Critical media literacy (Kellner & Share, 2005) may better equip children to interpret videogame content and to create games that are nonviolent and socially just. Videogames are growing in popularity in classrooms. Yet educators and parents have concerns about the violent and stereotypical content they include. An earlier study based on the curriculum Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media (Webb, Martin, Afifi, & Kraus, 2009) examined the value of a media awareness curriculum. In this mixed-method study, I explored the effectiveness of a critical media literacy program that incorporated collaboratively creating nonviolent or sociallyjust games in teaching fourth-grade students the factors of awareness of violence, marketing, and critical media literacy. Qualitative data collected from teacher reflection notes, student journals, Scratch projects, and interviews revealed the positive effects of the program. Quantitative data supported these conclusions. This highlights the need for schools to engage students in computer programming as a means to learn academics, while educating students in critical media literacy to better enable them to navigate wisely the media saturated world in which they live. In learning programming, students engage in collaborative work, their interactions helping them to collectively create meaning for the symbols they create. Set in a framework of critical media literacy and symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934), this study provides an innovative model for teaching computer programming and critical media literacy skills to students.

A plethora of research exists suggesting video-based interventions such as video modeling (VM) and video prompting (VP) assist students with severe/profound disabilities, such as autism and intellectual disabilities, to learn academic skills. This study used a single subject multiple-baseline-across-subjects design to evaluate if a VP intervention on a functional, academic math skill had similar effects for adolescent students with mild/moderate specific learning disabilities (SLD). Five high school students (three female and two male) aged 16-17 viewed the video on an iPad to find out about how much money an item would cost if it were a certain percentage on sale. A functional relationship between the intervention and acquisition of the steps necessary to complete the task was discovered. In addition, some students maintained the skills as demonstrated by correctly answering most given word problems when given a post-test. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Each of these four units use the exemplar texts outlined by CCSS and highlight four different genres in Literature: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Drama.; The purpose of this project design Problem- Based Learning (PBL) Units that would meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for a 9/10 grade English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. The CCSS, newly adopted into Florida public schools, were created to provide students with the skills necessary to be successful in both higher education and ultimately, the global economy. PBL has been practiced in some of the country's leading medical schools for decades, and recently, has begun to play a leading role in designing math and science curricula. Until now, few attempts have been made incorporating the structures of Problem- Based Learning into the secondary English Language Arts classroom. My intention in tapping PBL was to utilize a tool that would foster critical thinking skills and create real world relevance in the curriculum for my future ELA students. With the ever increasing shift into a more inquiry- based teaching approach in today's schools, these units will not only meet the CCSS, but they will provide real world application in both research and collaborative learning. PBL utilizes an "ill-structured scenario" that provides the student with a role that gives them ownership into solving a problem (Lambros, 2004). In order to create these scenarios, I examined the 9/10 Grade exemplars offered throughout the CCSS. I then used the CCSS to identify which standards would be met by each unit. I also evaluated the Brevard County District calendar to identify the constraints on time that a teacher might typically encounter in the classroom. The result is four PBL units that meet the CCSS for Grade 9/10 English Language Arts. I developed these units with the idea that they would be the main methods of instruction in an ELA classroom and therefore provided time frames for each unit to be completed. The time frames account for research, project completion and presentation.

No description available.

The research study investigated the history of the curriculum standards movement in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the context of the national standards movement in order to explain how and why the Commonwealth of Virginia arrived at the decision not to adopt the Common Core State Standards based on descriptive evidence. The study utilized a qualitative methodology with a two-phase data collection process. First, documents from the Virginia Board of Education and the Virginia Department of Education were collected and analyzed using the constant comparative method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). Second, data were collected from major figures in the history of Virginia public education over the last 20 years, including former Superintendents of Public Instruction, through in-person interviews. Data from the interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). An interview protocol was developed, tested for content validity, and piloted prior to conducting the interviews. Categories that emerged from the data analysis for both research questions were identified and descriptive evidence was presented related to both research questions. Three major conclusions from the study were identified and discussed that appeared to influence Virginia's decision not to participate in the Common Core State Standards: the Virginia Standards of Learning are an institutionalized system; the Virginia Standards of Learning had bipartisan political support; and confidence in the Standards of Learning outweighed confidence in the Common Core State Standards. / Ed. D.

Historically, disenfranchised students in the American education system have been promised opportunity through successful participation in the school system. These promises are voiced in legislation like the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and by executive actions like President Obama’s Race to the Top Initiative. Evidenced by the continuing education gap, the promises of success through education continue to evade many American children across the nation, especially students who are most in need of the support promised in these quixotic visions of opportunity. This is a qualitative interview study that aimed to gather the voices of educators involved in the implementation of the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (ELA CCSS) to investigate the potential benefit of an information loop during the time period Bridges (2009) labeled the Neutral Zone, a period when change agents can reflect on and possibly enhance the implementation of an initiative. The study aimed to answer the following research question: What are the experiences of teachers, school principals, and district-level administrators during the transition to the ELA CCSS in three public school districts in the greater Los Angeles area? The narratives constructed throughout the interview process with the study’s participants point to the value of establishing an information loop during the Neutral Zone as an untapped vein of knowledge in the change process. This information can potentially be used to take inventory of the trajectory an implementation process has taken.

