The preparation of newly qualified nurses has raised many professional debates and yet the ‘end product’ of nurse education, the qualified nurse continues to demonstrate knowledge and skill deficits in areas considered essential to patient care. Technological advances in an ever-changing and complex clinical environment mean that certain acute clinical skills have become routine for the qualified nurse and yet few educational institutions and NHS Trusts in the UK have seen the need to address this within the pre-registration nursing curricula. This study, questions whether the pre-registration nursing curricula is failing newly qualified nurses by not adequately preparing them to cope with the complexities of practical skills within the clinical environment. This skill deficit is rectified on qualifying when nurses rapidly equip themselves with skills that are considered essential for practice. Using a constructivist paradigm and a mixed methods research approach, the opinion of key stakeholders in pre-registration nurse education was sought. Focus groups and surveys were conducted with skills teachers to ascertain essential skills. Constructive alignment theory (Biggs 1999) was tested with two student cohorts from a pre-registration nursing programme (n=58). Comparisons were made between an experimental group who acquired certain skills during their pre-registration programme and a control group who had not acquired those additional skills. The programme was evaluated using Stake’s (1967) countenance model of evaluation. Data were analysed using SPSS, constant comparative analysis and triangulation. The findings confirmed that nurses should acquire the skills investigated in this study, but differences of opinion were found as to when this was acceptable. Favourable results for the experimental group were demonstrated indicating the need to provide nurses with the additional skills prior to qualifying. The study also identified other like-minded UK nurse educators who had been innovative with their skills’ curricula. Nursing curricula can be successfully underpinned by an educational theory such as constructive alignment providing added value to the learner and enablingnurses to enter the profession fit for practice and purpose. To further enhance the quality and standard of provision, the following are recommended: strengthening the collaborative relationships between the key stakeholders for nurse education, as well as promoting interprofessional learning and skills development. This will help improve the international credibility for the UK skills curricula.

<p> The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was threefold. First, this study compared the effects of two different simulation-based instructional strategies on athletic trainers&rsquo; clinical competence in performing cardiovascular screening with cardiac auscultations. Second, this study identified the athletic trainers&rsquo; perceptions of learning through simulation-based instructional strategies. Third, this study attempted to identify and offer instructional recommendations based on the outcomes. </p><p> The quantitative phase analyzed cognitive and diagnostic reasoning knowledge and history-taking and clinical skills specific to cardiovascular screenings with cardiac auscultations as it was taught to athletic trainers (ATs) at a continuing professional education (CPE) course. The quantitative results found that high-fidelity and low-fidelity simulation-based instructional strategies significantly increased cognitive and diagnostic reasoning knowledge and history-taking and clinical skill from pre-test to post-test assessment on all dependent variables. When comparing the two fidelity types to each other, the analysis found that the participants in the high-fidelity simulation group gained significantly more skill when compared to the low-fidelity group. </p><p> In the qualitative analysis of this study, three themes emerged specific to the perceptions of the athletic trainers&rsquo; experiences as they learn through simulation-based instructional strategies. The first theme that emerged was a clear indication that participants&rsquo; exhibited positive perceptions of learning through simulation-based instructional strategies. The second theme that emerged was that the high-fidelity simulation experience during the pre-assessment and post-assessment raised an awareness of the deficit of knowledge and skills in performing a comprehensive cardiovascular screening with cardiac auscultations. Lastly, the third theme that emerged was specific to the perceived limitations in the effectiveness of low-fidelity simulation and the perceived strengths in the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation. </p><p> A few instructional recommendations emerged from this dissertation study. Simulation-based instructional strategies are an ideal teaching method to utilize during continuing professional education courses with athletic trainers. Specifically, this study identified that both, high-fidelity and low-fidelity simulation, are effective in teaching cardiovascular screening with cardiac auscultations. Additionally, the participants perceived influences of a pre-test on the identification of their knowledge and skills deficit suggests that there are benefits of utilizing an authentic simulation pre-test as part of CPE courses.</p>

