ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
A Quantitative Action Research on Promoting Confidence in a Foreign Language Classroom: Implications for Second Language Teachers
Author: Doqaruni, Vahid Rahmani
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Statistical Analysis,Action Research,Self Esteem,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries,Males,College Students,Interviews,Research Projects,Second Language Learning,Language Tests,Questionnaires

Research has revealed that second language learners often seem passive and reticent in language classrooms. In the age of globalization, however, there is an urgent need for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to enhance their reticent students' confidence to help them take part more actively in classroom oral activities. In line with this trend, the present study reports on action research on increasing the EFL students' confidence in speaking. A second aim was to find out about the beneficial consequences of doing action research for second language teachers in their specific classroom contexts. Participants involved in this study were 16 Iranian male university students who had participated in a general English classroom in a private English language institute. The students had an upper-intermediate level of English. In order to increase the students' confidence, 30 minutes of each session were devoted to interview technique during eight successive weeks. Insights into the students' confidence development were gained through quantitative analysis of their confidence questionnaire. The findings indicated that the students' confidence increased because of incorporating additional speaking activities into the classroom and encouraging them to collaborate with their peers. In addition, this study showed that action research has a great potential to help second language teachers become autonomous.
We Almost Made It: Looking Back on an Evolving Democratic Classroom
Author: Binkley, Russell E.
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Democratic Values,Classroom Techniques,Action Research,Teaching Methods,Educational Practices,Teaching Experience,Classroom Environment,Grade 6

This is the account of a practitioner using action research in his classroom. Lamenting a lack of democracy in his teaching, the teacher is advised by his critical friends to present the problem to his sixth grade students. Together, they come up with a plan to try to democratize their classroom one period at a time. Using both student and teacher qualitative and quantitative self-evaluations and processing the data in class meetings, they see improvement and make progress as they strive for responsible democratic citizenship.
Deconstructing Pre-Service Teachers&apos; Field Experience Narratives: The Role of Epistemological Beliefs
Author: Bays, Rebecca B.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Field Experience Programs,Personal Narratives,Beliefs,Teacher Education Programs,Educational Strategies,Educational Psychology,Undergraduate Students,Student Surveys,Qualitative Research,Teaching Methods,Epistemology,Questionnaires

Teacher development programs incorporate field experiences for pre-service teachers (PTs) to gain first hand teaching experiences. The purpose of this study is to examine PTs' perceptions of field experiences, and more specifically, to investigate whether these perceptions relate to PTs epistemological beliefs. A sample of 115 undergraduate educational psychology students completed the Epistemological Beliefs Inventory (EBI) and a Field Experience Questionnaire. Results indicated that PTs' beliefs about teaching and learning influenced their perception of teaching. Students holding more sophisticated epistemological beliefs, as measured by the EBI, reported more positive perceptions of field experiences, while students holding more naïve epistemological beliefs focused on negative classroom issues such as behavior management. Results inform designers of field experiences on how to better prepare PTs for student teaching and underline the importance of efforts to foster more mature epistemological outlooks in developing teachers.
Effective Integration of Music in the Elementary School Classroom
Author: DiDomenico, James
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Music,Music Education,Music Activities,Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,Elementary School Curriculum,Semi Structured Interviews,Elementary School Teachers,Program Implementation,Teacher Surveys,Integrated Activities,Learning Activities,Program Effectiveness,Mixed Methods Research,Grade 2,Multiple Intelligences

This project was conducted as part of the requirement for a practitioner-oriented research course within the author's teacher education degree program at a private nondenominational Midwestern university. The purpose of the project was twofold: (1) to investigate ways in which music can be integrated into the elementary school curriculum; and (2) to examine how music can serve as a medium of both improving the overall class environment and promoting a better understanding of the curricular material. This study used a quantitative survey that was distributed among 46 elementary school teachers who teach at two ethnically diverse elementary schools in the western suburbs of a large Midwestern metropolitan city. A semistructured qualitative interview was conducted with one teacher who is known to be a strong proponent of using music in her second-grade classroom. The author's journal of observational and self-reflective notes assisted in the final stages of the data analysis process. This study shows that music is used fairly extensively for four distinct purposes: (1) to alter mood; (2) to teach core subjects; (3) to promote creativity and personal expression; and (4) for classroom management and cohesiveness. The author provides recommendations to help current classroom teachers integrate music on a greater and more effective level.
The Critical Friends Group: A Strategy for Developing Intellectual Community in Doctoral Education
Author: Costantino, Tracie
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Doctoral Programs,Graduate Students,Art Education,Discussion Groups,Community,Student Development,Masters Programs

