Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah J. Fishback / This study measured levels of conditions eliciting intrinsic motivation to learn and examined the correlation of those measures with learner-perceived level of learning. Acquired from adult learners participating in one Midwestern University’s cohort-based degree programs, data helped determine the extent to which learners perceived the presence of four conditions—inclusion, attitude, meaning, and competence—in both classroom and out-of-classroom learning environments. Additionally, the data helped determine which environment and specific conditions most closely correlated with learner-perceived level of current learning; and provided insight into experiences adult learners found positively or negatively impacting motivation to learn. Surveys were administered in-person to 137 of 150 students within 13 randomly selected cohorts. The survey instrument included a single overall learning attitudinal statement, two Likert scales (classroom and out-of-classroom) each comprised of subscales (inclusion, attitude, meaning, and competence) operationalizing the Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching (Framework), a brief demographic section, and a concluding open-ended question regarding experiences impacting motivation to learn. The study used non-parametric analysis to examine dependent variables, motivation conditions, with respect to independent variables; age, gender, race, and degree-level. Additionally, non-parametric analysis examined correlation between condition measures and learner-perceived overall learning. Significant differences were found in two demographic categories. Underrepresented race/ethnicity students (as a combined category) rated overall out-of-classroom conditions higher than predominant race/ethnicity students; and, associate-level students rated classroom conditions lower than bachelors and masters-level students. Significant differences also occurred in subscales. Female students rated classroom attitude conditions higher than males; underrepresented students rated classroom attitude and competence, and out-of-classroom attitude, meaning, and competence, higher than predominant students; associates-level students rated classroom inclusion lower than both bachelors and masters-level students; and both associates and masters-level students rated classroom competence lower than bachelors-level students. All conditions, in both environments (classroom and out-of-classroom), were significantly correlated with learner-perceived level of learning; and the classroom scale demonstrated considerably stronger correlation than did the out-of-classroom scale. Of all subscales, both classroom and out-of-classroom meaning demonstrated the strongest correlation with learner-perceived level of learning. Forty-eight respondents (35% of sample) offered responses to the survey’s concluding statement. Of those respondents offering comments in regard to classroom motivation, instructor characteristics were most often noted. And, of those commenting on out-of-classroom motivation, team formulation and characteristics were predominant. Through the creation of the Motivation Conditions in Learning Instrument™, this study produced benchmark measures for each Framework condition experienced in both cohort-based classrooms and out-of-classroom team learning; identified differences in measures across demographic categories; and identified correlation of measures with learner-perceived level of learning. Finally, the study provided insight into learner experiences impacting motivation to learn.

Detta är en kvalitativ studie som undersöker den genrebaserade metodiken Reading to Learn. I studien undersöker vi vilka av metodikens strategier lågstadielärare använder samt hur strategierna tillämpas i undervisningen. Vi har även undersökt vilka möjligheter och begränsningar det finns med metodiken. Underlaget för studiens empiriska material är lärarintervjuer och klassrumsobservationer där Reading to Learn har tillämpats i undervisningen. Intervjuerna och observationerna har bearbetats genom tematisk analys. Fortsättningsvis framgår det genom resultatet att lärarnas val av strategier beror på elevernas förutsättningar och behov. I studien framkom det även att tillämpningen av Reading to Learn sker på olika sätt i lärarnas klassrum. Enligt vår studie är möjligheterna med metodiken att alla elevgrupper kan delta i en helklassundervisning. Dessutom kan eleverna tillägna sig svårare texter eftersom Reading to Learn sker i ett socialt samspel. Andra möjligheter är att Reading to Learn är ett ämnesövergripande arbetssätt och kan kopplas samman med den svenska läroplanen, Lgr11. Begränsningarna som framkom i vår studie var att förberedelserna inför arbetet med metodiken är tidskrävande. En annan begränsning är att elevernas skrivande hämmas eftersom elevernas kreativitet inte får tillräckligt med utrymme när de utgår från strukturen i en modelltext. Utifrån studiens resultat är vår slutsats att alla elevgrupper kan vara delaktiga i undervisningen eftersom strategierna kan anpassas efter elevernas förutsättningar och behov. Sammanfattningsvis är Reading to Learn inget färdigt recept och det innebär att metodiken är ett verktyg för att vägleda läraren och eleverna i undervisningen.

