In this class, we wanted to support students’ knowledge of light and the ways in which it interacts with other materials through a series of connected learning experiences. These experiences are related to NGSS standard 1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. We aimed for children to discover that light tends to move in a straight line unless something gets in the way, materials can affect the beam of light, and the way light moves can be impacted by moving the objects. The connected activities described here were guided by the 5E learning cycle. The students watched the video to spark their curiosity about the path in which something might travel, worked in teams to design and test ideas while exploring the properties of the light, and documented and communicated their observations.

We examined the dimensionality of oral language in Spanish-English bilingual 6th-grade children. Research indicates that oral language in bilingual children is multidimensional (LARRC, 2015). However, dimensionality may differ by age and the measures used. Few studies have included pragmatic skills or studied the structure of oral language in Spanish-English bilingual adolescents. We conduct confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) on a sample of 95 bilingual 6th-grade children to test oral language models with one to four (grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and pragmatics) underlying factors, as well as bifactor and hierarchical models that include a general factor. In addition, we test two models with language-specific factors. Model parameters and appropriate fit statistics, including chi-square difference tests for nested models, are presented to aid in judging the adequacy of alternative models. The study is preregistered, and the data are collected and cleaned.

When teachers are new to a school, they must make sense of policies within a new context. In this horizontal comparative case study, I analyze interview data from three teachers in North Carolina taken at two points in a school year to explore how new teachers make sense of and respond to teacher evaluation policy. Study participants framed the evaluation problem around the extent to which school-level enactment focused on assessment. Teachers demonstrated the following reform typologies in response to their sensemaking around evaluation policy: Assimilation, Adaptation, and Avoidance. When new to a school, teachers are expected to follow the same policies and processes as teachers who have long operated in that school's policy context. So, new-to-the-school teachers must reconcile new-to-them policies with their personal preconceptions of practice in an entirely new context. Teacher evaluation policies outline what is valued in teaching by delineating and measuring those values. So, it is worth considering how teacher perceptions of evaluation may influence their practice and career choices, particularly teachers trying to balance such valuation with their daily work in an unfamiliar context. This case study of three teachers in North Carolina utilizes sensemaking theory and problem framing to explore the question, how do teachers who are new to a school make sense of and respond to teacher evaluation policy?

The geology learning environments in college generally fall into three categories: learning based on lectures, field excursions, and laboratory activities. Engaging students in these environments and developing their interest, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving ability have always been challenging in college geology education. This research developed virtual learning methodology and integrated it into traditional geology education to achieve active learning in order to engage students in the learning process. Virtual geology learning tools (VGLTs), high-resolution virtual representation of geologic objects and/or the realistic virtual 3D environment embedded with real-world terrains and animated photorealistic game objects, are the outcome of the effort. VGLTs were integrated into different college geology learning environments and were tested for their effectiveness. The primary finding of this study is that integrating VGLTs into traditional college geology education was affirmed by geology professionals and non-professionals as being helpful in creating effective learning environments that can facilitate the active learning of students in both formal and informal educational settings. VGLTs helped address students’ needs in many aspects of college geology education by utilizing interactive and realistic virtual technologies. VGLTs are important because they can help address different aspects of traditional college geology learning, increasing the versatility and integrity of virtual learning in tandem with traditional learning. However, VGLTs should not replace learning in the physical environment since geology is a discipline that aims to increase our understanding of the physical world.

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Although access to South African universities has increased, academic persistence among undergraduate students remains low. Three cross-sectional studies were conducted to investigate the underlying psychosocial and social identity factors that influence academic persistence among undergraduate students at a South African university. Studies 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated that academic adjustment, academic motivation and identification with the academic department are prominent factors in predicting academic persistence. Studies 1 and 2 supported the hypothesis that students who highly identified with the university/academic department were more likely to adjust to the university environment and to be academically motivated and academically persistent. Study 3 confirmed that students who highly identified with the academic department were more likely to adjust to the university environment and to persist academically. The studies also revealed that the relationship between identification with the university/academic department and academic persistence via academic adjustment and academic motivation was conditional on whether students were from historically underrepresented or overrepresented racial groups (Studies 1 and 2) and whether students were first-generation or continuing-generation students (Study 3). These results underscore the importance of psychosocial and social identity factors on academic persistence among undergraduate students. / Psychology / D. Phil (Psychology)

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 E49 / Master of Science / Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education