3543 research outputs found
Sort by
How High School Students With Dyslexia Use Assistive Technology; A Teacher\u27s Perspective
No full textHigh school teachers of students with dyslexia face unique instructional challenges. Students’ with dyslexia experience levels of difficulty in reading and writing tasks that have now transmigrated into the digital realm. These teachers are working to collaborate with and teach students that are dyslexic, using technology tools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain an understanding of how these teachers are using technology to support the learning of students with dyslexia. Two research questions guided this study: How do the teachers of high school students with dyslexia perceive the use of digital technology to assist in the learning process? What are the experiences of teachers who use digital technology to teach high school students with dyslexia? The sample was a purposeful sample consisting of 8 high school teacher participants. Participants taught a variety of subjects including English, mathematics, history, and science at a charter school in western North Carolina. The data collection instruments were face to face interviews, observations, and member checking sessions. The typological analysis model was used to analyze data collected from interviews and observations. The constant comparative strategy was used during analysis to effectively determine commonalities among these data. These strategies ensured data were being analyzed beyond the surface level. The key findings of this study were that participants view digital classroom technology favorably and are using technology frequently as a teaching tool for all students. The teachers expressed the need for professional development and training sessions to more fully develop technology skills as a way to specifically engage with students with dyslexia and their learning needs
Addressing Ethnic and Gender Differences in Advanced Placement Calculus (AB) Exam Scores
No full textThe purpose of this quantitative study was to determine was to test whether increasing the length of the instructional period from one to two hours might increase student achievement and close achievement gaps. This study included two components: an achievement gap analysis and a quasi-experiment. The purpose of the achievement gap analysis was to measure the existence of achievement gaps on the Calculus AB exam in Michigan. The achievement gap analysis included comparisons of Calculus AB exam scores in Michigan to measure gender differences, ethnic differences, and Hispanic gender differences. The purpose of the quasi-experiment was to determine whether increasing the length of the instructional period might close achievement gaps. In the quasi-experiment, the comparison group took Calculus for one hour daily, while the experiential group took Calculus for two hours daily. Both the comparison group and the experiential group took the Calculus AB exam at the end of their year of instruction. The results of the achievement gap analysis confirmed that Michigan has both gender and ethnic achievement gaps that showed up in every year of analyzed data, while a Hispanic achievement gap existed only in the most recent year of data. The results of the quasi-experimental component indicated that increasing the amount of Calculus instruction from one hour to two hours resulted in a statistically significant difference in all four comparisons of the comparison group to the experiential group. The results of this study indicated that schools should consider increasing the length of the period of Calculus instruction to address achievement gaps
Women Entrepreneur Experiences With Leadership and Success: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study
No full textFormer research regarding leadership focused mainly on gender comparisons with limited research exploring women leaders independently. The purpose of this study was to understand how women entrepreneurs describe and interpret their leadership experiences as entrepreneurs, to understand how women entrepreneurs describe success, and to further understand what perceived impact leadership styles have on women’s entrepreneurial success. The study answered three questions regarding how women entrepreneurs describe and interpret their experiences as leaders, how women entrepreneurs describe their success as entrepreneurs and what perceived impact leadership style has on their success. Transformational, organizational, and servant leadership theories guided this study’s framework. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted with open-ended interviews and focus groups to collect data regarding how women leaders view their leadership and success. Responses were obtained from 20 women entrepreneurs between the ages of 25 and 44. Data was analyzed by coding transcriptions for common themes which included emotions, making a difference, and freedom expressed amongst the participants. The study provides an understanding of women entrepreneurs and highlighted that the leadership characteristics the women displayed were mainly associated with transformational leadership. The most common theme related to success was having the opportunity to make a difference and participants reported a perceived impact of leadership style on success, in that transformational leadership was perceived to positively impact entrepreneurial success. In totality, more research needs to be conducted to determine how women are learning to become leaders and if the pursuit of leadership has influenced women’s thoughts and beliefs regarding success
The Role of Virtual Communication Platforms in Academically Supporting Post-Secondary Students
No full textWhile many consider college students to be digital natives, who are at ease with multiple forms of technology, many of these students do not adapt these skills for academic purposes. Retention concerns for college students often prompt support staff to seek out and adopt technology approaches to promote completion. This study provided a virtual learning platform to deliver academic support and sought to promote learning community interaction for rural and urban post-secondary students. A subset of vocational major programs that prepare students for employment after completion served as a participant pool. However, participants in the study chose not to use the resource and the researcher then refocused the study as an exploratory case study. Research questions focused on the role of virtual learning communities for college students, how virtual learning communities support academics, how students use virtual learning communities and their technology preferences. The platform vendor provided interview transcripts from eight rural and four urban community college students. A thematic analysis revealed themes of communication, academics, support, and responsibilities. Further analysis resulted in parsing out technology as a major theme, with communication becoming a subset. Limitations of the study result from a convenience sample of rural and urban college students. Social learning and cultural practices provided a theoretical structure regarding belongingness and self-determination. Findings report students use social networking for personal and recreation purposes but did not adapt these resources for academic support. There are 14 figures and 38 tables in this study
