Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Margaret G. Shroyer / While there has been much quantitative research done in the area of attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs, this study sought hear the voices of the middle school child. Therefore, this qualitative study investigated the attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students in one middle school in western Kansas. The conceptual framework for this study is supported by the research of Albert Bandura on Social Cognitive Theory. This study used a naturalistic inquiry approach and data were collected from multiple sources, including short-answer questionnaires, classroom observations, and one-on-one interviews. Coded data were examined for patterns, themes, and relationships. Middle school students in this study exhibited positive, negative, and variable attitudes toward mathematics, and both positive and negative mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. Students attribute their high mathematics self-efficacy beliefs to the teacher or the high grades they receive on daily assignments, as well as the scores they receive on state and local assessments. Conversely, middle school students have low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs when they feel unsuccessful or distressed, and they attribute those beliefs to the low grades they receive on daily assignments and assessments, as well as the distress of not understanding the mathematics. Middle school students told their mathematical stories of the change in attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs, and attributed positive changes to the mathematics teacher. Negative changes in attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs were attributed to the amount of homework expected at the middle school level, as well as the lack of hands-on activities. The influence of the teacher, grades, and hands-on activities impact middle school students’ attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. There is a relationship between attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. Low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and poor attitudes toward mathematics are related since low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and poor attitudes toward mathematics are highly connected. Conversely, high mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and good attitudes toward mathematics are highly related. Middle school students’ experiences impact both mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics. Students’ mathematics self-efficacy beliefs impact their attitudes toward mathematics.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Gail Shroyer / David Allen / This study was designed to gather input from early career elementary teachers with the goal of finding ways to improve elementary mathematics methods courses. Multiple areas were explored including the degree to which respondents’ elementary mathematics methods course focused on the NCTM Process Standards, the teachers’ current standards-based teaching practices, the degree to which various pedagogical strategies from mathematics methods courses prepared preservice teachers for the classroom, and early career teachers’ suggestions for improving methods courses. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in this survey study as questions were of both closed and open format. Data from closed-response questions were used to determine the frequency, central tendencies and variability in standards-based preparation and teaching practices of the early career teachers. Open-ended responses were analyzed to determine patterns and categories relating to the support of, or suggestions for improving, elementary mathematics methods courses. Though teachers did not report a wide variation in the incorporation of the NCTM Process Standards in their teaching practices, some differences were worth noting. Problem Solving appeared to be the most used with the least variability in its frequency of use. Reasoning, in general, appeared to be used the least frequently and with the most variability. Some aspects of Communication, Connections and Representation were widely used and some were used less frequently. From a choice of eight methods teaching practices, ‘Observing in actual classrooms or working with individual students’ and ‘Planning and teaching in actual classrooms’ were considered by early career teachers to be the most beneficial aspects of methods courses.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / John A. Harrington Jr / Analysis of polling documents indicates how little most Americans know about the world. Geography education is the key to offsetting geographic illiteracy. Fortunately programs designed to improve K-12 geography education are growing in number and strength. How can we teach more and better geography within the school system? Given the dominant role of history in the K-12 social studies curriculum, use of the psychological theory of dual-encoding to integrate geography and history lesson planning is one approach to bring more geography into the classroom. As part of Kansas Geographic Alliance programmatic activity, Kansas history and geography standards, with emphasis on the tested standards, were assessed to identify candidate themes for development of dual-encoded educational units and associated lesson plans. Three workshops were delivered to share these dual-encoded units and lesson plans. The workshops were for education faculty, teachers getting in-service professional development, and for a group of pre-service teachers in a social studies methods class. Attendees at the workshops provided assessment and feedback of the material. Based on informal comments and written responses from the workshop attendees, it is concluded that dual-encoding will enable considerable progress in geography education. Not only will the knowledge provided demonstrate the impact and significance of geography to history teachers and their students, but dual-encoded lessons will advance teacher content and pedagogical knowledge, and most importantly students will learn both geography and history better.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas K. Benson / This thesis answers the questions: How should the terms interaction, individualization, and personalization be applied to Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL) software? What progress has been made in their implementation? How can CALL software developers better incorporate them in the future? For each of the three terms, I explain how it is applicable to the CALL software environment by defining it, describing the pedagogical research supporting it, and then giving general guidelines for incorporating it into a CALL software program. I measure the progress of the implementation of the three terms in CALL software through compiling and analyzing data from reviews of 44 software titles. The publication dates of the software titles are from 1981 to 2008. I propose through description and a proof-of-concept software program ways to improve the incorporation of the terms in question into CALL software. As a result of answering the three questions, this thesis shows that the current accepted definitions and ways of implementing interaction, individualization, and personalization