Federal and state mandates require all high school students to select a high school major area of interest. This includes students with disabilities, regardless of the type of diploma they are seeking or what is being taught in the Exceptional Student Education programs in which they are participating. These mandates present a challenge to educational programs that do not include transition planning in the students with disabilities coursework. To assist students with disabilities being served in special diploma settings in determining a high school major area of interest along with implementing self-determination strategies, a career counseling intervention was warranted in "Eastcoast," Florida. This study investigated the implementation of a transition portfolio intervention on students with disabilities making informed choices of high school majors and career choices. The study utilized a nonequivalent group's pretest and posttest design to assess between-group and within-group changes in career choices. The study used the Holland Self-Directed Search to determine students' areas of career interest and whether these scores compared to the students' high school major choice. Participants in both the intervention and comparison groups completed activities. In addition, as a social validation measure, students in both groups were asked about their perceptions in their self-determination skills at the end of the study by completing the American Institutes for Research Self-Determination Assessment. To determine if any change occurred in high school major choices for students with disabilities, how aligned their career choices were as compared to their chosen major, and their perceived level of self determination; data were collected from a sample of 43 students. All selected students were 18 years or older, working toward a Special Option One diploma, and receiving instruction in high school settings that offered similar Exceptional Student Education programs. The treatment group, 26 participants, was served at High School I, and the control group, 17 participants, received services from High School C. The intervention lasted one semester. The findings from the ANOVA related to congruence measures for students with disabilities choosing a high school major, congruence measures on the Self-Directed Search, consistency levels on the Self-Directed Search, differentiation scores on the Self-Directed Search, and self-reported feelings of empowerment were insignificant. Upon looking further within the separate groups, there were several trends that showed the treatment group's mean scores on the research questions were moving in the expected way. Also, many students reported high levels of self determination, meaning they knew what they liked and what they were good at. Limitations of the study were reviewed, including the low number of participating students and short period of time the intervention took place. Recommendations were made for consideration in encouraging students with disabilities to be included actively in decision making related to their education. Further research considerations were reviewed. Although the overall findings of this research were not statistically significant, schools, teachers, and administrative teams should respect the career choices of students and use these choices to plan transition services that match the preferences and interests of these students. This study demonstrated that students know themselves better than anyone else and should be actively included in selecting educational programs that will enhance their education. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2010. / October 28, 2010. / Transition, Career Choices, Students with Disabilities / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce Menchetti, Professor Directing Dissertation; Chris Schatschneider, University Representative; Amy McKenzie, Committee Member; Mary Francis Hanline, Committee Member.

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When teaching music, selecting the right instructional materials for each student is tremendously important. This project is a bibliography of pedagogical materials currently available to harp instructors in the United States. The focus is on solo harp literature for lever and pedal harp players of various age groups who play at the beginner through early intermediate levels, or namely, the first through third years of study for the average student. Annotations provide an analysis of each item regarding its level and usefulness. Most of the listings consist of print materials, with an additional sampling of DVDs. The materials are categorized in four sections: harp methods for children, harp methods for adults, supplemental solos, and instructional DVDs. This project seeks to find a balance between newer materials and the older classics of harp literature. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the internet, useful harp websites are listed in an addendum, Appendix A. Appendix B is a glossary of practical harp terms that pertain to types of harps and common techniques used to play the harp. Appendix C contains tables of materials that can be used with small harps of 26 strings, and materials that can be used with pedal harp only. / A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music. / Fall Semester, 2014. / October 9, 2014. / harp, pedagogy / Includes bibliographical references. / Mary Roman, Professor Directing Treatise; Alice-Ann Darrow, University Representative; Corinne Stillwell, Committee Member; Bruce Holzman, Committee Member.

