This dissertation studies the impact of two courses, “Rise Up” and “Leadership in Community Service,” at a Level Four high school in Massachusetts. The school, which had a higher than average level of student dropout, implemented the two courses developed by the researcher to address student retention, academic performance, and connection to school. Students in grades 9–12 took one or both of the semester-long classes, which used community building activities, group discussions, democratic teaching principals, community service-learning, and goal setting to address the needs of marginalized students. Students who participated in the classes showed increased connections to peers, teachers and community members, an improvement in indicators for school retention including grades, behavior, and attendance, and also an increase in their perceptions about their ability to persist in challenging situations.

How do oral deaf high school students experience Least Restrictive Environment policies as they participate in mainstream classes with hearing teachers and peers? This study focused on three oral deaf students who did not use sign language. In classes that privileged uses of spoken language, the focal participants communicated with their hearing teachers and peers by speaking, speechreading, and listening with their aided residual hearing. Ethnographic data were collected during semester-long participant observations of two math and two English classes. Data collection methods included audiotaping and videotaping classes, informal interviews, and Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR). During IPR meetings, the researcher and the focal participants analyzed "rich points"—moments when "normal" discourse practices were interrupted, allowing hidden tensions to surface. These rich points were identified by the focal participants themselves and/or by the researcher. The construction of classroom power relations was analyzed using Microethnographic Discourse Analysis (Bloome et al., 2005). This study revealed that the focal participants had learning experiences that were qualitatively different from those of their hearing peers. In particular, they faced challenges that were overlooked by their hearing teachers and peers. During class discussions, the oral deaf students' participation was restricted because they had to visually access verbal exchanges. To make sense of interactions, they had to interpret a series of incomplete signals using speechreading, aided residual hearing, and visual/written prompts. Thus, their participation in discussions was limited. However, when the oral deaf focal participants had opportunities to interact directly with their hearing peers in small group work, they demonstrated their ability to communicate and learn by using personal and contextual resources to engage in language and literacy events with their hearing peers. This study concludes that mainstream classrooms do not automatically become Least Restrictive Environments when oral deaf students are placed in classes with hearing students. Rather, the creation of Least Restrictive Environments for oral deaf students requires the active collaboration of their hearing teachers and peers. Otherwise, mainstream classrooms may become settings where oral deaf students' differences are highlighted, and the goal of mainstreaming—to respect and bridge differences in a diverse classroom—is not achieved.

The purpose of this research was to ascertain and describe the status of work ethic instruction in Vermont vocational schools and Vermont vocational educator attitudes regarding teaching work ethics. Work ethics has been identified as an issue of concern that has not been addressed in a practical fashion. The research study was based on a model developed by the Illinois Vocational Ethics Infusion Project. The Vermont study administered a questionnaire to all educators employed in Vermont vocational centers. The questionnaire was composed of three sections. The first was related to attitudes toward teaching work ethics as well as attitudes toward appropriate teaching strategies. The second section asked teachers how often they promoted certain work ethic characteristics. Both sections used a Likert-type scale. The final section surveyed basic demographic information. Standard statistical procedures for ordinal and nominal non-parametric data were used. Results indicate that Vermont vocational educators considered work ethic instruction important. Most educators report that they currently include work ethics as part of the curriculum they teach. Vermont educators feel that their business or industry experience has prepared them to teach work ethics. Yet less than half felt that their college course work had adequately prepared them to teach work ethics. They felt the most support for work ethic instruction from employers and the least from parents. When asked which of 20 work ethic characteristics they promote they indicated a high level of support for all 20. Truthfulness was reported as the highest ranking characteristic. School and classroom policies were identified most frequently of 11 possible teaching strategies. The second highest is mentoring. Analysis of responses by demographic characteristics indicate possible significant relationships in areas of years of business and industry work and in highest degree earned to work ethic attitudes and teaching practices. Conclusions and recommendations were framed as guidelines to assist the Vermont Department of Education for policy making in vocational curriculum and professional development.

The purpose of this study was to assess the Stages of Concern of southeastern Massachusetts elementary administrators and regular classroom teachers toward cooperative learning. Of the eighty school districts surveyed, thirty-four systems indicated that they were using cooperative learning. A stratified random sample of twenty-four school districts was selected using the Massachusetts Department of Education's kind of community classification system. Forty-six elementary administrators and eighty-five classroom teachers participated. Two data-gathered instruments were used: one to measure the seven hypothesized Stages of Concern about cooperative learning and one to gather personal information. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was used to gain insight into concerns of elementary administrators and teachers about cooperative learning. The dependent variables in the study were scores assigned by administrators and teachers to each of the 35 items on the SoCQ. Independent variables came from the Demographic Survey Instrument and included: role, gender, training, age, education level, and experience. Eleven null hypotheses were developed using a.05 level of significance criterion. Five hypotheses of difference were constructed around role, gender, and training. The t-test was used to evaluate each hypothesis and all five null hypotheses were accepted. Six hypotheses of association were built using age, education level, and experience. The Pearson r test was used to make a decision regarding each hypothesis and all six null hypotheses were accepted. Descriptive analysis revealed that 57.5% of the school districts have not initiated cooperative learning programs at the elementary school level. Systems using cooperative learning revealed that more than 70% of the respondents' highest concern scores were located at the early development Stages. The following conclusions were reached: (1) some students are being deprived of cooperative learning, (2) the majority of administrators and teachers have immature concerns about cooperative learning, and (3) leaders need to initiate actions or events that will resolve professional concerns about cooperative learning.

