<p> The number of online courses in higher education is on the rise; however, empirical evidence elucidating best practices for synchronous online instruction is needed to implement these courses. The purpose of this dissertation was to perform a mixed-method investigation into the relationships between instructor prompt and student engagement in 5 areas based on the 7 Principles of Good Practices in Undergraduate Education using recorded chat, video, and audio transcripts of two recent fully online nutrition courses. A total of 25 previously recorded synchronous sessions including oral and textual chat interactions were transcribed. Every line of student interaction was determined to be either superficial or containing evidence of at least one instance of engagement. Every line of instructor interaction was concurrently coded for at least one of the following forms of prompt: social, organizational, intellectual. Inter-tester reliability of coded interactions was determined to be excellent (Cohen's kappa = 0.91) on a 5% sample of the entire dataset before comprehensive analysis continued. In total, 172,380 words were exchanged through 13,394 oral and text interactions across all class sessions. With 54% of student interactions deemed superficial the remainder produced a total of 8,906 student engagements. There were 4,125 instructor prompts composed of 48% intellectual, 30% organizational, and 22% social cues. Pearson correlations were performed to investigate relationships between prompt and engagement across class sessions. Intellectual prompts were the best predictor of faculty interactions, active and collaborative learning, and academic challenge (<i>r</i> = 0.77, <i>r</i> = 0.78, <i>r</i> = 0.54 respectively); organizational prompts were the best predictor of enriching academic experiences (<i>r</i> = 0.72); and social prompts were the best predictor of supportive campus environments (<i>r</i> = 0.79) with all of these being significant (<i> p</i> &lt; 0.01). No category of engagement was significantly correlated to class performance. Online synchronous class sessions can promote high levels of student engagement. A variety of instructor prompts must be used in order to promote student engagement across a number of different categories. Finally, care should be taken in order to craft and facilitate learning activities in synchronous online class sessions in order to achieve desired learning outcomes.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 334-354).

<p> Mexican/Mexican-Americans are native to this continent on both sides of the U.S./Mexico Border and while projections show a 300% population increase by 2050, the struggle for equity and educational access persist. This Chicana Critical Feminist <i>Testimonio</i> reveals a Mexican/Mexican-American Ethic of Care which creates schooling spaces in which Mexican/Mexican-American students find healing, dignity, and academic preparation necessary to build hopeful futures for themselves and their families.</p><p> This research reveals curriculum and pedagogy that embody a Mexican and Mexican-American Ethic of Care and the <i>Testimonios</i> of racialized struggle and survival that undergird it. Utilizing Testimonio as methodology, I conducted individual interviews, field observations, focus group interviews, and collected ongoing self-reflections and photographic data over the course of five months with four Mexican/Mexican-American female educators within a mid-sized U.S./Mexico border city.</p><p> The findings of this study reveal rootedness of a Mexican/Mexican-American Ethic of Care within intergenerational <i>Testimonios</i> and within the larger Mexican/Mexican-American struggle for equity and access. Findings likewise reveal that participants reconstruct notions of social justice revolution through a blurring and blending of mainstream notions of revolution. Within participants' knowledge of the professional, personal risk of fighting for social justice in visible ways reminiscent of. the 1960's Chicano Movement, participants fight for their Mexican/Mexican- American students beneath an ambiguous blurring&ndash;a <i>mestizaje</i>&ndash;which conceals and protects their long-term ability to do so. Their concealed <i>Revoluci&oacute;n </i> is then fought by way of their tongue/language, physical bodies, and spirits as <i>Revolucionistas</i>&ndash; re-imagined and reconstructed Revolutionaries&ndash;who carry education as an ethical imperative.</p><p> Findings of this research have implications for educators at all levels and of all backgrounds to conceal and thereby sustain their battle for all marginalized students. Findings have implications for challenging mainstream constructs of success, for recruitment and retention of Mexican/Mexican-American teachers, and for rooting curriculum and pedagogy within <i>Testimonios </i> of resilience which position Mexican/Mexican-American students not within oppression frameworks but within the complexity of their intellectual and resistance legacies. Findings likewise have implications for researchers with regard to methodological reflexivity within decolonizing research epistemologies. Findings likewise challenge notions of researcher reciprocity and participants' inclusion as co-researchers within a Chicana Critical Feminist research epistemology. </p>

