Studies comparing different methods of college classroom instruction have typically resulted in the conclusion that learning, as measured by exam performance, is not differentially effected by different classroom instructional techniques. Although different studies have compared different methods with each other (e.g., lecture vs. group centered, didactic vs. discussion) the consistent treatment-group distinction has been in terms of teacher-centeredness vs. studentcenteredness

Traditional university modes of instruction have been shown to be less effective than. both PSI and peer tutoring procedures. The present study compared the relative effectiveness of proctors and peer tutors in a PSI type course. Twelve subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions. The within-subject variable was the order of exposure to the teaching. Methods (being proctored, being tutored, or tutoring) and the. between-subject variables were type of teaching method (proctor-ed or peer tutored) and the number of the trial (first or .second test under the assigned teaching condition). An analysis of variance split plot 3.22 of the number of correct answers on the first test of each unit yielded a significant main effect for teaching method; F(1,9) = 17.24, p < .01; and a significant interaction for Teaching Method x Order of Exposure to Teaching Conditions; F(2, 9) = 4.31, p < .05. Analysis of the number of tests taken to reach criterion yielded significant main effects for teaching method; F(1,9) = 7.44, p < .05; and for order of exposure to teaching conditions; F(2,9) = 4.88 p < .05. The results indicate that proctoring resulted in better student performance than did peer tutoring on both measure of course performance. Other methods for easing the application of PSI type procedures to large courses or situations where proctors are unavailable should examined.

Using universal design instruction (UDI) as a framework, this study explores the inclusive teaching practices of four award-winning humanities and social sciences faculty at a large urban Research I university located in the northeastern region of the United States. UDI, a framework used to assist teachers in creating proactively inclusive instructional design, was used as a measure of inclusivity. Using a qualitative case-study approach, the study cross-examined the pedagogy of these faculty and unpacked specific techniques and practices embedded in their pedagogy that aligned with UDI. With each faculty member considered an individual case, structured classroom observations and interviews with target faculty, their colleagues, and student focus groups were conducted. Guided by the UDI framework, a cross-case analysis was then undertaken to determine the extent to which each faculty member met UDI principles. The study yielded descriptive accounts of multidimensional teaching strategies that incorporated universal design instruction. / Urban Education

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the range of consequences of a professional development workshop for two- and four-year college astronomy faculty. Its focus was how faculty participants chose to incorporate ideas and teaching strategies from the workshop with their own teaching ideas and practices. Data included pre- and post-workshop open-ended survey responses on teaching strategies from 126 faculty, follow-up online survey responses on reported teaching practices from forty-one faculty, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations with five faculty "heavy adopters" of the workshop teaching techniques, and surveys from their students. Analytical techniques used were both traditional, such as clustering, counting, and iterative descriptive coding (Miles and Huberman, 1994); as well as non-traditional, such as circle graphs (Aumann et al., 1999), and analysis of linguistic metaphors (Martin and Lueckenhausen, 2005). The main consequence of this study is that faculty development workshops can help support faculty as they create their own teaching path, and support their students in doing the same. Faculty participants reported incorporating workshop teaching strategies to their teaching practice following their participation. Interviews with and classroom observations with the five "heavy adopters" characterized how each individual retrofitted the techniques to suit his or her own teaching approaches, as revealed by their dominant teaching metaphor, as well as the metaphors used by their students to describe their classes.

D.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The problem of this study was to compare the effect of a contingency management approach with that of a lecture approach in an introductory psychology course.

It was the problem of this study to determine the status of recent experimental, empirical, and rhetorical studies in the teaching of persuasion. An instrument was devised which included studies related to ten major categories traditionally covered in the persuasion course.

The problem of this study was to determine the differences in achievement, critical thinking, and attitude toward subjects of junior college freshmen which could be attributed to two approaches to the teaching of English composition and American history. The purpose of the study was to yield information for use as the basis for administrative and instructional judgments concerning pupil deployment, and plant and staff utilization.

M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Jeffrey T. Zacharakis / This quantitative study surveyed both the faculty and international undergraduate non-native English speaking (NNES) undergraduate students to see what they perceived as being useful to the students’ learning. This research was done at Kansas State University (K-State), which is Midwestern land grant university. The research consisted of two surveys, one for faculty teaching undergraduate students and one for international undergraduate NNES students. The survey instruments were created by the researcher based on literature about teaching NNES students, first year college students, and student-centered teaching practices. The survey asked the participants to choose how useful they perceived different activities to be on a scale ranging from one (extremely useful) to five (not at all useful). The survey items on the two surveys mirrored one another, so that the results could be compared. The researcher collected and analyzed the data from the surveys. The data was first analyzed to find the descriptive statistics for each data set. The mean for each of the six variables (the need for explicit instruction, the prevention of plagiarism, the use of visual aids, the usefulness of in-class activities, the usefulness of out-of-class activities, and the use of linguistic modifications) was calculated, as well as the mean for each item. For all the variables, the student mean scores were lower than faculty mean scores, indicating that the student participants perceived the survey items as more useful than faculty did. Each item pair was analyzed using a t-tests to see if any item had a statistically significance difference, using p < .05. There were 36 pairs and 24 pairs were found to be statistically significant.