ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Our Children, Our Schools: Seeking Solutions for Improving the Climate in Urban Public Schools
Author: Grace, Ronald A.
Date: 2015-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Urban Schools,Public Schools,Educational Environment,Educational Improvement,Statistical Analysis,Educational Quality,Parent School Relationship,Resource Allocation,Parent Surveys,Parent Attitudes,Parent Participation,Lunch Programs,Socioeconomic Status,Likert Scales,Data Analysis,School Culture

Using a quantitative study the researchers examined perceptions regarding school climate of parents with children who attend urban schools, based on several dimensions: quality of the instructional program, support for learning, school climate/environment for learning, parent/school relationships, and resource management. Of the 150 administered surveys by the National Study of School Evaluation NSSE (2004) Parent Opinion Inventory, 116 or 77.3% were returned. Descriptive statistics were used to report findings. Results showed high levels of agreement with parents on most dimensions; however, the lowest level was resource management. In conclusion, although the dimensions regarding school climate were perceived as favorable, student achievement data and conditions that typically characterize urban schools indicate continuous improvements are needed. Recommendations for such improvements include providing additional funding and educational opportunities for children attending urban schools.
Formative Reflections of University Recreation Science Students in South Africa as Catalyst for an Adapted Service-Learning Program
Author: Goslin, Anneliese
Date: 2016-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Service Learning,Student Attitudes,Self Management,Constructivism (Learning),School Community Relationship,Universities,Cooperative Learning,Foreign Countries,Institutional Mission,Undergraduate Students,Qualitative Research,Recreation,Science Education,Positive Attitudes,Outcomes of Education,Skill Development,Problem Solving,Journal Writing

Community-university partnerships through service-learning have progressively developed as part of institutions of higher education's mission statements. This paper explores the qualitative reflections of 410 undergraduate students enrolled in an academic recreation science course on a first time service-learning experience in South Africa. The study asks the question: &quot;how can pre-service and formative reflections used in a social constructive approach impact on collaborative, in-depth learning?&quot; Students were tasked to keep reflective journals to express concerns as pre-service-learning and formative reflections over a four week, twenty hour service-learning experience. The service-learning program aligned with the social constructivism principles of collaborative learning, which occurred under the guidance and supervision of a lecturer, was embedded in a realistic problem, required collaborative problem solving and collaboration with the community partner and involved self-direction and self-management of students. Both pre-service and formative reflection themes changed over the three year study period. Results suggested that the initial service-learning experience did not contribute to a positive attitude towards community engagement and did not contribute to skill development. Results of the study confirmed the value of reflection as a tool in service-learning and commensurate with the overall aim and purpose of service-learning in institutions of higher education.
Literacy Coaching: Middle School Academic Achievement and Teacher Perceptions Regarding Content Area Literacy Strategy Instruction
Author: Edwards, Anjell H.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Coaching (Performance),Literacy Education,Academic Achievement,Standardized Tests,Teacher Surveys,Reading Strategies,Hypothesis Testing,Statistical Analysis,Middle School Teachers,Scores,Effect Size,Middle School Students,Content Area Reading,Content Area Writing

This study examined differences in perceptions of content area teachers receiving literacy coaching and teachers receiving no literacy coaching regarding implementation of literacy instruction. It also examined student achievement on standardized tests relative to literacy coaching. A survey measured teachers' perceptions regarding their implementation of content area literacy strategy instruction. The null hypotheses were tested using an independent t-test and a factorial ANOVA. Results of the t-test indicated no statistically significant difference in perceptions of Title I middle school teachers regarding implementation of content area literacy strategy instruction. The factorial ANOVA indicated a statistically significant difference in students' test scores, but minimal to no effect size.
A Survey on the Influence of Titles on the Visitor's Interpretation and Learning in Art Galleries: An Iranian Context
Author: Samanian, Kouros
Date: 2016-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Questionnaires,Art,Prior Learning,Learning Processes,Painting (Visual Arts),Exhibits,Foreign Countries,Museums,Context Effect,Role,Guides,Artists,Audiences,Information Sources,Classification,Correlation,Statistical Analysis,Nonparametric Statistics