The purpose of this research was to examine the nature of scheduled teacher-student writing conferences with confident and less confident students. The participants of the study were fifth-graders from a public elementary school in the Southeastern United States. The guiding assumptions of this study were 1) the nature of conferences can be investigated by focusing on the length, number and functions of questions asked, content of the discussion (ideas/mechanics), participants' roles and praise statements; and 2) the nature of student participation during conferences varies based on their level of perceived self-efficacy. A qualitative study design involving multiple case studies was used. Data were collected in both classrooms using the pre-and post Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (Pajares, Miller, & Johnson, 1999) as adapted from Shell, Murphy, & Bruning (1989), as well as students' written performance scores from students' writing samples, audio and video-taped teacher-student writing conferences, audio-taped interviews with teachers and students, and field observations. Collected evidence was described and interpreted using qualitative methods. Qualitative data that came from the analyses of recorded writing conferences also presented that conferences of students with higher and lower levels of self-efficacy differed in terms of focus, ownership, conference agenda, turn taking, frequency of talk, numbers and functions of the questions asked, numbers of praise statements provided by the teacher, and amount of outside interruptions. This study has implications for practitioners and researchers. / A Dissertation Submitted to the School of Teacher Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2009. / March 16, 2009. / Elementary School, Writing Conference, Tutoring, Teacher Education, Interaction, Feedback / Includes bibliographical references. / Carolyn L. Piazza, Professor Directing Dissertation; Susan Wood, Outside Committee Member; Janice Flake, Committee Member; Diana Rice, Committee Member.

Present study investigates college students' covariational reasoning in light of five mental actions described in covariation framework introduced by Marilyn P. Carlson. More specifically, this study focuses on college students' understanding and reasoning about simultaneous changes of two variables when they interpret a functional situation and use their interpretations to demonstrate simultaneous changes of two variables in graphical representations. Two high performing college students' reasoning was investigated in a multiple case study design. Data was obtained from a detailed examination of students' thinking and reasoning processes through the task based in-depth clinical interviews. Data obtained from students' verbal expressions and graphical representations were analyzed in light of the theoretical lens. Carlson et al.'s (2002) covariation framework provided a skeletal structure for the description and interpretation of findings in each case. Specifically, five mental actions defined in the framework were used to describe each student's covariational reasoning. Analysis of data disclosed that functional situations are conceived as static rather than dynamic. This static approach prevents students from evaluating the whole process as it is happening at once. In other words, students have difficulties to represent continues changes of two variables in a functional situation and coordinate the simultaneous changes of two variables on entire domain. In addition, students' difficulties in graphical representations produce inconsistencies between interpretations and representations of simultaneous changes of two variables. It is also revealed that Students' strong procedural tendency hinders reasoning and meaningful interpretations about change in functional situations. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Middle and Secondary Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2007. / January 3, 2007. / Reasoning, Covariation / Includes bibliographical references. / Elizabeth Jakubowski, Professor Directing Dissertation; Sande Milton, Outside Committee Member; Leslie Aspinwall, Committee Member; Kenneth Shaw, Committee Member.

