-Based Instructional Materials for Teaching Practical Skills at a Distance
Author: Donkor, Francis
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Video Technology,Distance Education,Program Effectiveness,Study Centers,Instructional Materials,Instructional Effectiveness,Adoption (Ideas),Developing Nations,Adult Education,Educational Policy,Educational Development,Vocational Education,Instructional Design,Program Descriptions,Student Surveys,Student Attitudes,Participant Satisfaction,Instructional Material Evaluation,Masonry,Building Trades,Correctional Education,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires,Multimedia Instruction

As video-based instructional materials become available to distance learners to learn practical skills at a distance, it is important to assess the instructional effectiveness of these materials and to understand how students respond to them. This paper is the second part of a larger exploratory study that assessed the instructional effectiveness of video-based instructional materials for teaching distance learners practical skills in block-laying and concreting and how learners respond to these instructional materials. Specifically, this paper aims to assess learners' acceptance and satisfaction with the materials. It also aims to determine whether levels of learner satisfaction and acceptance differ according to study centres. Data were collected from 71 respondents at three study centres using a self-completion questionnaire comprising 17 Likert-type items. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Scheffe's post hoc test at a 0.05 level of significance. Learners appeared positive about their learning experiences with the use of video-based instructional materials to learn practical skills at a distance as they rated highly all the items assessing their acceptance and satisfaction. Results of item-by-item ANOVA regarding learner acceptance indicated that the respondents, categorized according to study centres, exhibited similar levels of acceptance for nine of the ten items. For learner satisfaction, there were no statistically significant differences for six of the seven items. Thus, learners of different study centres exhibited about the same level of acceptance and satisfaction. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)