Transformative Reminiscence Training For Older Adults: Increasing Self-Positive Reminiscence During Self-Directed Life Reviews
No full textFor this dissertation, I tested whether Transformative Reminiscence Training is a viable alternative to facilitated life reviews for older adults. Facilitated life reviews involve structured reminiscence, which is designed to enhance the self-positive functions of identity consolidation, problem solving, and meaning-making death preparation (Korte, 2012). Transformative Reminiscence Training combines life review methods with consciousness raising. It is based on Paulo Freire’s critical theory (2000) and includes psychosocial, perspective transformation, and narrative identity life review education. Using a pre-posttest, randomized experimental design, I explored whether Transformative Reminiscence Training would result in (a) the completion of a self-directed life review, (b) increased self-positive reminiscence, and (c) reduced self-negative reminiscence over a two-week period, in comparison to a control group. The study involved 52 non-vulnerable community dwelling adults who were placed in either an intervention or control group using stratified random assignment. All participants completed pretests and posttests of the reliable and valid Reminiscence Functions Scale (Webster, 1993; 1997). The results of the Fisher’s Exact Test showed that there was no significant difference between the intervention and control group in the completing two-week self-directed life reviews. The results of the Paired T-Test showed significant differences between groups, with increases in self-positive reminiscence. The results of the alternative non-parametric Exact Sign Test showed a significant difference between intervention and control groups, in terms of decreases in self-negative reminiscence. These results imply an association between Transformative Reminiscence Training and increased use of self-positive reminiscence
A Case Study of How Principals Create Collaborative Environments
No full textThis study examines the perceptions of principals and their respective teachers regarding the principals’ abilities to create a collaborative environment at the elementary level. Isolation of teachers has been a historical practice in most American schools and contributed to a lack of growth among practitioners. Increasing collaboration and ending isolation is one way to improve our country’s educational system for students and teachers. The methodology applied in this study employed a qualitative multiple case study design which provided an in-depth perspective of three elementary school principals and staff respective staff. The major findings of the data collected from interviews, focus groups and observations revealed leaders who possess abilities and support systems including: (a) servant oriented moral compass, (b) developing and maintaining professional relationships, (c) support roles, (d) structured periodic collaborative time, and (e) comprehensive communication are most able to create a collaborative environment. This study yielded important results which could be utilized to further research which would provide valuable insight for practitioners regarding how effective principals’ creation of collaborative teams were at ending teacher isolation
Game Play in Education: An Exploration of the What, How, and Why
No full textThis study explored whether teachers utilize games in the classroom, known as gamification and, if so, whether they used games according to game theory that exists in the field of gaming and game design. In higher education and secondary environments, educators report that problems exist as far as student behavior and engagement. Many students do not want to learn. The literature review conducted as part of this study indicated that when teachers gamified their classrooms few empirical investigations were conducted in the K-12 setting; another shortcoming was a lack of a uniform classification system for game elements among the literature, causing confusion in the research as to the approaches applied during each study and how conclusions were reached. The lack of practical application was important in this study because in order for game elements to engage and motivate students to trigger desired behavior, gamification should draw from the motivational qualities of good games as outlined by game designer McGonigal. Therefore, when a teacher opts to use gamification, a standard classification of game elements should be developed as part of educational game theory so that the what, how, and why is evident. In other words, teachers can benefit from this study by gaining an understanding of what constitutes a game element, how each element should be utilized, and for what purpose
School-Age Child Care Teachers’ Perceptions of Quality Programming in Southeastern Michigan
No full textParents look to child care programs to provide supervised oversight for their children when they are unable to provide the care. Quality school-age care is important because program type and staff-student interactions can affect the participant’s engagement and belonging as well as promote social-emotional and character development. Perceptions of quality programming with school-agers have not received the same attention and research interest as services for younger children. I examined school-age child care teachers’ perceptions of experiences and challenges with operating quality programs in one school district in southeastern Michigan to better understand their perspectives. The study was guided by two research subquestions: How do school-age child care teachers define quality programming? What are the experiences of school-age care teachers with high staff turnover and quality programming? A purposeful sample of 13 school-based teachers with varying years of experience and education participated in this study. Semistructured face-to-face interviews, program observations, and field notes were used for data collection. An inductive approach was used to analyze data from the interviews and an interpretive approach was used to analyze data from observations and field notes. The key findings were that participants thought quality programming occurred where trained and engaged teachers used students’ preferences to structure environments that supported creativity and where teachers were able to positively adjust to the challenges of high staff turnover. The participants viewed competent leadership as an essential component of quality programming and that training and experience are needed to build capacity, so they can competently perform their jobs
Festival of Pentecost Series B 2018
No full textThis PDF comments on the Propers for the First Sunday in Pentecost, Series B and offers ideas for proclamation and preaching
Propers 10 (Pentecost 8) Series B 2018
No full textThis PDF comments on the Propers Ten, Series B and offers ideas for proclamation and preaching