As previous studies suggest, titles of works of art have generally proven to be influential elements in reading and interpretation of the artworks. In the exhibition context, titles can be considered as a physical component of the museum or art gallery's space. According to the relatively new approaches, learning, being a subcategory of interpretation, occurs as a result of the dialogue between the personal background of the visitor and the context of museums. The present study takes shape on the ground of general studies on titles to account for titling role in the interpretation, hence the learning process of visitors. It also attempts to show whether the artistic background of visitors would influence the role they assign to titles in the process of interpretation. The results of this study can inform art galleries of how visitors regard titles and how titling can be a potential learning element. It may also suggest designing titling manuals to inform the artists of how titles can act as a medium between the artwork and audience. By following a survey method, 243 questionnaires were obtained from visitors of five painting exhibitions in the art galleries of Tehran. The data was analysed using SSPS software. The results suggested that interaction of visitors with titles can be categorised by two indicators of importance and functionality, both of which received high value by visitors to art galleries in Tehran. The most significant function of title for visitors was communicative function. Also, there was a significant, inverted relationship between the amount of artistic background and considering function and importance for titles.
Exploring 8th Grade Middle School Science Teachers' Use of Web 2.0 Tools
Author: Stinson, Antwuan
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Student Relationship,Interaction,Educational Environment,Rural Schools,Phenomenology,Qualitative Research,Science Teachers,Learner Engagement,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Technology,Teaching Methods,Scientific Concepts,Science Instruction,Web 2.0 Technologies,Middle School Teachers,Grade 8,Teacher Attitudes,Technology Integration

Educational research focuses on the way teachers and students interact and how teachers structure learning environments to promote interactions. Rural schools require more efficient use of limited human resources if they are not able to hire sufficient numbers of teachers who possess the knowledge and skills. The researcher used a phenomenological qualitative framework to explore how in-service science teachers engage students during instruction using emerging technology. Five (5) participants provided reflections about their practices used during classroom instruction. As expected, the teachers' technological usage varied with instructional delivery and changes with engaging students in learning beyond the school curriculum. The findings suggest rural in-service teachers need explicit opportunities to engage in work to help their students learn science concepts and the extent to which participants know their science content and design instruction that cultivate science identities.
Opening the Learning Process: The Potential Role of Feature Film in Teaching Employment Relations
Author: Lafferty, George
Date: 2016-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Films,Graduate Study,Graduate Students,Student Diversity,Student Participation,Labor Relations,Popular Culture,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Observation,Teacher Attitudes,Questionnaires,Surveys,Likert Scales,Instructional Effectiveness

This paper explores the potential of feature film to encourage more inclusive, participatory and open learning in the area of employment relations. Evaluations of student responses in a single postgraduate course over a five-year period revealed how feature film could encourage participatory learning processes in which students reexamined their initial perspectives on a series of employment relations topics and debates. Over time, the course became increasingly characterised by a pluralism in which all participants became more open to a range of different views, including those of students from diverse political, cultural and religious backgrounds. Of particular note was how the fictional situations depicted in feature films could expand the opportunities for participation and more complex, multidimensional approaches to learning. Following on from a discussion of how more open learning processes require a reconfigured conceptual framework, the paper concludes with some open-ended questions on the use of film in learning processes.
Babies without Borders: Representations of Transracial Chinese Adoption in Picture Books
Author: Sun, Lina
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Adoption,Multiracial Persons,Family Characteristics,Marriage,Guidelines,Childrens Literature,Bibliographies,Picture Books,Ethnicity,Cultural Pluralism,Asians,Teaching Methods,Selection Criteria,Reading Material Selection,Foreign Countries

Interracial and multi-ethnic families formed through intermarriage and transracial adoption are on the rise in the context of globalization, transforming familiar assumptions about what a family should be. The trend of diversity in family composition is increasing and will continue to evolve. This article attempts to compile a set of useful guidelines on how to select adoption-related children's literature with accurate and positive representations, present bibliographies of picture books featuring transracial Chinese adoption, and put forward some pedagogical suggestions for teachers to incorporate these reading materials into classroom instruction.
Unlocking the Potential Within: A Preliminary Study of Individual and Community Outcomes from a University Enabling Program in Rural Australia
Author: Johns, Susan
Date: 2016-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Rural Areas,Longitudinal Studies,Adult Students,Nontraditional Students,Outcomes of Education,Skill Development,Higher Education,Career Change,Job Skills,College Readiness,Access to Education,Mixed Methods Research,Surveys,Semi Structured Interviews,Student Characteristics,Program Effectiveness,Social Development