need to be improved in order to comply with pedagogical research and make full use of current technology. The general guidelines given in the explanation of each term relative to CALL and the attributes under each term in the analysis of the compilation data provide examples of areas on which to focus development. Additionally, I specifically comment on pedagogically supported attributes within each term that have a weak representation in the software compilation and therefore need more development. In addition, this thesis is accompanied by “Mis vacaciones”, a proof-of-concept software program, which demonstrates ways to improve the incorporation of interaction, individualization, and personalization into CALL software. In “Mis vacaciones”, the learner takes a virtual trip to Nuevo Leon, Nicaragua. The multimedia sent to the learner by a previous traveler shows Nicaraguan city people and the La Gigatona festival. After visiting, the learner is asked to describe the Nicaraguans that they saw. If the learner needs help, Structured Input activities lead the learner to develop the third person singular imperfect form. Buttons in the software environment provide access to internet sources. The learner is able to draw and take photos to create a visual prop to aid in the description task.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie Hancock / With the inception of No Child Left Behind, educators are required to ensure proficiency for all students in reading and math, but provide no incentive for developing the talents of gifted students (Gentry, 2006b). Implementing differentiation into the classroom can assist educators in providing appropriate instruction for all students and maximizing the potential of gifted learners. Differentiation modifies curriculum and instruction to meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom (Tomlinson, 1999, 2001, 2003). The purpose of this study was to document how differentiation influenced the gifted readers’ ability to think more critically and the fifth grade teacher’s perceptions of differentiation as it was implemented into the reading curriculum for all readers in her classroom. This qualitative research study was conducted in a fifth grade classroom in a rural mid-western community from October 24, 2008 to February 4, 2009. Data collection included response journals of the gifted readers, audio recordings of literature circle discussions, observations/field notes, digital voice recording of interviews with the gifted readers and the classroom teacher, teacher reflective journal, and weekly meetings. Data analysis revealed three levels of critical thinking within ten categories as outlined in the Written Response Hierarchy of Journal Critical Thinking. Advanced Level Critical Thinking included the categories of Synthesis, Character Affinity, Character Scrutiny, and Evaluative Inquiry. Intermediate Level Critical Thinking was evidenced by the categories of Inference, Image Construction, Author’s Writing Technique, and Prediction. Basic Level Critical Thinking was represented by responses in the Ambiguity and Engagement categories. The Oral Response Hierarchy of Literature Circle Critical Thinking revealed four critical thinking levels of oral response. Analytical and Probe represented Advanced Level Critical Thinking, Conjecture demonstrated Intermediate Level Critical Thinking, and Engagement provided evidence of Basic Level Critical Thinking. Advanced Level Critical Thinking was evidenced in both written and oral responses across the three stages of the study. Data analysis further revealed the teacher’s perceptions of differentiated instruction. Benefits included increase in students’ motivation, active involvement and leadership, exceeding expectations, quality of literature circle discussions, confidence in implementing differentiation with continuous support of a mentor, flexibility, and empowerment to solve problems.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / Our society is increasingly bombarded with visual imagery; therefore, it is important for educators to be knowledgeable about the elements of art and to use our knowledge to help students deepen their reading understanding. Arizpe & Styles (2003) noted that students must be prepared to work with imagery in the future at high levels of competency, yet visual literacy is seldom taught in schools. Children are surrounded with multiple forms of literacy daily and frequently the communication is in a nonverbal format. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify textual/visual connections and describe ways the text-illustration relationship can influence understanding for readers in the second grade. This qualitative research study took place in a Department of Defense school in Europe with six second grade students from September 14, 2009 to November 24, 2009. The six student participants were introduced to the basic elements of art—color, shape, line, texture, and value—at the onset of the study. Student participants expressed their textual, visual, and blended textual/visual understanding of four picture storybooks and four informational picture books. Data collection sources included group discussions, student verbal story retellings, student pictorial drawings and retellings, student interviews, observational field notes, teacher email correspondence, and teacher initial/final interviews. Initial analysis was based on Kiefer’s (1995) Functions of Language taxonomy, Kucer and Silva’s (1996:1999) Taxonomy of Artistic Responses and Sipe’s (2008) Categories of Reader Response. The analysis focused on participants’ textual and visual responses and the blending of textual/visual elements. The analysis revealed six emerging Categories of Textual/Visual Understanding including Personal Life Connections, Text Connections, Factual Connections, Predictive Connections, Elemental Connections, and Emotional Connections. The six categories were also reviewed for the dominant category for each student participant and how the textual/visual responses applied to both picture storybooks and informational picture books. Data analysis also revealed the second grade teacher’s perceptions of the text-illustration relationship as a part of the reading process. Student participant benefits included greater student interest and motivation, increased awareness of visual elements in picture storybooks and informational picture books, and higher level thinking expressed through textual/visual connections.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Lawrence C. Scharmann / Bradley A. Shaw / Spanish instructors are not neo-phobic of instructional technology (IT), and they will affirm they are not afraid of IT just to avoid being labeled as ‘living dinosaurs.’ Most of them just do not have the know-how to explore and use IT in-depth. Regardless, they are more familiar with the diverse IT world available. In this study the main factors influencing Spanish language educators to use IT (or not) in their Second Language Acquisition (SLA) teaching methodology were discussed. Data from Spanish instructors in eight Kansas universities was analyzed to understand their perceptions and attitudes regarding the use of IT in their classrooms. Mixed methodologies were used: A quantitative survey targeting 80 instructors from the Modern Language Departments was developed. The survey had one section on demographic information and a second with 43 items dealing with perceptions related to IT. Afterwards, a case study with four in-depth interviews was conducted to elucidate richer descriptions and potentially corroborate patterns identified from the survey data. Data analysis revealed that most Spanish instructors have positive perceptions and attitudes towards IT. From the survey, nine themes emerged. Six of them formed a super-ordinate category showing that instructors consider IT useful for teaching culture in the target language, and in facilitating general knowledge. In this super-ordinate category, the six emergent themes are considered subordinate themes. The other three emergent themes formed another super-ordinate category with three subordinate themes: faculty require more time, training and technical resources to be able to integrate IT in their teaching. The four interviews explored what perceptions (or characteristics) stand out among faculty along a continuum of non-users to users with respect to the integration of IT; this allowed the researcher to confirm the instructors’ perceptions and attitudes on the nine emerging themes. Spanish instructors would integrate more modern tools in their teaching if they had more opportunities and support to be better informed; received appropriate training in their specific field; and were advised of available technology. As the findings showed, educators are no longer afraid of technology. Finally, conclusions of the findings were offered as well as recommendations for future research.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies, Theatre, and Dance / Leann M. Brazeal / In this thesis study, the use of group work as an instructional strategy was assessed to determine the effect it has on students’ willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self-perceived competence. Students enrolled in a basic public speaking at a major Midwestern university completed Neer’s (1987) Classroom Apprehension about Participation Scale (CAPS) at the beginning of the semester and again four weeks later after being exposed to a treatment of group or no group. Results indicated students’ willingness to communicate and self-perceived competence increased over the four-week duration of the study regardless of treatment. However, a significant reduction of communication apprehension was seen in students using group work in their classrooms. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Secondary Education / Janice R. Wissman / This study was an investigation of mission, vision, funding strategies, and student services for distance learning as expressed by university administrators in land grant universities and state universities, and those institutions that are designated as both land grant and state universities by the state legislature. Three research questions guided the study The study employed a survey distributed through e-mail. The questionnaire was sent to 261 senior administrators; the chief academic officers, chief business officers, and chief information officers in 37 land grant and state universities and 13 institutions that are both land grant and state universities. The return rate was 30%. The institutional mission and administrator’s vision for offering distance learning survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study also used correlation, confirmed by factor analysis, to determine if there was a relationship among the administrators’ responses regarding mission, vision, and funding. The data were analyzed with ANOVA and fishers least means difference test. These tests determined if there were differences in the administrators’ responses between the type or sizes of higher education institutions on mission, vision of administrators. The data analysis indicated that the type of institution did not yield significant differences. The difference of means test indicated there were differences in the student population size of the institutions. The responses indicated the mission or purpose for offering distance learning was to save money for the institution, and support degree completion for former students. The responses related to administrative vision show initiating a distance learning program and a being leader among higher education institutions were the reasons for a distance learning program. The content analysis method was employed to determine the roles of the administrators in the survey. The administrators’ responses related to distance learning were consistent with their roles in the institution. The study also produced results related to student services institutions provide for distance learning students, how the student services were provided, on or off campus or both locations and the funding sources for the student services.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Jacqueline D. Spears / The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between demographic and educational variables, epistemological beliefs as measured by Schommer’s Epistemological Questionnaire (SEQ), and learner perception of selfdirectedness as measured by Guglielmino’s Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS). Participants in this study were undergraduate adult students at a private university in the Midwest region of the United States (N=394). The instruments were administered online during regularly scheduled courses. Data were analyzed at the p<.05 level of significance using Pearson product-moment correlations, factor analysis, stepwise multiple regression, and other statistical techniques. Results of this research included several significant correlations between demographic and educational variables, SEQ factors, and SDLRS total and factor scores. The educational variables of class standing, exposure to the humanities, and exposure to the social sciences significantly correlated with five SDLRS and SEQ total and factor scores. The greatest number of correlations occurred between SEQ factor 2, thinking for yourself is a waste of time, and the SDLRS factors of openness to learning opportunities, view of self as an effective and independent learner, independence and initiative in learning, responsibility for learning, and creativity. Other significant correlations with SEQ factors and SDLRS total and factor scores included age, gender, race, marital status, mother’s and father’s education level, credit earned through independent studies, cohort or non-cohort program type, grade point average, and exposure to learning contracts. Significant findings from the correlations of demographic and educational variables (p<.002) and SEQ factors (p<.05) with SDLRS total scores were entered into a stepwise multiple regression. One educational variable and three SEQ factors accounted for 25.7% of the variance in SDLRS total scores. Several suggestions for the development of expanded empirical and theoretical research initiatives and the improvement of practice were offered. This research provided a clear and compelling rationale for the establishment of adult degree programs which are grounded in the liberal arts, include both career and personal development activities, and allow for increased opportunities for learner self-direction to occur. These elements are necessary to build what Kegan (1994) called a developmental bridge for adult learners.