Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-163).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> This qualitative portraiture study examines current issues that surround the experience of third-year and beyond, first-generation college students. There is a need to understand the self-perceptions of first-generation college students. Very few studies follow the group into the third year of college. Most programs track the population for just one year beyond matriculation. Success for first-generation college students is vital, as the group has been identified as a growing population with low college completion rates. This study is presented at a critical time, when the President of the United States claims a college education is necessary to live above the poverty line and achieve middle-class status. The United States government has based public policy and higher education funding upon both student need and institution completion rates. This study used arts-based research and literacy through photography techniques to explore the narrative experience of a small sample of first-generation college students while engaged in interpretative photography. The technique aimed to promote imagination, creativity, critical thinking, and personal reflection. The study engaged participants in literacy through photography and sought to synthesize data in the form of writing samples, interpretative photography, and transcribed interviews to uncover patterns that better explain the tenants of culture leading to academic discourse within a disadvantaged population. The portraiture method was used to provide rich and descriptive data by illuminating themes through participant-researcher collaboration with reflective and narrative components.</p>

<p> The intent of this qualitative research study was to investigate the experiences of eighth-grade readers as they read nonfiction text on an iPad for academic purposes. Analysis of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) calls for close reading requiring readers to interact with the text to create meaning (Fisher, n.d.). With this in mind, the researcher investigated reading strategies students used to support their reading as well as what role the iPad features played in the reading process. Several theoretical perspectives informed the framework for this study: (a) New Literacies theory, (b) transactional theory, (c) constructivist theory, and (d) metacognition theory. These perspectives focused on the reading comprehension strategies students used to facilitate reading comprehension while reading nonfiction text on an e-reader, specifically on an iPad. Data sources for this study included the following: (a) retrospective think alouds; (b) student questionnaire about iPad knowledge and experiences; (c) pre-study student interview; (d) post-study student interview; (e) Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI); (f) student observations; and (g) teacher interview. Preselection data for the collective case study participants were used to identify proficient readers who displayed confidence, competency, and control over text. The criteria used for participant selection included (a) reading skills using Lexile Levels, (b) MARSI survey, and (c) iPad use survey to determine prior knowledge of iPad. Three themes emerged in the collective case study that were directly related to the analysis. Students used a combination of (a) reading comprehension strategies, (b) nonfiction features, and (c) iPad features to support their reading of nonfiction on the iPad. Analysis of the data revealed three distinct groups for which recommendations were made: (a) classroom teachers, (b) publishers, and (c) researchers.</p>

<p> In the fall of 2008 Westside Community Schools &ndash; District 66, in Omaha, Nebraska implemented a one-to-one notebook computer take home model for all eighth-grade students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a required yearlong one-to-one notebook computer program supported by high-speed Internet connectivity at school on (a) English, (b) math, (c) reading, (d) science, and (e) composite score norm-referenced EXPLORE achievement test scores, District's Criterion-Referenced Descriptive Writing Assessment scores, and classroom performance grade point average (GPA) scores for the core subjects (a) English, (b) science, (c) social studies, and (d) cumulative GPA scores of eighth-grade students who do not have high-speed Internet connectivity at home (<i>n</i> = 19) compared to eighth-grade students eligible (<i>n</i> = 19) and not eligible (<i>n</i> = 19) for free and reduced price lunch program participation who do have high-speed Internet connectivity at home. The results of this study support the implementation of a one-to-one notebook computer program as a systematic intervention to improve student achievement. Furthermore, all within group pretest-posttest gains and between group posttest-posttest equipoise demonstrated that the achievement gap between students eligible and students not eligible for free or reduced price lunch participation with or without high-speed Internet connectivity at home had been mitigated through participation in the school-wide one-to-one notebook computer program. While the one-to-one notebook eighth-grade computer program in this study may not be singled out solely for between group posttest equipoise causality, its inclusion as a fundamental academic programmatic component of this middle school's curriculum should be considered as a contributing factor.</p>

