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Problem Based Learning and Improved Student Engagement, Equity and Learning Outcomes in High School Social Studies
Get PDFResearch shows that a curriculum with a focus on Problem Based Learning (PBL) can improve student engagement, provide classroom equity and achieve positive learning outcomes to high school students. The core instructional tenets of PBL include student choice, inquiry, and collaborative learning that are key elements in improving motivation, higher order and critical thinking. PBL encourages students to engage in their learning, ask deeper questions, and reflect on the process fostering important metacognitive skills. Assessments in a PBL format are built to gauge student understanding and are used as an analytical tool to close gaps in learning while allowing students to master skills rather than simple memorization. A classroom that utilizes a PBL format allows students to build on 21st century skills that focus on collaboration, communication, and creativity. This project was created for teachers and educators and was designed for high school aged students. Ultimately, PBL prepares students for future challenges by equipping them with the skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing world, fostering lifelong learning and adaptability
Stories Elicit Feelings of Kinship and Inspire Pro-Environmental Behavior
Get PDFHumans pass down stories to transmit ways of knowing and ways of interacting within their culture. For Indigenous humans, stories give outsiders insight into a deeply intertwined connection with the environment. As a woman of European descent teaching Environmental Education classes, my lack of awareness inspired the question, How can a story lead to adolescents developing a kinship with the more-than-human elements of a place and lead to pro-environmental behavior grounded in reciprocity? The literature review focused on elevating Indigenous authors such as; Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gregory Cajete, Jessica Hernadez, Albert Wiggan, Masanobu Fukuoka. Traditional Ecological Knowledge is the current category in which the stories of Indigenous communities are housed. However, Wiggan and Kimmerer both challenge how word choice impacts the emotional response and respect given to concepts. Kinship and reciprocity are used to describe the interconnected relationship Indigenous communities have with the more-than-human lives on Earth. The current method to develop feelings of kinship and inspire adolescents to act in pro-environmental ways is to engage in hands-on environmental education either in public school or informal educational settings. One gap in this method is that access to the environment is not equitable for all human communities; my capstone project seeks to fill this gap. For students with no access to the outdoors, reading a book with a crawdad protagonist immerses the reader in the excitement of existing in the natural environment of a creek
Surviving an Artipelago: Art Educator Retention
Get PDFArt Education fosters students\u27 creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Still, the field needs help retaining Art Educators. This mixed-methods study explores the factors influencing the retention of Elementary Art Educators within a school or district. It uses an Art Educator Retention Theoretical Framework, through research focused on four aspects of retention: the role of administration, systemic isolation, sense of belonging, and teacher disposition. The methodology used surveys of 72 Art Educators and seven interviews. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis supported by Claude AI and the framework revealing that supportive administrators who value the arts, provide resources, and offer feedback are crucial for Art Teachers\u27 job satisfaction. Systemic isolation, often due to the location of art rooms and lack of common planning time, contributed to feelings of disconnection. A strong sense of belonging fostered through relationships with colleagues and the wider school community was essential for overcoming challenges. Art Teachers\u27 dispositions, including resilience, passion for art education, and commitment to student growth, helped them navigate difficulties. However, lack of support, validation, and connection led some Art Teachers to move districts or leave the profession altogether
The Ethnic Studies Curriculum: A Student-Centered Approach at the High School Level
Get PDFPublic schools in the United States maintain a position in the spotlight as the debate over what should or should not be taught in public schools swirls amongst headlines and soundbites throughout the media. While some states seek to limit and contain what can be taught, other states and cities seek to expand social studies content in order to incorporate the diverse histories and stories not traditionally taught in the eurocentric, heteronormative system of United States public education. One way such expansion takes place is through the implementation of Ethnic Studies courses. As teachers take on Ethnic Studies for the first time, resources and curriculum are critical tools for success. This curriculum project aims to provide teachers with a seven week curriculum for beginning the school year, centered around three primary areas of research: ethnic studies itself, the student-centered approach, and adolescent motivation and engagement. In order to achieve the preceding and build a solid foundation for the remainder of the academic year, the topical focus of this curriculum is identity and identity formation. Furthermore, a critical conclusion from the process of creating this curriculum is the importance of decentralizing the role of the teacher in the classroom while providing ample opportunities for student interaction and collaboration
Early Career Language Educators Experience Joy and Purpose in the Creation of Multilingual Classroom Ecologies
Get PDFThe goal of this phenomenological study was to intensely analyze and interpret the experiences of a select sample of early career language teachers as they reflected on their languaging interactions with their learners. To answer the research question: How do early career language teachers experience the creation of multilingual classroom ecologies?, four individuals participated by collectively providing 14 interviews, submitting 13 bi-weekly journals, and sharing 17 self-selected semiotic images over a two month time period. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was then employed using a double hermeneutic to uncover themes in each case by elucidating descriptions and then cohesively analyzing all sets of data. Findings included that each teacher experienced reported translanguaging moments as joy, purposeful connection, and the analysis of ecological factors. Subsequent major learnings included the following regarding the early career language teacher experience: 1) they felt joy when they were able to use or help students to use multilanguaging, 2) they associated the use of multiple languages as a way of supporting connections with and for students holistically, academically, culturally, and linguistically, and 3) they were both conscious of and conscientious with multiple facets of their ecological experience related to language use. The dissertation concludes with a call for further exploration of the experiences of language educators to forward our shared understandings of translinguistic practices within a multilingual educational context
To What Extent Do 3- to -6-Year-Olds Demonstrate Connection to Nature at a Montessori School in the Upper Midwest
Get PDFYates, N. (2023). To What Extent Do 3- to -6-Year-Olds Demonstrate Connection to Nature at a Montessori School in the Upper Midwest.