Auditory graphs and active point estimation provide an inexpensive, accessible alternative for low vision and blind K-12 students using number lines and coordinate graphs. In the first phase of this research program, a series of four psychophysics studies demonstrated an interactive auditory number line that enables blind, low vision, and sighted people to find small targets with a laptop, headphones, and a mouse or a keyboard. The Fitts' Law studies showed that, given appropriate auditory feedback, blind people can use a mouse. In addition, auditory feedback can generate target response patterns similar to when people use visual feedback. Phase two introduced SQUARE, a novel method for building accessible alternatives to existing education technologies. The standards-driven and teacher-directed approach generated 17 graphing standards for sixth grade mathematics, all of which emphasized point estimation. It also showed that how only few basic behavioral components are necessary for these graphing problems. The third phase evaluated active point estimation tools in terms of training, classroom situations, and a testing situation. This work shows that students can learn to graph in K-12 environments, regardless of their visual impairment. It also provides several technologies used for graphing, and methods to further develop education accessibility research.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:36:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2666511 bytes, checksum: ea015181db046234ba92f7c73f6c3a90 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Ginga is the official specification and standardized middleware for the Brazilian Digital TV System. The complexity demanded by the construction of this layer of software is high, which also increases the complexity of testing. The importance of software testing and its relationship with quality should be emphasized, since this type of system still has a high degree of complexity inherent to its development, mainly due to its specification is recent, and by proposing innovative features. Besides being considered a critical software, since failures in the implementation of middleware can compromise the success of Digital TV as a whole. The middleware is a key player within a Digital TV system since it is he who dictates the rules so that applications can be run on the platform. Thus, the correctness of middleware is of vital importance to enable interactive applications to run successfully. The project CDN Ginga (Ginga Code Development Network) is responsible for developing collaborative and distributed a reference version for PC Ginga. This implementation is based on software components and open to universities and companies. In this context, this paper proposes a process for verification and validation of middleware Ginga, to be deployed in parallel to the process of project development Ginga CDN, facing the common core components (Ginga-CC). For this purpose, we defined a set of tests, which aim to check the operation of middleware, as well as validate the different configurations of components, from middleware Ginga CDN generated by the network. / O middleware Ginga é a especificação oficial e padronizada de middleware para o Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital. A complexidade demandada na construção dessa camada de software é alta, o que também aumenta a complexidade de se testar. A importância do teste de software e sua relação com a qualidade devem ser enfatizadas, visto que este tipo de sistema ainda possui alto grau de complexidade inerente ao seu desenvolvimento devido, principalmente, por sua especificação ainda ser recente, e por propor funcionalidades inovadoras. Além de ser considerado um software crítico, pois falhas na implementação do middleware podem comprometer o sucesso da TV Digital como um todo. O middleware é uma peça chave dentro de um sistema de TV Digital uma vez que é ele quem dita às regras para que as aplicações possam ser executadas na plataforma. Dessa forma, a corretude do middleware é de vital importância para permitir que as aplicações interativas sejam executadas com sucesso. O projeto Ginga CDN (Ginga Code Development Network) é responsável pelo desenvolvimento colaborativo e distribuído de uma versão de referência para PC do middleware Ginga. Essa implementação é baseada em componentes de software e aberta para universidades e empresas. Neste contexto, este trabalho propõe um processo para verificação e validação do middleware Ginga, para ser implantado em paralelo ao processo de desenvolvimento do projeto Ginga CDN, voltado para componentes do núcleo comum (Ginga-CC). Para tanto, foram definidos um conjunto de testes, os quais visam verificar o funcionamento do middleware, bem como, validar as diferentes configurações de componentes, desde middleware, geradas pela rede Ginga CDN.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine (Katie) Kingery-Page / Recent development and adoption of Common Core State Standards has shifted academic emphasis within public and accredited schools. Consistent, national educational goals have standardized education and have resulted in a challenge to educators to assist all students in achieving maximum test scores. The curricular subjects of math, science, and literacy are the primary emphasis of instruction and achievement. Standardized testing is the dominant means to determine whether students are reaching acceptable achievement. “Integrated Common Core Curriculum: Environmental Education Through Landscape Architecture” explores the potential of incorporating basic landscape architectural knowledge into a fourth-grade curriculum while striving to achieve learning standards as determined by the Common Core and the Iowa Core Curriculum. Exploring the application of current educational criteria, the researcher developed an educational unit that utilizes the process of park design as a simplified version of a landscape architect’s approach in order to emphasize math, literature, science, creative thinking, and teamwork. Implementing environmental education through place-based education theory enhances unit strength by providing enhanced emotional, mental, and physical health benefits to children. Created during this study, an instructional unit was evaluated by a convenience sample of educators. Through the use of an open-ended questionnaire, preliminary review results indicate a strong potential for the unit to successfully demonstrate the basic process of landscape architecture design through the use of the local place simultaneously achieving academic standards. Review results identify a variety of limitations and challenges the unit would encounter for implementation including a current subject focused instructional philosophy within the school district verse the thematic focus of the unit. Additionally, ever-evolving standards would require regular unit updates, although school districts face perennial budget challenges and educators are limited on time. As a student of landscape architecture, I recognize that the profession offers a unique opportunity to model place-based, multi-subject practices realized in the practice of landscape architecture. Promoting the profession of landscape architecture through a curricular unit provides an environmental education tool and provides the opportunity for students to explore a career option within the classroom setting.