Thesis advisor: Diana C. Pullin / This dissertation examines how district- and school-level leaders' understanding of achievement gaps influences the work of leadership in addressing educational inequities and broadening students' opportunity to learn. While the reporting of disaggregated data by student subgroup confirms that achievement gaps exist, reports from high-stakes testing fail to provide district- and school-level leaders with the diagnostic data needed to identify key factors inhibiting student performance. Yet, identifying and understanding factors hindering student performance is critical knowledge for leaders to cultivate as they work to address elements within their school or district that may need to change if student learning is to improve. Results from this single case study in a diverse urban district illuminate how district- and school-level leaders can challenge and support their community as they work collectively to confront and address issues related to disparities in student performance. Drawing on previous research, which introduced the cognitive shift as a unit of analysis for studying the work of leadership, this study identifies shifts in thinking that district- and school-level leaders attempted to prompt in others, as well as the framing strategies district- and school-level leaders used in their attempts to prompt identified shifts in thinking. The study found that district- and school-level leaders attempted to prompt a common set of cognitive shifts using a range of framing strategies. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between leaders' use of a particular of framing strategy and their level of leadership (i.e., district or school), with common patterns of strategy use unique to each level of leadership. Additionally, distinct patterns of strategy use also emerged for the leaders of the district's top performing schools which differed from the patterns of strategy use that emerged for the leaders of the district's lower performing schools. These findings suggest that certain framing strategies may be more effective than others. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

A tese analisa como a Pedagogia de Projetos interfere na aprendizagem dos alunos e da professora e nas práticas pedagógicas de Geografia. Nesse trabalho, utilizo a metáfora da organização de um projeto para construir a pesquisa. Inicio construindo a mobilização em um capítulo em que explico o sentido de escolher o portfólio como instrumento para coleta de dados e encaminho a discussão dos referenciais teóricos a partir dos quais fundamentei o estudo − as ideias de Hernandez, Levy, Maturana, Villas Boas, Callai e Cavalcanti. Em seguida, examino a prática do trabalho com Pedagogia de Projetos e as desestabilizações que esse trabalho produziu em minhas certezas, destacando a leitura e escrita como inibidores do ensinar Geografia, as fragilidades pedagógicas camufladas pela indisciplina e os questionamentos sobre ensinar ou aprender a Geografia. Ainda nesse capítulo, destaco a Pedagogia de Projetos e suas articulações com a Geografia, bem como as aprendizagens produzidas no movimento das interações com os portfólios dos alunos e os bilhetes da professora. No capítulo final, estabeleço uma conversa com os pensamentos que me produziram, para examinar os deslocamentos pedagógicos gerados pelos projetos de pesquisa, às vezes impulsionando, outras vezes inibindo as ações do professor. O caminho dessa investigação não se constituiu de forma linear. Como na lógica dos projetos de pesquisa, foram construídas redes, exibidas no emaranhado de idas e vindas que articularam os achados coletados nos diferentes instrumentos: portfólios dos alunos e da professora pesquisadora, cadernos informais de registro de conversas com colegas e outros professores, relatórios de pesquisa dos alunos e os planejamentos, tanto da proposta, quanto das aulas. A execução da Pedagogia de Projetos gerou deslocamentos em dois sentidos: aqueles que pontuaram sua validade e alcance em relação à contemporaneidade e os que criaram desestabilizações à efetivação da proposta, imobilizando algumas ações. Esses deslocamentos produziram três eixos que merecem ser destacados como aprendizagens emanadas da pesquisa: a formação, o ensinar e aprender Geografia e as práticas contemporâneas. Os escritos no portfólio produziram um processo reflexivo importante para reorganizar as ações pedagógicas, compreender as atitudes dos alunos, repensar minhas certezas em relação à Pedagogia de Projetos e estabelecer estratégias de atuação na escola, definindo avanços e recuos. / This thesis analyzes the way that Project Pedagogy interferes in both students‟ and a teacher‟s learning as well as in the pedagogical practices in Geography. In this work, I used the metaphor of the organization of a project to construct the research. I started constructing mobilization, in a chapter that explains the meaning of choosing the portfolio as an instrument for data collection, and discusses the theoretical references on which I grounded this study, i.e. ideas by Hernandez, Levy, Maturana, Villas Boas, Callai and Cavalcanti. Next, I examined the practice of working with Project Pedagogy and the destabilizations it caused in my certainties. I highlighted both reading and writing as inhibitors of Geography teaching, the pedagogical fragilities camouflaged by indiscipline, and questionings about teaching or learning Geography. Still in this chapter, I highlighted the work with projects and its articulations with Geography, as well as learning produced through the interactions with the students‟ portfolios and the teacher‟s notes. In the final chapter, I established a conversation with the thoughts that produced me, in order to examine the pedagogical displacements generated by the projects, sometimes stimulating, sometimes inhibiting the teacher‟s actions. The path of this investigation was not linearly traced. As with the project logic, networks were built, exhibited in a web of movements forward and backward that articulated the findings obtained through different instruments: students‟ and researcher-teacher‟s portfolios, informal notebooks where conversations with classmates and other teachers were recorded, students‟ research reports, and plans of both the proposal and classes. The practice of project pedagogy caused displacements in two senses: those that claimed its validity and reach in relation to contemporaneity, and those that generated destabilizations in the proposal, thus immobilizing some actions. These displacements produced three axes that are worth mentioning as learning stemming from the research: education; teaching and learning geography; and contemporary practices. The portfolio writings produced an important reflexive process to reorganize pedagogical actions, understand students‟ attitudes, rethink my certainties in relation to the project pedagogy, and establish strategies for action at school, by defining advances and drawbacks.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the difference in pro-social behavior, self-regulation, overall reading performance, Lexile levels, and teachers’ perception of classroom climate of kindergarten students who received the Ready to Learn (RTL; Brigman, Lane, & Lane, 2008) classroom guidance program (treatment group: n = 173) and kindergarten students who did not receive the intervention (comparison group: n = 124). The study followed a quasi-experimental, comparison group design in which teachers completed the Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) and Teacher My Class Inventory-Short Form (TMCI-SF) measures as well as collected reading data from individual students. Descriptive statistics for each of the measures, the findings from the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the CBRS and TMCI-SF data, along with the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) using the i-Ready data, and partial eta squared (ηp2) effect sizes were calculated. The ANCOVA was conducted to determine if differences existed on the participants’ pro-social behavior and self-regulation by condition. The findings revealed a statistically significant difference on the pro-social skills but did not show a statistically significant difference in self-regulation. The MANCOVA revealed statistically significant differences in overall reading performance between the treatment and comparison group; however, did not reveal statistically significant differences on the Lexile levels for the students who participated in the intervention. Finally, the ANCOVA reported a statistically significant difference in the perceived impact of the school counselor by the treatment group kindergarten as compared to the teachers in the comparison group; however, no other differences were found on the TMCI-SF scales. With these results, there is a need for further empirical research to determine the impact of the RTL program on students’ academic and SEL development. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The probe method (PM) is a learning model that equips students with essential learning strategies and skills so they can be successful and competitive in a highly diverse technological global workforce. Although research indicates this learning model was successful at the elementary school level with improving students' motivation to learn, their critical thinking skills, and their ability to solve complex problems, little research has examined the impact of this method at the high school level for students who participated in a career and technical education (CTE) program. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to fill a gap in knowledge about the role and function of the PM on high school students' motivation to learn and their critical thinking skills in a CTE program. Guided by the conceptual framework of constructivism, data were collected through surveys, reflective journals, interviews with 17 students, and a teacher interview. Data were analyzed through descriptive and content analysis using open coding to determine what active learning was taking place, whether authentic project-based and problem-based learning strategies were implemented, and what 21st century workforce skills were being taught. Findings indicated that the PM had a positive impact on high school students' motivation to learn and their ability to think critically in a CTE program. This study supports positive social change by providing high school CTE teachers with a valuable learning model that infuses reflective thought, collaboration, communication, problem solving, and critical thinking into the learning process while at the same time motivating students to learn.

