The purpose of this study was to see if there would be any advantage in using the phase teaching method of independent study in the LDS seminary classroom and to measure changes in student's attitude, knowledge, and behavior toward seminary taught lessons.

This dissertation focuses on the role that College Composition courses can and should play in addressing the digital divide and the literacy divide. For this project, digital divide refers to the space between those students who have opportunity to participate in online discourse communities and to contribute to the collective intelligence described by Henry Jenkins and those who have not had this opportunity even though they do have access to current technology. The literacy divide discussed is created when literacy is defined simply as the ability to read and write. Students need to be visually, digitally, and technologically literate. In response to these gaps, I propose reimagining the first-year writing course as a course in storytelling across disciplines and media. Story, oral storytelling, digital narrative, and transmedia narrative are explained. An analysis of several stories including a canonical comic book, a commercial, and a long-term narrative television show are analyzed using Aristotle, Propp, Saussure, Jenkins, Birkerts, and other theorists important to work in Texts and Technology. The guiding question for this project is How can a focus on storytelling using new and digital media in the first-year English composition course create an authentic and relevant learning experience for contemporary students while bridging the digital divide created by the lack of opportunity to participate in the collective intelligence of the convergence culture? Finally, the dissertation includes a research protocol which describes and justifies future research to test the claims made in this dissertation.

The ancient Greeks were a group of people who valued intelligence and athleticism above all other human traits; because of their focus, their society became one of the most revered and advanced civilizations in all of history. They were able to significantly influence the Roman Empire's philosophers, rhetoric, and education system. In order for the United States wants to match the Greeks' paramount feats, citizens have to become more learned and fit. The future intellectual development of the United States is at risk of halting progress as a nation if action is not taken. Quintilian's educational philosophies stimulate students' brainpower, but cannot work to its best when schools stock their classrooms with dispassionate teachers. Without mental stimulation, students are prevented from becoming learned citizens capable of social advancements. Moreover, the Greek-designed Palaestra-Dadiscaleum learning environment provides students with the best possible academic and physical educations. The influence of an entire bodily education develops high-quality students who will become intelligent adults capable of making positive change in their community. Over the last decade, the U.S. physical education program has gone through several transformations that have lead to a decline in the importance of fitness as a vital player in the academic school day. To remedy and better U.S. education, schools and teachers must follow the Greek and Roman education methodologies.

Introduction The purpose of this project is to implement an innovative, and engaging knowledge transfer pedagogy for 5th grade science students. This project utilized Stealth Learning, a learning pedagogy developed by Dr. James Rosser.99,100,109,110 The program featured applied learning to develop skill sets in general and drone aviation, as well as minimally invasive surgery techniques. This was facilitated through the use of computers, table simulators, and drones. Methodology This project took standardized subject matter from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and converted it into content featuring the Stealth approach. The section that was converted was the "Practice of Science and the Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge" portion of the FCAT. This program includes curriculum workbooks and worksheets, mini drones, scientifically-validated video games (Super Monkey Ball 2), Stealth Learning music-vocab videos (Animotos), surgical simulation skill drills (Bean Drop), and competitions material (Spelling Bee). A website was also made to allow students to review material at home. This program was administered with the assistance of healthcare and aviation professionals to provide a mentoring component. The program included an execution phase consisting of seven sessions, which took place for 45 minutes each during the Spring Semester (April 2016). Preliminary Findings There are preliminary results for this project, which must be explored further in future studies. This project first analyzed the Science FCAT scores for 72 students in the 5th grade. Of the 72 students in the class, 22 (30.5%) passed the exam. Eleven of the students were enrolled in our program and 54% (6 of 11) passed in comparison to twenty-six percent of the students that underwent standard preparation passed the exam. Conclusion Especially for minorities and the socioeconomically disadvantaged, student performance on state standard exams is one of the most pressing challenges faced in education today. This study suggests that a state standard-based 5th grade curriculum can be converted into an innovative brain-based lesson plan to enhance performance on state standard exams. This initial investigation offers some encouragement for others to further pursue this research.

Although the development of cyber high schools over the last 10 years has increased, no data are reported in the literature regarding the factors that have contributed to the increased enrollment or student perceptions of success. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory describing why students currently enrolled in an online high school program chose an asynchronous setting and their subsequent perceptions of success. Critical pedagogy, as a basis of transformational experiences through education, served as the conceptual framework. An attitudinal survey, provided as a limited data set by the high school, was used to identify preliminary generative themes responding to the research questions. Based on the preliminary themes, student interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative coding method to address the research questions. Interviews and surveys provided the necessary data for triangulation through multiple achievement based comparison groups, enabling cross-checking between theoretical constructs and specific criterion identified during data analysis. Findings suggested these students migrated to an asynchronous high school to address the perceived detrimental effects as identified in one of the four generative themes: traditional classroom setting, inflexible scheduling, needing a more individualized curriculum, or issues related to school culture. Moreover, findings indicated that students' perception of success appear to have increased as a result of their migration to an online setting. The findings from this study may help teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators better advise their students in identifying the best learning environment, enabling students to enhance their own learning and potentially experience an increased perception of success.