A key recommendation from the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate project is for doctoral programs to focus on developing intellectual communities that are knowledge-centered and multigenerational. In this article I describe a graduate art education course, Writing Critique in Art Education, which uses the Critical Friends discussion protocol to facilitate a heterogeneous intellectual community for doctoral and master's level students. Using a practitioner inquiry methodology, I investigated how the use of a Critical Friends protocol influenced the development of an intellectual community in this course, and how the intellectual community supported students' growth as educational researchers, future teacher educators, and current practicing teachers. While this course is situated in an art education graduate program, the research findings can inform doctoral preparation across disciplines as it focuses on a strategy that facilitates critical dialogue in a supportive environment regardless of content area.
Peer-Mediated Intervention: Concept and Implications for Research and Pedagogical Practice of Teachers of Students with Autism
Author: Ramos, Fabiane dos Santos
Date: 2018-02-26
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Autism,Pervasive Developmental Disorders,Intervention,Peer Teaching,Child Development,Instructional Effectiveness,Interpersonal Competence,Teaching Methods,Kindergarten,Foreign Countries,Inclusion,Educational Research

Inclusion of students with autism has been a challenge for educators who indicate gaps in professional training, especially regarding interventions in the school context. The international literature shows evidence of the effectiveness of a type of intervention not found in the national literature, called peer-mediated intervention (PMI). This study aims to review the PMI in the education of students with autism and its implications for research and pedagogical practice. The theoretical principles of child development behind this intervention are examined to describe the evolution of different procedures and methodologies historically used. Research shows effectiveness of this intervention for improving social skills of special education students and, more recently, for academic learning of children with autism. The broad use from naturalistic to controlled environments, the low cost, and complexity favor its use as a pedagogical practice by kindergarten teachers in inclusive settings. However, the need of future studies addressing this topic in the Brazilian educational context is identified. [This is an unofficial English translation provided by the authors and has not been peer-reviewed.]
Recovering the Ontological Understanding of the Human Being as Learner
Author: Magrini, James
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Practices,Phenomenology,Hermeneutics,Teacher Student Relationship,Teaching Methods,Learning Processes,Transformative Learning,Learning Experience,Student Centered Curriculum,Interpersonal Communication,Ethics,Schematic Studies

Meditating on the potential for inspiring authentic educational practice, this paper conceptualizes teaching and learning through a phenomenological, ontological, and hermeneutical approach. Ultimately, it theorizes a renewed vision for the design and management of a curriculum and classroom that promotes, supports, and facilitates a rich and fecund learning experience, which ultimately finds its inspiration within the type of teacherpupil relationship that is grounded first and foremost in the ontological understanding that we are always already situated in the world as learners, this prior to any formalized or institutionalized enactment of &quot;education.&quot;
Movers, Shakers, &amp; Everyone in Between: Faculty Personas Surrounding Active Learning in the Undergraduate STEM Classroom
Author: Guy, Batsheva R.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Faculty,Active Learning,Undergraduate Students,STEM Education,Qualitative Research,Sampling,Social Networks,Teacher Attitudes,Research Universities,Research Methodology

This qualitative study explores the attitudes that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) faculty have about active learning (AL), the barriers that STEM faculty face when implementing AL, and what would encourage STEM faculty to use AL. Data was gathered using a modified Group-Level Assessment (GLA), a participatory method meant for large groups, in an online format. Thematic data analysis led to the development of four distinct faculty personas--&quot;The Mover,&quot; &quot;The Shaker,&quot; &quot;The Planner,&quot; and &quot;The Feeler.&quot; Each persona has individualized needs that will help them implement AL in the classroom. Future implications involve developing programs to help each type of faculty persona implement AL in the classroom. Administration and faculty members need to work together to develop ways to increase faculty use of AL.
The Perceptions of Students toward Online Learning at a Midwestern University: What Are Students Telling Us and What Are We Doing about It?
Author: Huss, John A.
Date: 2013-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Electronic Learning,Student Attitudes,College Students,Action Research,Web Based Instruction,Student Educational Objectives,Student Experience,Online Surveys,Student Characteristics,Student Satisfaction,Statistical Analysis,Prior Learning,Teacher Student Relationship,Peer Relationship,Feedback (Response)