I conducted a content analysis to examine the treatment of the surface area and volume concepts within four published middle-grades mathematics textbook series. In particular, I examined the treatment of the surface area and volume concepts in terms of the location of surface area and volume lessons in the textbook and the number of pages and lessons devoted to these concepts. I also investigated the sequence of the instructional blocks of surface area and volume lessons. In addition, I evaluated the tasks included in these lessons in regards to the performance expectations of students, the types of visual representations of 3D objects, and the level of mathematical complexity. At last, I examined the extent to which the content of surface area and volume lessons address the Common Core Content Standards (CCCS) for 6-8 geometry that are aligned with these topics. I used content analysis to analyze relevant content in a total of twelve middle-grades student edition mathematics textbooks from two popular textbook series, Go Math!(GM) and Glencoe Math (GMC); and two alternative textbook series, Connected Mathematics 3 (CM) and University of Chicago School Project (UCSMP). First, I used Flanders’ (1994) counting method to examine the physical characteristics of textbooks, such as the location of the surface area and volume lessons in the textbook, the number of pages and lessons devoted to these concepts. Second, I analyzed the sequence of the instructional blocks of surface area and volume lessons by using content analysis. Third, I adapted the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS] (2002) Performance Expectations for Mathematics Framework to examine the performance expectations of students within tasks. Fourth, I developed and used the Visual Representations of 3D Objects Framework to examine the types of visual representations of 3D objects included in the tasks. Fifth, I employed the Mathematics Framework for the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to examine the level of mathematical complexity of tasks. Finally, I created the CCCS for 6-8 Geometry Components guideline to examine to what extend the surface area and volume lessons address the geometry content standards. Results indicated that the majority of textbooks place the concepts of surface area and volume towards the end of the textbook. Small percentages of instructional pages and lessons are devoted to these concepts in all textbooks. Findings also revealed great similarities among the instructional blocks of lessons within three textbook series (GM, GMC, and UCSMP). The majority of tasks within all textbook series contain miniscule amounts of important performance expectations such as justifying and proving and visual representations of 3D objects such as nets and pictures. A significant amount of tasks are of moderate complexity across all textbook series. Analysis also showed that the CM textbook series offers the greatest opportunity for students to generate visual representations of 3D objects and contains the largest amount of high complexity tasks. At last, nearly all lessons address the appropriate geometry content standard among all textbook series. Limitations of the study, implications for mathematics education, as well as recommendations for future research are also presented.