Many rural communities have a pool of mature-aged local people seeking a career change or better lifestyle, which inevitably involves reskilling or upskilling. These people have strong local ties and are committed to their community. University enabling programs provide a bridge to higher education. This longitudinal study explores the impact on rural mature-aged people of participation in a university enabling program, in terms of further study and employment outcomes. The benefits of enabling programs extend beyond individuals, to family and friends, and beyond. These broader benefits include an enhanced local skills base in key industry areas, and an increased awareness of the value of higher education within the community. Enabling programs are a powerful but under-valued tool in helping to unlock and harness the potential within rural communities, both in the medium and longer term.
Women's Journey to the School Superintendency
Author: Connell, Peggy H.
Date: 2015-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Women Administrators,Likert Scales,Qualitative Research,Administrator Attitudes,Superintendents,Professional Associations,Interviews,Disproportionate Representation,Faculty Mobility,Family Work Relationship,Career Development,Barriers,Mentors,Networks,Gender Differences,Faculty Recruitment,Mixed Methods Research,Surveys

Eighty percent of public school teachers are females, but only 24% of school superintendents are females. This upward trend from a low of 1.3% in the early 1970s has not mirrored the increase of females in executive level positions in other professions. A mixed-methods design identified the barriers that contribute to the under-representation and lack of growth of female superintendents. Participants in the study included active and retired female superintendents from a single Southern state. The quantitative phase consisted of a 29-item Likert-scale survey with 26 respondents. Qualitative follow-up included a three-part interview series design with four successful current and former female superintendents. The results have implications for institutions of higher education and professional organizations.
Reflective Practice and North Carolina's Developmental Reading and English Redesign Efforts
Author: Dees, Lori
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Developmental Programs,Reading Programs,Instructional Design,Educational Principles,Educational Practices,Reflective Teaching,Educational Theories,Coordination,Cooperative Planning,Curriculum Development,Curriculum Design,College English

As developmental education practitioners in the midst of North Carolina's Developmental Reading and English Redesign, we are interested in researching best practices for instructional design and application. We discovered that the principles of reflective practice pervade much of the literature on program planning and practice, so we began to question whether those principles were guiding our redesign efforts. We intentionally incorporated reflective practices to discover whether our experience mirrored this contemplative theory. In this article, we present an overview of our experiences incorporating reflective practice into our redesign efforts.
Cultures &amp; Languages across the Curriculum: Strengthening Intercultural Competence &amp; Advancing Internationalization
Author: Plough, India C.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cultural Awareness,Intercultural Communication,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,International Education,Language Role,Higher Education,Teaching Methods,Language of Instruction,Course Content,Institutional Cooperation,Learning Theories,Sociocultural Patterns,Linguistic Theory,Humanities,Program Descriptions

The role of world languages in the internationalization of college campuses in the United States (U.S.) has become a recurring theme of discussions in academic, government, and private sectors. Topics have ranged from the lack of a common definition of internationalization to a review of college curricula. Klee (2009) and Bettencourt (2011) have recently proposed a re-examination and renewal of an instructional approach introduced almost three decades ago, Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC). In this article, the author looks at two issues: (1) the overall goal of CLAC programs; and (2) the related topic of the necessary conditions for rigorous and informative research of these programs. First, the author describes the current state of affairs in the teaching and learning of languages other than English in the U.S. Second, she highlights findings from a recent literature review on internationalization that bear directly on the development of CLAC programs and related research. Third, she presents a typology of CLAC models created by Davies (2012) to exemplify the diversity of programs and the issues this poses for the unification of the CLAC &quot;movement&quot; (http://clacconsortium.org/). Fourth, the author maintains that situating CLAC programs within a theory of learning will strengthen research, promote cross-institutional collaboration, and lead to program improvement and possibly the growth of CLAC programs nationally. The author suggests two conceptual frameworks within which CLAC programs might be situated: Linguaculture and a Sociocultural Theory of second language acquisition. Finally, using the CLAC program in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) at Michigan State University (MSU) as an example, the author describes the application of three key components of these theories to the RCAH's CLAC program.
Strengthening Academic Writing
Author: Bodnar, Julie R.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Students,Writing Instruction,Remedial Instruction,Developmental Programs,Urban Universities,Private Colleges,Educational Practices,Metacognition,Skill Development,Self Efficacy,Longitudinal Studies,Writing (Composition),Laboratories,Class Activities,Learning Activities,Help Seeking,Tutors,Writing Achievement,Writing Improvement,Outcomes of Education

