Accompanied by a 3.5-inch floppy disk, kept in Pfau Library Thesis Storage.

The purpose of this project is to bring the subject of life sciences to second grade students through a diverse curriculum design. The theory of multiple intelligence and the principles of brain-based learning areused to incorporate elements that will reach each student on an individual basis.

This cross-sectional study assessed participants' perceptions of classroom technology integration and compared them to variables such as years of teaching experience, age, gender, computer access, technology training and level of technology adoption in the classroom.

Computer Science is an increasingly important topic in K-12 education. Ever since the "computing crisis" of the early 2000s, where enrollment in CS dropped by over half in a five year span, increasing research has gone into improving and broadening enrollment in CS courses. Research shows the importance of introducing CS at a young age and the need for more exposure for younger children and young adults alike in order to work towards equity in the field. While there are many reasons for disinterest in CS courses, studies found one reason young adults do not want to study CS is a perception of it being tedious and lacking opportunities for creativity. Making more creative assignments is one way to try and engage more students who may not feel like stereotypical computer scientists. This thesis focuses in on the effects of creative choice in CS curriculum on students' self-efficacy, engagement/preferences, and performance. It aims to capture the effects of creative choice on a range of K-12 students of varying demographics in order to make CS more accessible for everyone. The first half of the thesis experimentally validates the effects of creative choice in existing 5th grade CS classes. We created two variants of worksheets for the students - creative worksheets and rigid worksheets. After distributing these worksheets, surveys, and quizzes, we found students still feel a sense of ownership with limited versions of creative choice and benefit from a blend of creative and rigid instructions. In addition, student performance was not affected by our different treatments. The second half of the thesis adapted and launched the fifth grade curriculum to a new demographic, teaching the course to Juvenile Hall students. Student surveys and reports from their teacher showed this class had a positive impact and was well received by students and staff. We found students would prefer a longer class next iteration, as this one only extended five weeks. Future work will be needed to experimentally evaluate the specific impact of creative choice in this new demographic.

The personality characteristics of continuation high school students, as measured by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), and the nature and extent of the relationship between those characteristics and their academic achievement were investigated. Achievement was measured by two criteria: attendance and percentage-based grade point average (GPA). The sample was comprised of 96 students from two continuation schools in a multi-ethnic agricultural community. The sample was stratified on the basis of ethnicity to allow ethnic group comparison between Hispanics, Caucasians, and Blacks as well as between males and females. The results showed that the continuation students scored significantly lower than the high school norm groups on 14 of the 18 CPI scales and significantly higher on the Self-Acceptance scale. The continuation students presented scores on scales representing interpersonal and relationship skills that were comparable to their high school norm group counterparts. Their scores on scales involving intrapersonal value controls were substantially different from the normative data. Neither the GPA nor the attendance criterion was predictable from the CPI data. These data were consistent with their overall psychological profile, indicating that this sample experienced both academic and behavioral problems in adapting to school. Based on this profile and their lower scores on the achievement relevant scales of the CPI, the optimum educational format for these youth may require modification of an entirely individualized approach to incorporate adequate structure, lecture content, or small group interaction. Additionally, recommendations for further research with continuation students were offered.

This researcher aimed to determine how data collected from computer-based assessment programs, specifically EasyCBM and AIMSweb, was used in data-driven instruction and used to identify risk levels in math and reading areas proficiency. Data from intervention programs were collected from six participating high schools. The data collection included math and reading universal screening scores and levels of risk indicators from Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels of their response to intervention (RTI) programs. Section A included math data within a baseline score and a risk indicator level. Section B had reading scores with a baseline score and a risk indicator level. A descriptive quantitative study was conducted to determine if significant differences in EasyCBM and AIMSweb exist in student universal screener scores over an academic calendar year. Independent variables included: math and reading universal screener scores, tier level identifiers, and level of risk indicators. Factors that influenced the rates of effectiveness included: interventionist utilization of data, student entry tier levels, and time spent in intervention from the fall to winter benchmarking period.