<p> This study investigates the influence of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program on participants who have taken it as an elective course for at least one year in high school and who have gone on to complete at least two years of higher education. Participants describe their experiences in terms of the way they saw/see themselves as learners, as students and as members of communities. Using a narrative inquiry approach to analysis and a poststructuralist theoretical framework influenced by Judith Butler&rsquo;s work in the field of gender identity, participants&rsquo; experiences are examined with an eye toward the ways in which their AVID participation had a role in the way they perform their identity and how they see themselves as acting and reacting in the performative aspects of their home selves, high school selves and college selves. In examining the narratives of participant experiences, particular attention is paid to the ways in which they mold their views of themselves and others&rsquo; views of them into a set of values that, in their telling, sets them apart from who they had been and from others similarly situated who did not have the AVID experience (the high school self). It also sets them apart from their families (the home self), whose lack of knowledge and understanding of the process of becoming first-generation college students inhibited their ability to understand and effectively advocate for their children. It did, however, connect them to the kinds of cultural capital that would improve their ability to perform as higher education expects of undergraduates (the college self). </p><p> The findings of this research center on the interplay between internal agency and external influence as they combine to create participants&rsquo; views of their own identities and can be seen through their attitudes and actions as they pursued undergraduate degrees. An implication of this work is the idea that AVID serves as a bridge of sorts which connects the agent desiring to be with the society which expects it to be. This is brought forth as participants describe their progression through AVID and college and the changes they underwent in their perceptions of themselves first as novitiates in the academic world, then as junior partners and finally as capable doers of deeds who had not yet come to appreciate the incompleteness of their agency. </p><p>

<p> The young adolescent learner is in a unique and distinctive phase of development, and as such requires a developmentally responsive educational program delivered by specially prepared middle level educators. The purpose of this qualitative mixed methods study was to compare current California policies for middle school teacher licensure and preparation programs with the most recent research on young adolescent development. A second purpose of this study was to investigate the design and implementation of middle school specific teacher preparation programs in California in relation to the most recent research on young adolescent development. </p><p> The findings of this study indicate that the young adolescent student is in a unique phase of development, which requires a specialized developmentally responsive educational program, delivered by specifically prepared teachers. The evidence further demonstrates that strong middle level teacher preparation programs, such as the program at CSU San Marcos, are designed to prepare teachers to address these complex developmental needs of the young adolescent student. An additional finding was that the current California teacher licensure and preparation requirements have not kept pace with the research on the young adolescent learner and are thereby misaligned with the best practices determined for this age group. A restructuring of the policies for California teacher licensure and preparation requirements to align with the research on best practices for the young adolescent learner is recommended. </p><p> The voluminous body of research on the young adolescent learner consistently demonstrates the need for developmentally responsive schools staffed by specially prepared middle level educators. The current licensing and teacher preparation systems in place in California are poorly coordinated with known best practices and, are failing to meet the needs of the middle level learner. There is a need for restructuring of schooling for the young adolescent learner in California, including the method for preparing and licensing teachers for the middle level, in order to provide developmentally responsive schools.</p>

<p> This is a quantitative non-random experimental study involving two ninth grade Art I classes at a California charter high school. One class is the control group while the other class is the experimental group. The control group will be taught an Everyday Aesthetics unit (EAU) of instruction focusing on traditional art vocabulary and themes. The experimental group will be taught the Environmental Significance of Everyday Aesthetics (ESOEA) using elements of a critical pedagogical teaching approach. </p><p> This initial experimental study includes three hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 is an experimental group of high school Art I students participating in the ESOEA unit and hypothesized to demonstrate a significant increase in environmental consciousness between pretest and posttest. Hypothesis 2 is a control group of high school Art I students exposed to the EAU and is predicted to demonstrate no significant increase between pretest and posttest in environmental consciousness. Hypothesis 3 is the experimental group participating in the ESOEA and hypothesized to demonstrate a significant increase between pretest and posttest regarding environmental consciousness in comparison to the control group of students taught with the EAU of instruction.</p><p>