This study explored whether guided reflection using predetermined prompts can enhance preservice teachers' development of technology integration self-efficacy (TISE) beliefs. A quantitative approach and a quasi-experimental, pre- and posttest design with two experimental groups and a control group were used. Two types of guided reflection prompts were designed for the experimental groups: future time reflection (FTR) prompts and near time reflection (NTR) prompts. These two different types of reflection prompts focus on different temporal perspectives. Ninety-three participants were recruited from an undergraduate educational technology course, containing six sections, at a large southeast public university. Intact class sections were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Participants in the control condition responded to prompts that did not ask for reflection, while participants in the FTR and NTR conditions responded to prompts that directed them to reflect on their experiences and write about technology implementation from two different temporal perspectives (i.e., future professional practices versus recent learning) in order to facilitate self-assessment and greater awareness of their strengths and weaknesses in regard to technology integration. The results of the study revealed no significant effect of reflection on TISE, and depth of reflection did not have a significant impact on the development of TISE. In addition, different temporal types of guided reflection prompts did not yield different degrees of TISE. While the quantitative results did not show the treatment effect on TISE, the analyses of open-ended questions revealed that the process of reflection can be helpful in analyzing and synthesizing information learned in the classroom. Thus, reflection may foster TISE if one understands the concept and its value. Based on these findings, several possible reasons why the results did not match the expectations and suggestions for future research are offered. This study attempts an initial exploration of a potential relationship between use of reflection and TISE as well as the application of future-time reflection, both of which are issues that received only limited attention in empirical studies. It is the researcher's hope that this work will encourage a greater research effort toward these complex issues. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / December 3, 2015. / Future time reflection, Guided reflection prompts, Reflection, Self-efficacy, Teacher education, Technology integration self-efficacy / Includes bibliographical references. / Vanessa P. Dennen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stacey Rutledge, University Representative; Fengfeng Ke, Committee Member; James D. Klein, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to examine the "learning-to-teach" process in an alternative teacher education program. Three research questions were addressed to probe the "learning-to-teach" process: (1) To what sources do the interns attribute learning and use of specific teaching behaviors and skills? (2) What are the professional concerns of interns, and are there changes in concerns as they progress through the field experience? (3) How do interns assess themselves as they progress through the field experience, and what is the rationale of the assessment? Qualitative research allows the study of subjects in the natural setting, and enables emergent findings to be utilized in directing the focus of the study. Integrating qualitative and quantitative data strengthened the description of "learning-to-teach" in this study. Research methods included use of multiple collections of data from observations, interviews, and questionnaires with the intensive subjects, and questionnaires with the general sample of subjects. A descriptive analysis approach was utilized to present and discuss the findings. The intensive sample of subjects included six interns enrolled in the Cooperative Teacher Education Program (CPEP) at Portland State University, with a general sample of twenty-two CPEP interns providing additional data. Interns reported multiple sources of influence on their teaching behavior. Exposure to multiple "models" of teaching in conjunction with application during the field experience provided interns with the opportunity to analyze, synthesize, and integrate these ideas into their personal teaching. Professional concerns of CPEP interns followed the pattern of concerns reported by student teachers in traditional programs. Concerns-with-self must be addressed and resolved before preservice teachers can move to concerns-with-students. Interns reported the self-assessment process enabled them to evaluate and improve their teaching. Teaching preservice teachers to assess their instruction enhances professional growth. These conclusions lead to the recommendation of incorporating reflection of "models" of teaching, professional concerns, and self-assessment of teaching in teacher education curriculum. Preparing "reflective" teachers facilitates professional movement beyond "survival" and "imitation" and toward creation of personal "models" of teaching.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Division of Education Leadership and Policy Studies School of Education University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg January 2016 / This study explores the role of the Pedagogic University of Mozambique in preparing teachers for the national education system in Mozambique. Its main aim is to develop a retrospective and interpretive analysis of a university-based teacher education system at the university, along with its legacy and institutional changes. Exploring a case study of the Pedagogic University of Mozambique, it examines how the project of teacher education has developed at the university, in terms of the outcomes of its stated vision and mission as well as the content, form, assumptions and expectations inherent in the kind of learning and teaching that it delivers. In providing an overview of the activities of the University, it is necessary to take into consideration the legacy and changes that have occurred in the conception, organisation and delivery of the university’s teaching programmes. The study also presents and analyses the experiences and perceptions of the academic staff, fourth-year students, school principals, and officials from the Ministry of Education and Culture. It is a qualitative study, which is developed through a literature review, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. The study employs the concept of a “continuum of teacher learning” and applies it to a discussion of professional education supported by Lortie (1975); Britzman (1991); Villegas- Reimers; (2003); Schwille and Dembélé (2007); Morrow (2007); Conway, Murphy, Rath and Hall (2009). It argues that the Pedagogic University has been developing an ideal model which takes into account the socioeconomic conditions prevailing in Mozambique. This involves changing from a consecutive model to a concurrent programme model, in which a professional component is provided at the same time as a general component. The programmes are delivered in an integrated way, so that subject content and pedagogic content are delivered simultaneously from the first year until the end of the course. Another characteristic of this ideal model is that the same programmes are delivered to students who are already teachers and students without any teaching experience. Many factors limit the major mission of the institution, and these are described in detail. They include the absence of a national teacher education development framework, budget constraints and a lack of financial resources at institutional level. The study argues that institutional responses to these constraints ought to be understood within the context of universities worldwide. They have resulted in the University gradually becoming a “pedagogic” institution in name only: it has moved from being completely devoted to the field of education to becoming a university that delivers a variety of programmes, including those that are perceived to be most marketable. The study also covers the emergence of careerism among students, as well as the installation of some sort of distraction among the academic staff competing for extra hours in the new programmes in order to increase their sources of income. One of the major conclusions reached by this study is that the changes have become inevitable, mostly because of the dominance of a neoliberal economic agenda in one of the very poorest countries in the world. Within a financially fraught context, such changes are inevitable. Students are unable to pay the rising cost of fees for teacher education programmes, aside from the fact that teaching is not a popular profession and studying education is not usually the students’ first choice. Key words: teacher education development; continuum of teacher learning; secondary school teachers; concurrent and consecutive models; curricular transformations; Mozambique.

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