This study examined a web-based undergraduate course structured around social learning theories through the lens of social construction as a theoretical framework and a case study research method. The purpose of the study was to investigate students' learning experiences from a cognitively guided research framework. Instructional strategies practiced in the course, instructional design developed, and demonstrated students' learning outcomes were examined to help characterize students' learning experiences. The study proceeded from a social constructivist framework, employing a qualitative case study approach. Data collected to support the description of students' learning experiences included early course survey, in-depth interviews, course documents, students' artifacts, online class interactions, email correspondences among participants, and the researcher's journals based on online observations. The results of the study reveal that students' learning experiences and learning outcomes were greatly affected by the instructor's belief about teaching a distance course. Her belief that students should be fully responsible for their own learning in the web-based course resulted in minimal facilitation of the class in all aspects, including moderating students' online discussions, fostering learning communities within the class, and providing elaborate, critical feedback to elicit students' cognitive processes. As a result, the engaged cognitive processes and knowledge domains students demonstrated over the term were not significantly improved. Furthermore, the course goal of establishing a collaborative, interactive, and social learning environment for distance students was not met. The results of this study contribute to the picture of the facilitation skills and moderating practices that support more fully the goal of the development of a cognitively rich learning community. / Graduation date: 2006

For the past 100 years, the prominent instructional model for all public education in the United States has been teacher/content centered with the intent of covering a discrete body of knowledge in a given period of time. As the end of the twentieth century approaches, natural, social, political, and economic forces are influencing community college instructors to transition from content centered instruction to a student centered approach to teaching and learning as part of the national education reform agenda. The purpose of this study was to document, through a case study, the experience of one community college instructor as she attempted to transition from a traditional content focused teaching model to an outcome-based/learner centered model. A literature survey provides a review of education reform as it relates to instructors in a community college. A learner centered training model from industry, is applied as a framework for outcome-based/learner centered instruction in community colleges. Participant observation, surveys, and interviews were the methods used to collect data. Six hypotheses were generated from the study: 1. Learner centered/outcome-based teaching is more complex and takes greater skill in basic teaching techniques than teaching in a traditional content framework. 2. An instructor whose teaching experience has been exclusively content focused may find it difficult to create authentic learning tasks. 3. Collegial influence is a major factor affecting the ability of one instructor to change instructional practices. 4. A single instructor's ability to change instructional practice in one course is limited by the way the program curriculum is designed. 5. Learning is enhanced by human relationships that foster trust and reflective practice. 6. Teaching and learning is complex and multifaceted in nature: it is not a logical linear process. / Graduation date: 1996

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

self and other. If reading the local papers and talking to parents is any indication, Education, it seems, is asked to play a greater role in the upbringing of our students. The schools are responsible for ensuring that the students are well fed and adequately supervised not just during school hours, but before and after as well. Schools are expected to keep up with the rigors of ensuring that the students are practiced in the almighty disciplines of reading, writing, arithmetic and now, technology skills. This will somehow propel them into the economic demands of the new millenium. But the impact of the culture and the community from which the students come - the histories of their experiences as individuals and as a group- are seldom explored. L Intuitively, I am drawn to my own stories when trying to make sense of the stories that swirl and swish amongst the myriad of moments that collectively comprise each experience. The influence our narratives have on the way we understand and learn is explored in this paper. Sandwiched in between the stories is a study of how using Drama as an instructional technique can be used to explore our narratives and expand on our ways of knowing and understanding, particularly how it is experienced by the English as a Second Language (ESL) learner. . Twenty-six grade five and six students from a multi-cultural, suburban community were observed. The students participated in a two-month, tri-weekly unit on basic drama methods, which culminated in a final class narrative performance. Four ways of data collection were employed. A static camera (i.e. a video camera that remained in a fixed position on a tripod in one of the classroom corners) was used throughout each lesson to record the events and to supply another view to the multi-perspective data collection. Student journals as well as a personal narrative from each participant (a video portrait) were collected. The classroom teacher also kept a journal and made observations about her students throughout the unit period. This dissertation was not limited to the stories of the students in the classroom as this journey precipitated a desire, indeed a need, to tell my own stories of daughter, mother, sister, student, teacher and friend. Since our physical experiences, our stories and our ways of understanding are integrally intertwined, this (re) search honored narrative as a way of including these aspects in the dissertation.