<p> This research evaluates the effectiveness of Project ReCharge, an energy efficiency, STEM curriculum designed for middle and high school students. The project includes a five-unit curriculum, and monthly professional development spanning a year. The project was implemented in ten schools over three years. Four areas were explored in the study including (1) changes to student content knowledge, (2) changes to student attitudes towards STEM subjects and careers, (3) changes to teacher self-efficacy and beliefs, and (4) changes to teacher content knowledge. A content test for teachers and students, the STEM Semantics Survey, and STEBI-A were used to collect data on 4123 students and 47 teachers. Data were collected in a quasi-experimental design utilizing parametric and nonparametric techniques. Analyses suggest student content knowledge increased significantly from pretest to posttest for all years (Pretest: <i>M</i> = 11.38, <i>SD</i> = 4.97, Posttest: <i>M</i> = 16.67, <i> SD</i> = 5.83, <i>t</i> = 45.05, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001, <i> d</i> = 0.98). Increases to student attitudes in STEM varied by year and grade, but overall increases were found in science (<i>N</i> = 2362, <i>z</i> = &ndash;2.618, <i>p</i> = 0.030, &eta;² = 0.002), and math attitudes (<i>N</i> = 2348, <i> z</i> = &ndash;2.280, <i>p</i> = 0.023, &eta;² = 0.002). High school students tended to show more increased attitudes in more subject areas than middle school students. No changes to teacher self-efficacy and beliefs were found, and increases to teacher content knowledge only occurred in the third year (<i>N</i> = 22, <i>x</i>² = 5.158; <i>p</i> = 0.076, &eta;² = 0.319).</p><p>

<p> Within the confines of this study, the researcher investigated Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Engineering curriculum goals within Missouri high schools. The study measured Missouri PLTW teachers&rsquo; perceptions of various elements of the curriculum as well as state and national PLTW End of Course student assessment data to determine if a relationship existed between teachers&rsquo; perceptions of curriculum implementation and student performance, as measured through Missouri End of Course exams in various secondary engineering classes. In addition, the researcher conducted voluntary interviews with teachers, state administrators, and national representatives of PLTW to inquire about experiences with the PLTW Engineering curriculum. </p><p> Qualitatively, Missouri PLTW Engineering teachers expressed varied levels of satisfaction through a survey generated by the researcher, based upon national curriculum goals established by PLTW. Within the study, teachers&rsquo; perceptions reported students&rsquo; abilities to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems were greater than students&rsquo; abilities to design and conduct experiments, as well as to demonstrate knowledge of and responsibility for engineering issues, including ethical and professional responsibilities. The researcher attributed this perception to students&rsquo; lack of professional experience and to PLTW curriculum not providing enough opportunities for students to gain real-world relevant experience using the content and strategies learned during instructional class time. </p><p> The intention of this study was to provide a framework to review and evaluate curriculum goals established by PLTW, Inc. Originally, the researcher looked at national goals for the program to determine the outcomes of PLTW&rsquo;s educational programming. However, much of the data was post-secondary related and the researcher wanted to maintain the quantitative nature of the study. Nonetheless, research could expand upon the framework to study any state in the nation through either a mixed-methods approach or the use of a quantitative study approach. The researcher recommends further research be conducted either by PLTW, Inc., through state PLTW affiliates or by other individuals to determine future outcomes of educational curriculum offered by PLTW. This could include engineering, biomedical science, computer science, middle school curriculum offered through Gateway to Technology (GTT), or through elementary curriculum offered through Launch.</p><p>