Advancing technology demands workers who are equipped with the higher-order cognitive skills of analysis and problem-solving. Opportunities for upward mobility are increasingly reserved for those who possess the ability to learn how to learn. Recent studies have shown, however, many of our students do not master these higher-order skills, and they graduate unprepared to meet the challenges of the changing workplace. Although traditional vocational education attempts to prepare students for work, high school shops are devoid of the vitality of real-life worksites. If vocational students became interns in their field, they would have the opportunity to serve as apprentices in the types of real-world problem-solving and decision-making systems they will enter as adult citizens. In order to create this environment for hands-on experiences, I initiated a school/business collaboration between the Culinary Arts Department of a large, urban vocational/technical high school and a large food services organization and reported the outcome of my efforts in the form of a case study. Throughout the process of establishing the partnership, I kept detailed fieldnotes and journals, which later provided the basis for analysis and assessment of the collaborative experience. Through interviews with student interns, the director of food services in the partner corporation, the culinary arts teacher, and the coordinator of cooperative education, I have attempted to examine the school/business partnership program from several viewpoints. Student interns reported their experience in the corporation made them feel independent and mature. Their supervisor noted employees enjoyed "taking the students under their wings." The Culinary Arts teacher and co-op coordinator agreed the partnership program cultivated essential life skills in student participants. Analysis of the project from the perspective of Dewey, Rousseau, or Pestalozzi, leads to the conclusion that apprenticeship-type programs, through their experiential nature, can contribute to the development of the kinds of cognitive and personal skills sought by employers in the 1990s. Although school/business partnerships cannot be regarded as cure-alls for the problems in our schools, they can provide young people with opportunities to develop values and skills through meaningful activities in internship or apprenticeship programs. For a summary of the lessons I have learned from this particular partnership, please see the first page of the appendix.

Forty-eight Algebra II standard level students were divided into two classes. One was taught using the traditional learning approach of lecture and test; the other was taught using a cooperative learning approach in which students were grouped into teams of four members of mixed ability. A case study approach was adopted for this comparison of cooperative learning and more traditional teaching methods. The case study covers two school years, from October 1991 until June 1992 (which was used as a pilot program) and then October 1992 until June 1993. The subjects were assessed on measures of grade improvement and evaluation. The time has come to change how we teach math. Math must be learned as an active process. New approaches in cooperative learning can increase the level of understanding and appreciation of mathematics and decrease student's anxiety levels. The findings point out clear differences between the cooperative learning classroom and the traditional classroom. The cooperative learning classroom is more flexible as well as creative. Students measure more positive attitudes and feelings toward mathematics in this environment. Results show that the cooperative learning group demonstrates stable gains in math appreciation and achievement as well as improved interracial relationships, some overcoming of math anxiety and improved discipline.

<p> This thesis presents findings from a narrative and phenomenological case study that examined the inspirations and motivations that led to an adolescent student&rsquo;s engagement in a self-initiated experiential education project (SEEP) and the subsequent effects on the adolescent&rsquo;s sense of self. The student&rsquo;s SEEP was a month-long challenge to eat only wild foods. SEEPs and self-designed experiential learning projects are examples of self-directed learning, which is becoming more common in adult, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Six theoretical areas are addressed in the literature review, including adolescent sense of self, benefits of exposure to nature, mentoring, experiential education, eclectic homeschooling, and rites of passage. The investigator interviewed the SEEP initiator, who was a student at a school employing the deep nature connection mentoring model of education, and seven of the student&rsquo;s mentors. Artifacts produced by the student and mentors related to the student&rsquo;s self-initiated experiential education project were examined. Data analysis included crafting researcher profiles, writing a chronological story of the case, and an open-coded thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. Findings indicate the influences and motivations inspiring the creation of the SEEP in this case included elements of the initiators&rsquo; identity, self-esteem, education, resilience and self-efficacy; an adolescent need to test oneself; and a desire for a deeper connection with nature. The outcomes in terms of sense of self include impacts on identity and self-esteem, increased resilience and self-efficacy and an increasing appreciation for nature, family, and the student&rsquo;s interdependence with other people. These impacts indicate that SEEPs could be a desired aspect of curriculum design. Educator, family, peer, and community support appear to be important influences encouraging students to create and engage in SEEPs. </p>