<p> Saint Anne's Middle School is a Catholic, bilingual, bicultural, middle school for girls that participates in the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program. This case study explored reading and language arts as experienced in the school through the lens of a school library media specialist. The students&rsquo; social, emotional, and intellectual needs appeared to be met at the school for the most part. The school also exhibited best practices for teaching reading at the middle school level to bilingual students. However, to improve reading, the school would want to consider changing the school&rsquo;s focus from reading comprehension to reading engagement so that students become lifelong readers. In addition, as schools begin to roll out the new educational framework known as the Common Core, which will change how librarians and teachers present reading, and standardized tests assess reading, it is essential that more time be dedicated to exploring point-of-view in informational texts. Finally, because the students tend to score lower on vocabulary than comprehension in reading assessments, increasing the use of free-reading books to introduce vocabulary may provide further opportunities for students to improve on standardized test scores while teaching a valuable lifelong skill. In sum, even a strong school can improve on reading and language arts instruction, and this project shows ways that teachers and librarians can change their thinking to be ready to implement Common Core and still achieve reading engagement.</p>

<p> The results of the study provided a unique perspective of 20 teachers and how their personal childhood bullying experiences influenced their response to student bullying. Teachers who participated in this study acknowledged that they had a heightened awareness of student bullying, felt their positive attitude was due to their Olweus training as well as a sensitivity towards students who are bullied, indicated that they were aware of the negative impact on their self-esteem, and identified the role empathy played in their response to student bullying. The question of self-efficacy in fourteen participants (70 percent) was an alarming emergent theme in teachers&rsquo; response to student bullying. Although fifteen participants (75 percent) responded in a proactive way, the participants&rsquo; self-confidence in stopping bullying altogether remained an issue. The benefits of responding to bullying, according to the participants, included stopping the cycle so as the student being bullied would not bully others, and these same participants felt that responding to bullying helped to build trust between teachers and students. The results of the study provide a framework of recommendations for educational leaders, policy makers, guidance counselors, school psychologists, and teachers.</p>

<p> In the current knowledge economy, a connection exists between globalization and global macro policies and the micro level effect of these policies at the local classroom level. This study begins by establishing globalization's impact on education at the local level by operationalizing 21^st century instruction as a global educational outcome that is actually a macro policy with micro effects. With this framework in place, this study examines the ability of a higher education institution to prepare pre-service teachers to provide 21^st century instruction in the public middle school setting. In order to examine the connection between higher education and the public middle school, the study utilizes qualitative research to examine the level of preparation pre-service teachers receive at the higher institution level. The study also utilizes qualitative research to study participants at the public middle school level in order to measure the degree of 21^st century instruction in the classroom resulting from their higher education pre-service preparation. The study finds that a connection exists between the university and the public middle school setting. The professor participants clearly conceptualize globalization and 21^st century instruction. Additionally, the teacher participants also conceptualize globalization and 21^st century instruction. However, a point of diffusion exists between the active and intended curriculum suggesting that conceptualization is not the same as instructional delivery. Finally, the results support the hypothesis that globalization has an impact on classroom instruction at the local level.</p>

<p> This study examined an existing afterschool, outdoor-based program called <i> Challenge: Nature.</i> This program worked with students in sixth-grade through eighth-grade, who had been recognized as struggling with characteristics of a Significant Identifiable Emotional Disability (SIED). The goal of the study was to identify the effect this program provided to the participants, as well as how new skills and knowledge were transferred from the afterschool setting to other domains of participants' lives, including at school, at home, and in social situations. The research consisted of an action research project using a mixed-methods approach, with existing data previously collected through the host organization. This approach included parent and student surveys, direct observation sheets, and data from the school district. The data collected spanned three years, from the program's conception, to the middle of the 2012-2013 school year. Through data analysis, this study provided an overview of the effects of the program and made suggestions based on the findings.</p>