Education and delivery methods of this education to students are always chaning. To teach students in geographically separated locations, many technologies are being used and one of these technologies is video-conferencing. However, the human element of education must neither be lost nor forgotten as we continue with new ways of educating students of the future. That is, the value of the student-instructor relationship and the critical role it plays in effective teaching and learning must be retained by distance educators. To develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between instructors and students of a video-conferenced classroom is the goal of this study. This case of student-teacher rapport in video-conferencing was conducted over a six-week summer course. Data were collected by questionnaire, student and instructor interviews, and class observations from both sites. From these primarily qualitative research techniques, several recurring themes emerged. All of these were central to the establishment and perceptions of an instructor-student rapport. Some of these areas were crucial to this video-conferencing case study and will serve to assist futre educators. The primary result of this case study was that very little rapport was established between the instructor and his students and it was perceived by the instructor and the students that this scant amount of rapport was sufficient. The paramount themes which were revealed include: the lack of name knowledge on the part of the instructor and the students' perception that this was acceptable; the technological problems; the question-asking procedures; and the amount of side-chatter and other off-task behaviours. All of these factors compounded to suppress the existence of an instructor-student rapport in this course. Recommendations for distance educators are included. / xiii, 223 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.

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This qualitative, multisite case study, framed by a constructivist perspective, addresses a deficit in the literature regarding multicultural consciousness of culturally responsive novice teachers. Existing studies identify the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy and the impact of the field of multicultural education on pedagogy that considers teaching and learning of nonmainstream student populations. These studies are inadequate due to their: lack of specific strategies for gaining and sustaining multicultural consciousness in P-12 schools, quantitative nature, or emphasis on preservice teacher education as opposed to in-service teachers in contact with nonmainstream students in the school context. The significance emphasized was the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy and its impact for narrowing the achievement gap regarding nonmainstream students. The themes that emerged, dimensions of multicultural consciousness, led to implications for: education, an ethic of care, “Otherness,” intrinsic motivation, advocacy, and reflexivity. It was concluded that the sustainability of a multicultural consciousness in context is less persuasive than the case findings for gaining consciousness for culturally responsive pedagogues, yet, all dimensions should be expounded upon for further study and better understanding of the relevant and persisting concern for nonmainstream student achievement. / Department of Educational Studies

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which preservice elementary education students participating in Ball State University's Urban Education Semester would evidence a change in attitudes toward multicultural teaching and learning based on their experiences in the program. A treatment group of 22 Urban Semester participants was compared to a control group of 21 preservice teachers engaged in coursework and field experience in a traditional, on-campus setting. Employing a case study approach, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to explore the phenomenon under investigation.The qualitative aspect of the study examined treatment and control group pretest and posttest scores on the Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS) (Ponterotto, Baluch, Grieg, & Rivera, 1998), to ascertain the extent to which attitudes would change as a result of curricular and experiential treatments. A follow-up administration of the TMAS occurred approximately six weeks following the intervention to determine the extent to which attitude change in the treatment group was either lasting or transitory in nature. The treatment group evidenced a highly significant difference in pretest / posttest scores on the TMAS (p = 0.002**), and the change was retained in follow-up measures.Qualitative methodology included analysis of student journals, content of two focus groups conducted throughout the semester, student discussion observed in Ball State courses, and personal interviews conducted at the end of the Urban experience. Analysis revealed common themes including the importance of direct experience with diversity, personal reflection, professional mentoring and teaching opportunities for student multicultural growth. Additionally, the experience served to dispel myths and stereotypes regarding urban teaching and encouraged movement from a color denial perspective to an appreciation for and respect of cultural differences.The present study illustrates the potential of curricular intervention to alter student attitudes toward multicultural teaching and learning. Implications for the development of initiatives geared toward this end include the importance of cultural immersion, opportunities for personal reflection, infusion of multicultural content across curricular areas, and carefully planned student / mentor teacher pairings in order to affect such change. / Department of Elementary Education