<p> Over fifty thousand Chinese students are leaving China to study in US high schools. This interview-based, narrative inquiry study focuses on the experience of ten Chinese nationals now studying at a US high school and expands work done in comparative pedagogy by offering thick descriptions of the school experience in two cultures. This study makes the case that China&rsquo;s changing culture is reflected in the stories and school histories of Chinese students who experience pedagogy as significantly different in China and the US. The push that drives students out of China includes high-stakes testing and public ranking systems and the individual success of students within these systems. Students&rsquo; experience school in China as a symbiotic relationship between teachers, students, and schools, which often manifests in culturally located methods for efficient study, including achievement collaboration&mdash;wherein actors work together for mutual success. It is within this context that many students are pulled to study in the US in order to take up a certain degree of cultural rebellion, wherein they perceive that US schools have the resources to provide for broader constructions of school success than in China. This study illuminates how these students then gain new knowledge around how to be successful in school in two cultures and how to better navigate global education mobility. It is in this way that Chinese students become conduits of change. They influence the curricula, programming, and services offered at the schools they attend in both countries, emphasizing how cross-border mobility (re)shapes the identities and values around education for all involved, from individual students and schools to educational policy and reform. This study engages how schools in the US are meeting the needs of these students in both policy and practice, and lends nuance to the literature around intercultural education and the impact of globalization on pedagogy.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if using intentional, transformational learning strategies in an undergraduate business ethics course improved the curriculum with respect to targeted, student learning outcomes. Since business schools have a social mandate to provide opportunities for ethical growth and development, improving the efficacy of business ethics education is of paramount importance. The importance of this mandate has been further highlighted in recent years by egregious instances of misconduct by business professionals whose actions have had obvious and profoundly negative impacts upon the stability of our financial systems and state of the world economy. </p><p> This was a quasi-experimental, quantitative study conducted at a university of approximately 8,000 students. The focus of the study was to measure the effects of intentional, transformational learning strategies on the occurrence of transformational learning and cognitive moral development among students enrolled in the university's online business ethics course. The intentional, transformational learning strategies utilized were those identified by David Warren Keller in a 2007 study and adapted to an online learning environment. The correlation between epistemological development based on the Perry Scheme (of William G. Perry Jr.) and the occurrence of transformational learning was also examined in this study. </p><p> While this curricular intervention was not found to have had a statistically significant impact on the targeted outcomes, a statistically significant correlation was observed between epistemological development and transformational learning. A principle conclusion of the researcher is that the online learning environment is the most likely explanation for the difference in the efficacy of the curricular intervention when comparing the results of the Keller study to the current study due to the affective dimensions of the student learning experience (central to transformational learning) in the online learning environment and the limitations inherent therein, which are detailed in the study. Finally, the correlation observed between epistemological development and transformational learning, while statistically significant, was inconclusive due to the absence of additional correlations which would have been expected, yet merits further study.</p>

<p> Clinical experiences are an essential part of the training of future nursing professionals. The period of clinical experience aims to develop in the student the necessary skills to practice as a nursing professional, when the academic program ends. This case study aimed to understand the opinion and explore the perception of faculty, clinical instructors, and nursing students on the meaning, contributions and challenges presented during clinical experiences. Among the themes explored in the focus groups were the meaning and importance to learning about the profession of clinical experiences, teaching strategies used during the practice scenarios, didactic relationships developed among students, clinical instructors, and teachers. The goal was to learn from all participants about what they do, their expectations, and the challenges presented during the clinical experiences.</p><p> A qualitative, descriptive and contextual research design was followed, which required conducting six focus groups to collect the information from the perspective of all the participants. Faculty, clinical instructors, and nursing students participated each in two focus groups. Collected data were transcribed, coded and analyzed in order to organize it under themes related to the research framework.</p><p> The qualitative analysis of the focus groups revealed that nursing faculty and clinical instructors perceived clinical experiences as a very important element in the training of nursing students, but that coordination between the academy and practice scenarios is disconnected and needs improvement. They also expressed that they use various learning strategies during the clinical experiences, however, they recognize it needs more structure and suggested mentoring as a strategy to consider. They affirmed that mentoring could contribute positively to enhance the teaching-learning process. Clinical instructors understand they perform mentoring roles, but they would like to have a more defined role and structured process. Nursing students, also, recognized the importance of clinical experiences in their professional training. They expressed the need to improve the communication between the academy and the practice scenarios in order to reduce the levels of anxiety they experience when entering the clinical experiences. Nursing students also expressed the need to consider the use of different teaching strategies, such as mentoring, to improve clinical experiences.</p>