Research indicates play contributes to children's learning and development. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) changed early care and education by limiting time for play in early childhood classrooms. There is a gap in the literature concerning early childhood teachers' current beliefs about play and how those beliefs are connected to their practices. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the connections between early childhood teachers' beliefs regarding play and their practices in the early childhood classroom. Lave's situated learning theory formed the conceptual framework for this study recognizing the early childhood classroom and the social aspect of learning as a community of practice. Data for the study were collected through structured interviews, observations, and documents from teachers in 6 early childhood classrooms. Coding was used to identify patterns and themes. Analysis revealed that teachers held strong positive beliefs in regard to play. Teachers believed the connection between their beliefs and practices regarding play was strong and the connection between them was clear. Evidence showed the connection was not as strong and clear as teachers perceived. A clearer understanding of the link between teachers' beliefs and practices could create positive social change and benefit teachers, parents, administrators, and children. Teachers may use the information in this study to reflect on and make changes to their practices. Program directors, principals and school districts may be guided to implement curriculum changes more inclusive of play, or to include play and play theory in preservice training. These changes could bring the United States more in line with top performing countries in terms of educational outcomes for children.

The purpose of this study was to teach telling time to the hour, half-hour, quarter to the hour, and to 5 min to students with austim spectrum disorder (ASD) or other developmental disabilities using video modeling (VM). Two research questions were asked: 1. Is there a functional relation between VM and increases in level and trend for telling time to the hour, half-hour, quarter hour, or 5 min for students with ASD and/or other developmental disabilities? 2. Will the use of the VM help students reach criterion on the task analytic steps for the process of telling time? A multiple probe (days) across participants design was used evaluate the effectiveness of the VM. The results showed student improvement of telling time, but no functional relation was found. The results showed improvement of telling time once System of Least Prompts was added to the VM.

The Caprices of Piatti and Etudes of Popper are considered by most cellists to be fundamental components of the cello literature designed to provide a solid technical basis for the student. This document will provide an alternative approach to teaching and learning these works by focusing on the qualities of expression that can be developed during the process of integrating these studies into one's repertoire. After providing contextual information for the both composers and the works, I will examine how this concept of "artistry through technique" has been adopted by other art forms, used in training students on different instruments, and can be applied to these particular studies.

Reliability Generalization (RG) is a meta-analytic method that examines the sources of measurement error variance for scores for multiple studies that use a certain instrument or group of instruments that measure the same construct (Vacha-Haase, Henson, & Caruso, 2002). Researchers have been conducting RG studies for over 10 years since it was first discussed by Vacha-Haase (1998). Henson and Thompson (2002) noted that, as RG is not a monolithic technique; researchers can conduct RG studies in a variety of ways and include diverse variables in their analyses. Differing recommendations exist in regards to how researchers should retrieve, code, and analyze information when conducting RG studies and these differences can affect the conclusions drawn from meta-analytic studies (Schmidt, Oh, & Hayes, 2009) like RG. The present study is the first comprehensive review of both current RG practices and RG recommendations. Based upon the prior research findings of other meta-analytic review papers (e.g., Dieckmann, Malle, & Bodner 2009), the overarching hypothesis was that there would be differences between current RG practices and best practice recommendations made for RG studies. Data consisted of 64 applied RG studies and recommendation papers, book chapters, and unpublished papers/conference papers. The characteristics that were examined included how RG researchers: (a) collected studies, (b) organized studies, (c) coded studies, (d) analyzed their data, and (e) reported their results. The results showed that although applied RG researchers followed some of the recommendations (e.g., RG researchers examined sample characteristics that influenced reliability estimates), there were some recommendations that RG researchers did not follow (e.g., the majority of researchers did not conduct an a priori power analysis). The results can draw RG researchers’ attentions to areas where there is a disconnect between practice and recommendations as well as provide a benchmark for assessing future improvement in RG implementation.

Patient and caregiver education is recognized as a critical component of stroke rehabilitation and physical therapy practice yet the informational needs of stroke survivors and caregivers are largely unmet and optimal educational interventions need to be established. The objective of this dissertation was to develop a theory and model of “Rehabilitation Education for Caregivers and Patients” (RECAP) in the context of physical therapy and stroke rehabilitation, grounded in the experiences and perceptions of stroke survivors, their caregivers, and physical therapists. Qualitative research methods with a novel grounded theory approach were used. Potential constructs of RECAP were identified from existing research. Next, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 stroke survivors and 12 caregivers from rural Appalachian Kentucky, a region with high incidence of stroke and lower levels of educational attainment. Lastly, 13 physical therapists, representing inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient, and home health, were recruited and participated in pre-interview reflection activities and interviews. Data analysis involved predetermined and emerging coding and a constant comparative method was employed. Verification strategies included self-reflective memos, analytic memos, peer debriefing, and triangulation. The theory generated from this dissertation is: physical therapists continually assess the educational needs of stroke survivors and caregivers, to participate in dynamic educational interactions that involve the provision of comprehensive content, at a point in time, delivered through diverse teaching methods and skilled communication. This phenomenon is influenced by characteristics of the physical therapist and receiver (stroke survivor/caregiver) and occurs within the context of the physical therapist’s professional responsibility, the multidisciplinary team, a complex healthcare system, and the environmental/socio-cultural context. The RECAP theoretical model depicts the relationships between the core and encompassing constructs of the theory. The RECAP theory and model presents a significant advancement in the study of patient and caregiver education in physical therapy in stroke rehabilitation. This research provides a springboard to inform future research, guide RECAP in stroke physical therapy practice, design optimal educational interventions, develop training tools for entry-level curriculum and practicing clinicians, and to potentially translate to the practice of patient and caregiver education for other rehabilitation professionals and patient populations.