<p> Due to recent waivers and current expectations of teacher performance, schools have been tasked to close their student achievement gaps in mathematics by 2014. Yet students still have not performed well in mathematics, which may be a direct link to teachers' instructional practices. Identifying a coaching model to improve student achievement and teachers' instructional practices is important to district leaders, school administrators, and teachers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how a coaching practice with teachers affected student achievement in elementary mathematics. The theoretical foundation of this study was the coaching model, first used by Joyce and Showers, which theorized that teachers who participated in this type of professional development would improve their instructional practices in the classroom, and subsequently, student achievement. A quasi experimental design was employed to test the theory that teachers who were coached would improve student achievement in elementary mathematics. A total of 185 test scores from students were analyzed using an independent measures <i>t</i> test and a repeated measures <i> t</i> test. Findings suggested that the achievement scores of students whose teachers were coached were statistically higher on both state and local assessments. Fourth grade students showed improvement on both the local and state assessments, while 5^th and 6^th grade students demonstrated significant differences on the local assessments only, but not on the state assessments. This research contributes to positive social change by providing educators with a coaching model that demonstrates how teacher coaching can increase student achievement in elementary mathematics, Grades 4 through 6.</p>

<p> This qualitative study featured two research endeavors. The first was a narrative inquiry of six teachers at Weedpatch Charter School as they understood curricular and pedagogical decision- making. These teachers, along with the Weedpatch Charter School founder, participated in this study soon after the curriculum and instruction decision-making had undergone a democratization effort whereby a top-down administrative approach was replaced by a teacher- led effort. Ironically, WCS school leadership welcomed the latter effort, despite the antiteacher legacy of the charter movement, which has long featured "at will" employment and no collective bargaining. The second component of this study was a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the curricular and pedagogical manuals used at WCS before and after the democratization effort. The findings in this study point to a dialectical set of developments at WCS that made it possible for teachers to move from a period of disillusionment into a period of active teacher agency. Similarly, the document analysis findings point to the need for more nuanced understandings of the ideological underpinnings of charter schools. </p><p> Discourse analysis determined that WCS did not necessarily present a classic example of neoliberalism. Given the latter nuance, the manual that the teachers created was counterhegemonic, liberatory, and ultimately contextual and contingent upon that very unique WCS dynamic. As such, the conclusion of this study was that charter leaders could learn from teacher understandings not by being prescriptive but by abiding by what the author has coined contingent collectivism.</p>

<p> Although service-learning is considered to be a fairly new pedagogy in U.S. institutions of higher education, its origins can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century philosopher John Dewey and his "learn by doing" approach to education. Service-learning has gained popularity as a form of applied learning that helps increase student's academic learning, and assessment of service-learning on outcomes for students has been positive; however, some faculty resist applying this pedagogy in their planning. </p><p> This historical study explores the origins of this emerging field from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, with a focus on current faculty pioneers who have created and developed service-learning content in their respective academic disciplines.The researcher conducted oral histories with faculty members at ten diverse central Maryland universities and colleges to discover educators' perceptions of the benefits and challenges of implementing this pedagogy in coursework. </p><p> As a result of this study, the researcher recommends ways to improve student retention on campuses, to increase civic awareness, and to explore the new frontier of international service-learning for local and global impact. </p>