<p>Utilizing action research as the methodology, this study was developed with the ultimate goal of describing and reflecting on my implementation of one aspect of the <i>Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (</i><i>CCSSM)</i> in an algebra classroom. This implementation focused on the Problem-Solving Standard of Mathematical Practice (SMP) as described in <i>CCSSM </i>(Making sense of problems and persevere in solving them). The research question that guided my work was the following: How is the <i>Common Core State Standards for Mathematics </i>(<i>CCSSM</i>) Problem-Solving Mathematical Standard enacted in an algebra class while using a <i>Standards-</i>based curriculum to teach a quadratics unit?</p> <p>I explored this by focusing on the following sub-questions:</p> <ul> <li>Q1. What opportunities to enact the components of the Problem-Solving Mathematical Standard are provided by the written curriculum? </li> <li>Q2. In what way does the teacher’s implementation of the quadratics unit diminish or enhance the opportunities to enact the components of the Problem-Solving Mathematical Standard provided by the written curriculum? </li> <li>Q3. In what ways does the teacher’s enactment of problem-solving opportunities change over the course of the unit? </li> </ul> <p>Reviewing the literature related to the relevant learning theories (sociocultural theory, the situated perspective, and communities of practice), I outlined the history of <i>CCSSM, </i>National Council of Teachers of Mathematics <i>(</i>NCTM), National Research Council (NRC), and the <i>No Child Left Behind Act of 2001</i>. Exploring the details of <i>CCSSM</i>’s Standards of Mathematical Content (SMCs) and Standards of Mathematical Practice (SMPs), I discussed problem solving, the Problem Solving Components (PSCs) listed in the Problem-Solving SMP of <i>CCSSM</i>, teaching through problem solving, and <i>Standards-</i>based curricula, such as <i>College Preparatory Mathematics (CPM)</i> which is the algebra curricula I chose for this study. </p> <p>There are many definitions of the construct problem solving. <i>CCSSM </i>describes this construct in unique ways specifically related to student engagement. The challenge for teachers is to not only make sense of <i>CCSSM</i>’s definition of problem solving and its components, but also to enact it in the classroom so that mathematical understanding is enhanced. For this reason, studies revealing how classroom teachers implemented <i>CCSSM</i>, especially in terms of problem solving, are necessary. </p> <p>The Critical Theoretic/Action Research Paradigm is often utilized by researchers trying to improve their own practice; thus, I opted for an action research methodology because it could be conducted by the practitioner. These methods of data collection and analysis were employed in order to capture the nature of changes made in the classroom involving my teaching practice. I chose action research because this study met the key tenets of research in action, namely, a collaborative partnership concurrent with action, and a problem-solving approach. </p> <p>While I knew how I wanted to change my classroom teaching style, implementing the change was harder than anticipated. From the onset, I never thought of myself as an absolute classroom authority, because I always maintained a relaxed classroom atmosphere where students were made to feel comfortable. However, this study showed me that students did view my presence as the authority and looked to me for correct answers, for approval, and/or for reassurance that they were on the right track. My own insecurities of not knowing how to respond to students in a way to get them to interact more with their group and stop looking to me for answers, while not being comfortable forcing students to talk in front of their peers, complicated this study. While it was easy to anticipate how I would handle situations in the classroom, it was hard to change in the moment. </p> <p>The research revealed the following salient findings: while the written curriculum contained numerous opportunities for students to engage with the Focal PSCs, the teacher plays a crucial role in enacting the written curriculum. Through the teacher’s enactment of this curriculum, opportunities for students to engage with the Focal<i> </i>PSCs can be taken away, enacted as written, or enhanced all by the teacher. Additionally, change was gradual and difficult due to the complexities of teaching. Reflection and constant adapting are crucial when it comes to changing my practice. </p> As a classroom teacher, I value the importance of the changes that need to be made in the classroom to align with <i>CCSSM</i>. I feel that by being both a teacher and a researcher, my work can bridge the gap between research and classroom practice.