This action research explored attitudes and perceptions of students at a Midwestern university enrolled in at least one fully online course during fall 2012. Our objective was to initiate a study that gathered comprehensive information about the diversity of the online phenomenon at our university so that we could seek improvement as online designers and professors and subsequently share our findings with other instructors on campus who teach students within the targeted population. The study focused on student perspectives toward web-based instruction and student expectations and experiences in the areas of course format; technological support; interaction with faculty and peers; course flexibility and pace; assessment and feedback; and overall communication.An electronic survey blended a quantitative component in the form of 23 fixed response items with a qualitative element accomplished through two narrative response questions. For such responses, content analysis was employed to compress many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding. A total of 1,085 participated, with numbers varying for individual survey items. The critical themes that emerged spoke to the necessity for clear instructions, timely responses, instructor availability, and an overall course design that integrates appropriate, yet not overpowering, technology.
How to Make Parent Workshops Effective for Immigrant Families
Author: Rogasner, Marjorie
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parent Workshops,Program Effectiveness,Immigrants,Action Research,Parents,Parent Participation,Grade 1,Public Schools,Spanish Speaking,Bilingualism

How often have we said: &quot;The parents are not involved--they are just not interested.&quot; My two-year action research study evaluated a variety of methods which led to more immigrant parent participation in family workshops. The study took place in a Chicago public school, in a first grade bilingual classroom. All of the families are Spanish speaking. I concluded that teachers need to first consider the experiences of their students' families and only then design ways to ask parents to be involved.
The Variable of the Self in Classroom Research: A Brief and Incomplete History of My Work as a Teacher Researcher
Author: Gallas, Karen
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Classroom Research,Teacher Researchers,Science Instruction,Navajo (Nation),Seminars,Kindergarten,Preschool Teachers,Elementary School Science,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Teaching Experience,Teaching Methods,Personal Narratives

This article traces Karen Gallas' experience as a teacher engaged in teacher research beginning in September of 1989 when she joined a weekly seminar in which teachers looked together at children's talk and while learning about methods of conducting classroom research on language. Gallas became very involved in what she now calls &quot;Science Talks&quot; (Gallas, 1995), and found her work with the seminar and with the Science Talks enabled herself and the children to carry on continuous dialogue about science. Three years after beginning her work on Science Talks, she had also become deeply involved in documenting the role of the arts in the classroom, studying children's work on community building in sharing time, and looking at the dynamics of gender and power in the classroom. As the children in her classroom gained greater control over forums like sharing time and science talk, her ability to teach and build a responsive curriculum with them also expanded. This gradually led her to research the ways in which children naturally used imagination to further their own learning. Eventually, that fascination led to important changes in her teaching (Gallas, 2003). In this article, Gallas focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in shaping research in each phase of the process: identifying the questions, developing a methodological framework, and analyzing the data. She illustrates her points by further unpacking different aspects of her own work.
Incorporating Self-Study Methodology into a Hybrid Course Design Experiment
Author: Fayne, Harriet R.
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Self Evaluation (Individuals),Graduate Students,Courses,Research Methodology,Blended Learning,Teacher Education Programs,Student Attitudes,Student Satisfaction,Focus Groups,Learning,Educational Cooperation,Teacher Educators,Attendance,Web 2.0 Technologies,Online Surveys

This investigation utilized self-study as an impetus for change in teaching practices for post-tenure faculty. Two instructors collaborated with 33 graduate students enrolled in a teacher research methods course. Across a ten-week term, faculty and students examined both possibilities and challenges created by running parallel class meetings each week (one virtual, one face-to-face). Using social networking tools as well as conventional forms of data gathering, instructors found that, while students appreciated the flexibility that the hybrid design afforded, a majority preferred to attend the face-to-face sessions rather than to take advantage of the online classes. The author discusses possible explanations for attendance patterns and suggests ways that the online option could be enhanced.
Urban Teacher Candidates Discover Inquiry-Based Learning While Developing Oral History Projects
Author: Blumenreich, Megan
Date: 2012-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Active Learning,Inquiry,Oral History,Student Projects,Preservice Teacher Education,Preservice Teachers,Training Methods,Urban Education,Urban Teaching,Undergraduate Students,Measures (Individuals),Portfolio Assessment,Knowledge Base for Teaching,Educational Practices