I den här studien undersöks sambandet mellan motorik och lärande. Syftet är att teoretiskt och empiriskt få ökad förståelse för hur elevers motoriska utveckling påverkar lärande. Studien utförs med hjälp av litteraturstudie och lärarintervjuer. Mina frågeställningar är:Hur utvecklar barn sin motorik? Vad betyder motorik för lärandet? Hur arbetar förskolelärare och klasslärare med motorik? Lärare har en viktig uppgift att arbeta med motorik både i förskolan och i skolan för att barnen ska utveckla sin motorik. I resultatanalysen jämförs lärarnas intervjusvar för att hitta det gemensamma och generella. I resultatet framgår det att det finns samband mellan motorik och inlärning då perception har en viktig del. Lärarna använder sig av motorik både i undervisningen och som avbrott i undervisningen. Den motoriska utvecklingen bidrar t.ex. till bättre koncentrationsförmåga, balans och kroppsuppfattning vilka har betydelse för lärande. Genom att barnen får röra på sig utvecklar de sin motorik, då naturen är en stimulerande miljö. En slutsats är att barn behöver röra sig för att underlätta lärandet. Däremot krävs det mer kompetens hos lärare för att se det viktiga med motoriken.

The purpose of this study was, based on Keller¡¦s ARCS motivational model, to develop and design feasible instruction in order to improve college students¡¦ motivation to learn and achievement toward information technology and society course. Participants were 220 college students from four classes and two teachers in a technical and vocational college. Each teacher taught two classes, and every teacher was randomly assigned to one experimental group and one control group from those two classes. Data was collected through the administration of Learning Motivation Inventory (LMI) which was developed by the researcher. In addition, students¡¦ midterm and final exam scores were collected. The collected data was analyzed by using the statistical methods of t-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. The conclusions of this study are as follows: 1. There was no significant relationship between students¡¦ motivation to learn and achievement. 2. There was no significant difference on students¡¦ motivation to learn of experimental group and control group. 3. There was no significant difference on students¡¦ achievement of experimental group and control group. Although the results had no significant difference between the two groups. The researcher reviewed the instructional design during courses, and also addressed the status quo for these students¡¦ learning situation. Based on the above conclusions, this research proposed concrete suggestions for educators to promote technical and vocational college students¡¦ motivation to learn and achievement.

Research indicates that a more hands-on education in mathematics could improve how students relate to mathematics. Laboratory mathematics is a way of making mathematics more concrete.  How is the purpose of laboratory mathematics perceived? This thesis has its focus on the pupils’ perceptions of the purpose of laboratory mathematics, but the intention of the teacher involved is also investigated. The main research questions asked were: What is the teacher's definition of laboratory mathematics? Which is the teacher's purpose in using laboratory education? How do the students perceive the purpose of the laboratory teaching of mathematics? To answer the questions, I conducted a series of qualitative interviews. Data has been collected in a 3rd grade in Stockholm.  I interviewed a teacher and 17 students.  Results show that the teacher uses laboratory materials to ease the learning of mathematics and to concretize the content of mathematics. By using the phenomenographic method, I got five different preconceptions that students have about the purpose of laboratory education: Laboratory mathematics is for students who have difficulty with mathematics, laboratory mathematics allows more concentration in the classroom, using laboratory materials makes it easier to calculate, laboratory mathematics will help me when I calculate mathematics in every day situations and, finally when I use laboratory mathematics, I work with my hands. The study reaches the conclusion that teachers need to a highlight better the pedagogic purpose for the pupils to use laboratory mathematics.  Laboratory mathematics is in need of a higher status so that more students want to work with laboratory materials.