Although school systems have made investments in technology with the intention of raising student scores on state and national tests, improvements in student achievement have not always followed. The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher librarians' use of interactive whiteboards to improve student literacy. This qualitative case study was guided by the theory of social constructivism, wherein individuals learn through interaction with peers and knowledgeable others. The research questions were focused on how teacher librarians integrated multi-literacies and technological skills into pedagogical goals. Data were collected from a 4-member focus group interview, a questionnaire delivered to a subset of 3 teacher librarians, and public documents of the school system. All data were color-coded and analyzed for emergent common themes. The findings indicated that although the teacher librarians used interactive whiteboard technology to teach multiple literacies and technological skills to students and fellow teachers, 2 of the 4 participants did not use all of the interactive whiteboard tools. Based upon the findings, a professional development project was designed to improve educators' technological and multi-literacies skills in the school system. Recommendations include creating a repository of technology rich lesson plans, and expanding collaboration among educators. Increasing multi-literacies and technological skills may lead to positive social change through the enhancement of students' literacy and technology skills at school and for future employment.

In an urban Title 1 school district, the average number of Grade 3-5 students who scored proficient or advanced on the state standardized assessment was 37.3% below Grade 3-5 students countywide and 19.4% below Grade 3-5 students statewide. Low mathematics scores may indicate a gap in practice that affects student achievement. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine teachers' descriptions of instructional strategies implemented to mediate instruction for students who struggle in mathematics. This study was based on the conceptual framework of Tomlinson's differentiated instruction (DI), a means of accommodating the varied ways that students learn. The research questions guided an inquiry into how teachers of students in Grades 3-5 in the school district described DI in practice and explained their professional development on DI strategies. Data were collected from individual interviews with 8 elementary school teachers of students in Grades 3-5 and an instructional coach in the local school district with 3 or more years of experience who considered themselves knowledgeable of DI. I coded the meaningful data collected from the interviews and subsequently formed themes. Themes that emerged from the interviews included defining DI, tools for instruction, classroom set-up and transitioning, assessments, professional development, and grouping strategies. Results revealed that interviewees were confident in defining and facilitating DI grouping strategies for English and language arts but felt the need for more professional development to implement and understand DI in relation to mathematics. The study outcome may impact social change by affecting the gap in practice through professional development that helps teachers implement DI strategies in the classroom to improve student achievement in mathematics.

Not all students who enroll in postsecondary institutions have the skills needed to be successful in higher education in reading and writing. At a for-profit, online university in Minnesota, many students were not completing 4 weeks of a remedial writing program, Intervention Editing (IE). According to internal surveys and personal communications, students' struggles to complete IE were partly due to academic entitlement (AE). AE is defined as students placing the responsibility for their academic success on third parties rather than on themselves. Using the theory of self-efficacy as a framework, the purpose of this intrinsic case study was to determine the editors' best practices for addressing student AE and the additional training that they needed to mentor students who exhibited AE in IE. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample of 5 editors who had completed at least 1 year of IE, a semistructured interview with the IE manager, and a document review of the IE application and university student handbook. The data from the semistructured interviews and archival documents were coded for emergent themes. The following best practices emerged on mentoring students with AE in IE: exhibiting a respectful tone with students, outlining student responsibility, stressing student personal agency, and refusing unreasonable student demands. The editors also outlined the following training needs: assistance in revising the mission and application for IE and professional development on identifying student AE. A white paper was written to document and improve editors' pedagogical strategies for mentoring AE students. This study provides editors with best practices for helping AE students in IE reclaim their self-efficacy, which may lead to improved quality of capstone writing at the local study site and reduce time to degree completion.

Nonadherence to medications for chronic illnesses is a public health problem that requires education related to its illnesses and medications in order to reduce morbidity, mortality, and health care costs, and to improve quality of life. Scholars have identified that morbidity and mortality are much higher among African Americans due to poor medication adherence when compared to Euro-Americans. This study focused on African Americans to increase their medication adherence with chronic illnesses. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of using different educational methods to enhance medication adherence. The social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior were used as a foundation to develop this quantitative study. Three validated tools were used to assess the effectiveness of educational methods to see if there would be any increase in knowledge, self-efficacy, and change in health beliefs. A sample size of 144 African Americans in Chicago with chronic illnesses was randomized to an experimental group that received education on medication adherence for a period of 8 weeks through lecture, video presentation, roleplaying, and group discussion. A control group received regular education for the same 8 weeks. ANOVA, ANCOVA, and MANOVA statistical methods were used to analyze the findings that reported no statistical significance in the knowledge difference scores F(1,261) = 0.17, p = 0.678, self-efficacy difference scores F(1,259) = 0.96, p = 0.328, and health beliefs difference scores F(4,258) = 0.46, p = 0.765. This study contributes to social change by identifying a public health problem which can be improved by adding and testing other variables such as fatigue and cognitive and sensory deficits associated with chronic illnesses, which could yield a more valuable in-depth understanding.