The current generation of urban pre-service teachers attended K-12 schools under the increasing influence of a testing and standards-based, market-driven education, a trend that has been growing since the 1990s (Ravitch, 2010). Because of this, I argue here that exposing these pre-service teachers to an inquiry-driven learning experience, in this case working on an oral history project, is vital if we are to develop new urban teachers who can foster student-centered teaching and learning. This study focused on one section of a course at an urban university in which most students were either immigrants or children of immigrants, representing a diverse group of countries. Almost all the students went to urban public schools and most were the first in their families to attend college. In this course, pre-service undergraduates were introduced to inquiry-driven education and then developed an oral history project stemming from their own questions. I provided three examples of the students' digital final projects and then discussed the themes that emerged across the class' work throughout the semester. This article ends with a discussion of the value of these experiences through the lens of the educational concept Funds of Knowledge.
As an Educator and Educational Researcher, How Do I Improve What I Am Doing and Contribute to Educational Theories That Carry Hope for the Future of Humanity?
Author: Whitehead, Jack
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Researchers,Educational Theories,Educational Research,Learning,Foreign Countries,Epistemology,Values,Influences,Futures (of Society)

What I want to share in this contribution to education inquiry are some insights from my educational research programme between 1973-2010 about the kind of educational theories that can explain the educational influence of an individual in their own learning, in the learning of others, and in the learning of the social formations in which we live and work. These insights are focused on: (1) The desire of educators to account to themselves and others for living as fully as possible the ontological values they use to give meaning and purpose to their lives in their vocation of education; (2) The capabilities of individuals to generate valid explanations of their educational influences in learning as their living educational theories; (3) The significance of multimedia narratives for communicating the meanings of the energy-flowing values that individuals use to explain why they are doing what they are doing; and (4) The need to extend epistemological understandings from propositional and dialectical explanations into the relationally dynamic awareness of inclusionality.
Universal Design for Learning: A Collaborative Framework for Designing Inclusive Curriculum
Author: Wu, Xiuwen
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Access to Education,Models,Expertise,Teacher Collaboration,Regular and Special Education Relationship,Special Education Teachers,General Education,Special Education,Curriculum Design,Curriculum Implementation,Teaching Methods,Assistive Technology,Inclusion,Disabilities

The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to introduce the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by going to its origination in the field of architecture--the Universal Design, in order to illustrate the inclusive nature of UDL; and (2) to shed light on one of the most important aspects of UDL--collaboration. The UDL framework provides teachers with a unified framework to collaborate on the development of an accessible and inclusive curriculum through flexible pedagogy and tool use. Developed for all students, the UDL framework aims to expand all teachers' expertise in teaching diverse learners and depends on collaboration for success. The article explores the following essential questions about the UDL collaboration process: What are the necessary steps in the collaboration? Who are key players and contributors? What does the UDL collaboration model entail for the key players? The article provides a succinct analysis of the UDL process and proposes a model for collaboration with practical guidelines across educational departments, such as general and special education.
Inquiry into Co-Teaching in an Inclusive Classroom
Author: Lava, Valerie F.
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Inquiry,Inclusion,Team Teaching,Classroom Techniques,Partnerships in Education,Teacher Collaboration,Group Dynamics,Consultants,Grade 4,Regular and Special Education Relationship,Teacher Surveys,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Meetings,Transcripts (Written Records),Educational Practices,Teaching Methods,Observation

A year-long inquiry was conducted in response to the following questions: How does the relationship and teaching practice of a new co-teaching partnership evolve throughout the course of a school year? How can a consultant support the work of a new co-teaching partnership? The work of a general education and special education teacher in their first year of co-teaching in a fourth grade inclusive classroom in an urban public school is described. Utilizing a collaborative consultation model, efforts to support the work of the co-teaching partnership were documented. Data collected and analyzed included: results of self-assessment surveys, audio-recordings of bi-weekly meetings, anecdotal impressions of meetings, and descriptive notes of classroom observations. This fourth grade team developed a productive co-teaching partnership. They forged a professional relationship while they honed their collaborative instructional practices. Resources that proved useful in this inquiry study as well as a broader review of the literature are included for teachers, mentors, and administrators interested in the work of co-teaching.
Quintessential Acts of Inquiry in Educational Practice: Delineating Inquiry and Interpretation in the Pursuit of Teacher Professionalization
Author: Purinton, Ted
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Inquiry,Professionalism,Teaching (Occupation),Educational Research,Decision Making,Educational Practices

Sociological and political theories on the professions indicate that established professions utilize unique forms of inquiry and interpretation to guide practice. This essay argues that for teaching to become professionalized, unique forms of inquiry and interpretation need to be emphasized. Utilizing the concept of professional jurisdiction, the essay argues that other professions' forms of inquiry, while not detrimental to the purpose of teacher professionalization, do not establish the distinctive skills upon which teachers can lay claim.