<p> This study seeks to provide female singers and their teachers with insight on achieving career longevity through the collection of data and commentary from seasoned professional female singers. One hundred artists from the United States and Canada, each with a singing career spanning twenty years or longer, were invited to complete the online survey The Professional Female Singer and Career Longevity via SurveyMonkey.com. </p><p> Participants, ages 45-75, responded to an array of questions to create an overview of their vocal careers. Each singer provided answers on physical and vocal health challenges they experienced as well as, the impact of menopause, hormone replacement therapy, and the perceived benefits of teaching to maintain the voice. Respondents also shared information on the lifestyle, dietary, and other choices they believe contributed to career longevity. </p><p> The sample population, composed of forty-nine mezzo-sopranos and fifty-one sopranos, is predominantly made up of baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964. It is significant to note that none of the one hundred singers reported being "retired" from the profession. All continue to engage in performing, teaching, or a combination thereof. </p><p> According to the U.S. Census Bureau life expectancy over the past century for women has nearly doubled from an average of 48.3 years in 1900 to 81.3 years in 2010. Women can now expect to live a considerable portion of their life in a postmenopausal state. This document adds first hand reports by female professional singers to the present voice science research on the benefits of diet, exercise, lifestyle choices and hormone therapy. Singers should be educated to the benefits of maintaining hormonal balance and its direct impact on preserving the voice. Further study is warranted to explore which hormone replacement therapies are proving to have the greatest vocal benefit and to disseminate information on which natural/alternative medicines and modalities female singers and voice teachers feel help maintain their voices and contribute to career longevity.</p>

<p> Proficiency in language arts and communication skills is essential to success in the global workforce. Most states assess students in language arts literacy (LAL) through standardized tests that assess a student's ability to read, interpret literature, and write expressively. Although educational reformers strive to improve the foundations that prepare students in literacy, reforms have not fully incorporated the theory of emotional intelligence (EI), which explains a student's ability to use, understand, perceive, and manage their emotions in order to think critically, make decisions, and solve problems. Although it is not known whether EI directly correlates to literacy, emotional skills are an integral part of literacy, linguistics, and overall cognition. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether a correlation existed between EIQ (measured by the Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test), and LAL (measured by the High School Proficiency Assessment) in literacy, for secondary students. The multiple regression model included 2 control variables: gender and grade point average. The findings of the primary analysis demonstrated positive correlations between EIQ and LAL scores. Upon further analysis, the relationship between EIQ and LAL remained positively significant in the regression model. Emotional intelligence, and associated improved literacy skills, may positively influence social change by helping secondary students to develop a broader repertoire of skills necessary for communication and problem solving later in life.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine whether students associated with a generational group exhibit similar learning styles as identified by the Felder and Soloman Index of Learning Styles instrument. The secondary purpose was to determine to what degree these generational groups rate their satisfaction with online education through the use of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) instrument. </p><p> The instruments were administered to Montana University System students who were enrolled in one or more fully online courses. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and ANOVA. The collected data of 1426 (n) from a total surveyed population of 9,983 students revealed that generational learning styles indicated statistically significant differences with regard to visual-verbal learning style preferences, but no other statistically significant differences related to preferences were determined between the generational groups. Further analysis of the DELES results indicated that there were statistically significant mean difference score comparisons among the Millennial Generation, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. Specifically, the Millennial Generation reported lower scores on overall satisfaction survey components as compared with both Generation X and Baby Boomer respondents. </p><p> This study presents recommendations that may be used by faculty, instructional designers, and college leadership to address the continued growth and diversity of student populations. This increased awareness fostering an understanding on issues such as online program development, student satisfaction, and online student retention.</p>

<p> The Framework for K-12 Science Education, the foundation for the Next Generation Science Standards, identifies scientific explanation as one of the eight practices "essential for learning science." In order to design professional development to help teachers implement these new standards, we need to assess students' current skill level in explanation construction, characterize current teacher practice surrounding it, and identify best practices for supporting students in explanation construction. This multiple-case study investigated teacher practice in eight high school science inquiry units in the Portland metro area and the scientific explanations the students produced in their work samples. T</p><p> eacher Instructional Portfolios (TIPs) were analyzed with a TIP rubric based on best practices in teaching science inquiry and a qualitative coding scheme. Written scientific explanations were analyzed with an explanation rubric and qualitative codes. Relationships between instructional practices and explanation quality were examined. </p><p> The study found that students struggle to produce high quality explanations. They have the most difficulty including adequate reasoning with science content. Also, teachers need to be familiar with the components of explanation and use a variety of pedagogical techniques to support students' explanation construction. Finally, the topic of the science inquiry activity should be strongly connected to the content in the unit, and students need a firm grasp of the scientific theory or model on which their research questions are based to adequately explain their inquiry results.</p>