Young children are born into a world today with a drastically changing environmental climate. When young people develop an emotional attachment and sense of identity with nature, they may be more likely to behave in less destructive ways towards the planet and possibly live with a sense of responsibility and respect for nature. This mixed method study aimed to measure to what extent 3- to 6-year-olds demonstrated environmental sensitivity, awareness, and preferences at a nature-based Montessori school in the upper Midwest and asked if age was an influencing variable. Young children’s connection to nature in these categories was determined using a modified age-appropriate psychological games testing tool, field observations of the types of nature features and activities the children experienced indoors and outdoors, and interviews with the two lead teachers. Results indicated that this cohort of children demonstrated a moderate to strong connection to nature in all three categories. Age was an influencing variable measuring environmental sensitivity and some aspects of environmental awareness, but not environmental preferences regarding where to play or not. This study adds to the body of work conducted in early childhood education, environmental education, early childhood environmental education for sustainability, and Montessori education. (197 words) Keywords: early childhood environmental education, early childhood education, environmental education, connection to nature, nature-based education, Montessori, biophilia, games testin
Project-Based Learning and Student Engagement in the Interdisciplinary Secondary Classroom
Get PDFResearch shows that Project-Based Learning has an impact on student engagement in a variety of ways. This capstone project is a unit plan designed to utilize Project-Based Learning as the foundation for a College and Career Readiness course. The main Project-Based Learning system utilized is the GOLD Standard PBL by the Buck Institute which attempts to maintain student engagement through complex tasks on a topic of the student’s choice. The focal point for students centers around STEAM careers in particular, but can be adjusted for use in other classes. The overall goal of this project is to allow secondary students to become familiar with a science, technology, engineering, art, or math career of their choice, and investigate solutions to that career’s possible problems today. Students will develop skills that align with the rubrics that follow International Baccalaureate standards examined within the setting of the capstone paper description. This unit plan is intended to be used at the middle school level, but could be altered for high school
How to Design and Implement a Maker Space in the K-3 Classroom
Get PDFA maker space is an area designated to be used by participants to make a product through a hands-on experience. While the term maker space is relatively new to education, ‘making’ is embedded into human history. The research on these spaces relies on the importance of the maker space for a student\u27s social-emotional well-being. Creative hands-on work specifically for children from low-income backgrounds supports the student in their primary years. At the same time, there needs to be more evidence in the research that proves how effective these spaces are in supporting students\u27 academics. The topics explored in the literature review focus on history, equity and opportunity, social-emotional impacts, and the specifics of designing and implementing a maker space in the classroom. This research supports the website created for this capstone project and answers the question: how to design and implement a maker space in the k-3 classroom. This website aims to be a resource for educators who want to implement and maintain a maker space in their classrooms, share lessons, and collect donated maker materials for local educators
Relating Chemistry to Society to Promote the Understanding of the World for High Schoolers
Get PDFThe project looks at gaining students interest in chemistry through a real-world application. It looks at existing literature concerning the impact chemistry makes on society and how colleges have had success integrating those connections in their classes. The curriculum designed for this project utilizes a real-world connection to create a context for chemistry. This project’s real-world connection is the air in the atmosphere and the pollutants present. The curriculum will primarily be used for students who are not going onto a four year college, rather students who are looking for bigger connections to their daily lives. Using different activities and labs throughout the curriculum helps students to make connections to society through the use of chemistry. The goal of this project is to help increase students\u27 understanding of the world through understanding chemistry
Special Education Diploma Acquisition and Transition Planning in Alternative School: An Authentic, Individualized Approach
Get PDFMinnesota allows for students to graduate upon successful completion of their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, colloquially known as an IEP-driven diploma or an “IEP diploma.” While districts and schools may have their own requirements for this process, guidance from the state only specifies that the IEP team facilitates this process and that annual IEP goals and supporting objectives should be written to support students’ transition goals. The planning framework at the center of this project is designed to support educators in developing culturally sustaining, student-centered goals and objectives for students with disabilities who are graduating via IEP-driven diplomas. It draws on research in the areas of competency-based education, postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities and evidence-based practices used to improve them, best practices in writing transition goals, and effective approaches for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Included with the framework are an organized diploma checklist and a bank of suggested transition objectives and activities. The framework is designed primarily for alternative school special education teachers and their students, as alternative high schools often have more flexibility than traditional education. An accompanying professional development draws on the work of Malcolm Knowles and Linda Darling-Hammond to provide practitioners with an overview of the framework, modeling of its use, an opportunity to practice utilizing it, and an invitation to collaborate on further work