Student academic growth is one of the most heated issues surfacing in the frequent debates revolving around school reforms, particularly since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind mandate. Often missing in such debates is a clear articulation of what available resources students have drawn on to grow academically. Informed by socio-cultural theoretical and systemic functional linguistic frameworks and drawing on data collected in a three-year ethnographic case study, this study explores what contributed to the academic growth of Pablo, a middle school English language learner, who was institutionally recognized as an "achiever." Specifically, this study examines in what ways and to what extent school resources, such as teaching practices, enabled Pablo to grow academically. This study also explores how and to what degree outside resources, such as parental involvement and support from the community, led to his growth. In addition, this study examines to what degree Pablo's level of motivation contributed to his growth in academic writing. To determine whether or not Pablo's writing changed over time and whether Pablo made progress with his academic writing, I performed a textual analysis of a selective set of essays Pablo wrote over the course of one academic year. Findings suggest that Pablo's institutional status as an achiever stems from his ability to find ways to produce essays that were institutionally valued, recognized, and defined as "good essays." Findings also suggest that while such a status helped Pablo maintain his institutional identity as a "good student," it may at the same time have slowed down his learning process, prevented the school personnel from exploiting his full potential as a student and, worse yet, led to the over-generalization of student achievement.

Within the last decade, the pressures of implementing state mandated early learning guidelines and meeting the requirements from federal, state and local agencies, have taken their toll on many preschool programs. In the present study, preschool programs were given a chance to voice their opinions about how curriculum standards and other external mandates were directly and indirectly influencing curriculum planning, teaching practices, and child activity. A brief survey was sent to 90 preschool directors in a region in Massachusetts, 28 directors completed this survey. A sample of nine directors, from the survey respondents, volunteered to be interviewed. In two separate interviews the researcher asked a series of questions to obtain data from the participants. These interview questions focused on how the participants made sense of the mandatory integration of early learning standards and other external mandates into their preschool program and their concerns based on their role as a preschool director. The results of the study revealed that external guidelines set forth by the state and federal government were a great concern to the preschool directors. These directors agreed that curriculum mandates were necessary yet the amount of work, time and expenditure needed to meet the demands of these mandates could be quite overwhelming. Concerns were particularly relevant in the areas of obtaining or maintaining NAEYC accreditation and the push for a standardized curriculum and/or a standardized assessment tool. To receive specific types of funding, a program must be using a standardized assessment tool. Many funding sources also require that a program be accredited by NAEYC. The financial and physical expense of both of these requirements was prohibitive. The results were analyzed with respect to child development and early childhood education principles. The findings indicated that curriculum mandates focused primarily on young children's cognitive development to the detriment of social and emotional competence. The findings also indicated that children were being pressured to spend more time on narrow academic skills and less time on play. Yet play has been found to provide children with opportunities to interact socially, express and control emotions, and develop symbolic thinking skills (Nicolopoulou, 2010).

The purpose of this study is to describe the multicultural curricula that are currently being offered to prospective elementary teachers for promoting learning for diverse students. First, multicultural courses that exist in selected elementary teacher preparation programs are identified and described. Second, perceptions of teacher educators toward the importance of the role of multicultural education in the preparation of elementary school teachers is reported. Specifically, the following research questions guide the nature of the study: (1) What courses in multicultural education are part of the teacher education curriculum for elementary teacher certification in selected institutions of higher education? (2) What do teacher educators consider as the main reasons for including or excluding multicultural education in the elementary teacher preparation program? (3) What recommendations do teacher educators suggest for improving the multicultural education of their elementary teacher preparation program? This study is significant because it brings into sharp focus the multicultural curricula that are currently being offered to prospective elementary teachers. Additionally, the study reports the perceptions of teacher educators toward the importance of multicultural education in the preparation of elementary school teachers. Seven diverse colleges and universities provided the data on multicultural courses. Twenty-one teacher educators from these participating institutions reported their perceptions toward the importance of multicultural education to the preparation of elementary teachers. The analysis of data on multicultural courses and perceptions of teacher educators revealed that there was significant difference between the way teacher educators perceived the importance of multicultural education and the way multicultural courses were actually offered to prospective elementary teachers. In six of the participating institutions of higher education, multicultural education was offered as topics or units within already existing Foundations courses. Only one university offered a separate multicultural education course as a part of its elementary teacher education program. It is reasonable to conclude from this study that whenever a new issue in student learning and curriculum emerges, too often the curriculum to prepare prospective teachers responds by adapting existing courses rather than by considering a curriculum reform that may include new courses. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)