Underprepared students often need assistance building writing skills and maintaining confidence in their abilities and potential. The authors share the philosophy, pedagogy, and experience of freshman developmental education and the writing center at a four-year, private, not-for-profit urban college. They describe high-impact educational practices that support academic success and promote metacognitive skill development and academic self-efficacy. They also provide data gathered over a five-year longitudinal study. The developmental studies writing program is designed and its partnership with the writing center is designed to help underprepared students, in particular, creating a logical progression of classroom activities and support services. Learning activities are enhanced through technology to support developmental education and writing center sessions. The use of the writing center to support developmental education is to encourage and increase students' help-seeking behavior as they transition beyond the developmental level.
Five Critical Practices for Middle Grades Leadership: A Framework for School Improvement
Author: Nash, Ruth C.
Date: 2014-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle Schools,Middle School Teachers,Instructional Leadership,Educational Practices,National Competency Tests,Leadership Training,Educational Objectives,Alignment (Education),Academic Standards,Consortia,Accountability,Professional Development,Educational Improvement,Program Evaluation,Models,Academic Achievement,Program Implementation,Pilot Projects,Evidence Based Practice

Based on current research, many students in the middle grades (6-8) have not performed at their highest academic levels. In 2011, more than one-half of eighth graders in 16 Southern states scored basic or below basic on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Alternatively, effective principal-leaders strategically demonstrated practices transforming schools into institutions of learning and improved student performance. To support the development and refinement of middle grades leadership expertise, educational leaders in the state collaborated to design a Middle Grades Leadership Academy (MGLA). The following Five Critical Practices synthesize the research findings and are critical to increased student learning: Focus on the direction, build a powerful organization, give life to data, ensure student-focused vision and action, and lead learning. In addition, educational leaders correlated and aligned the Five Critical Practices with the standards of the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC), National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), Alabama Standards for Instructional Leaders, and State Department of Education: Alabama Plan 2020.
&quot;A Peace That Lasts&quot;: Notes Towards a Pedagogy of Peace
Author: Eckert, Michael
Date: 2007-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Empathy,Ethics,Ethical Instruction,Peace,Teaching (Occupation),Democracy,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Questioning Techniques,Opinions,Fear,Inquiry,Cooperative Learning,Conflict Resolution

As a teacher, Michael Eckert writes that he believes the classroom is the place where he can be most effective in promoting global peace and justice while he teaches students how to write essays and read literature. In part, Eckert's interest in this approach is a response to a challenge issued by Ihab Hassan, and recalled by Mary Rose O'Reilly in &quot;The Peaceable Classroom&quot; and paraphrased as &quot;Is it possible to teach so that people stop killing one another?&quot; This meditation encompasses a period of seven years of reading, thinking, and experimenting. Summarizing the highlights, Eckert says that Mary Rose O'Reilley's&quot; The Peaceable Classroom&quot; got him wondering how to make teaching a more peaceful encounter. Michael True's speech led him to look at teaching and learning in a more global context, and Parker Palmer encouraged him to see those principles as a personal and professional commitment. Finally, Eckert credits Stephen Brookfield and Stephen Preskill for offering several concrete methods for promoting the ideal of peaceful teaching.
Learning to Swim Using Video Modelling and Video Feedback within a Self-Management Program
Author: Lao, So-An
Date: 2016-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Aquatic Sports,Adults,Teaching Methods,Video Technology,Intervention,Self Management,Outcomes of Education,Self Efficacy,Females,Foreign Countries

Although many adults who cannot swim are primarily interested in learning by direct coaching there are options that have a focus on self-directed learning. As an alternative a self-management program combined with video modelling, video feedback and high quality and affordable video technology was used to assess its effectiveness to assisting an adult to develop and practice swimming skills. The participant was a 36 year-old non-swimmer who had previously attempted unsuccessfully to learn to swim on previous occasions. A single subject design with baseline, intervention and 12-month post-intervention phase were conducted. Dependent variables included a continuous 25-metre swimming distance goal using the freestyle stroke. After a 13-week intervention phase the continuous swimming distance had increased to 25 metres. For this adult participant, self-managed learning proved to be an effective way to learn to swim and greatly improved her confidence around deep water.