<p> This study examines how implementing ethnographic tools and techniques into an international cultural immersion program (ICIP) curriculum specifically influences group members' intercultural competency. For this study, an ethnographic inquiry curriculum is introduced to participants of three different World Challenge Exp edition (WCE) courses. Ethnographic tools and techniques included photo elicitation interviews, structured journaling and taking field notes, and observational activities. WCEs is an international cultural immersion organization based out of the United Kingdom with branches in Australia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, the United States,and Hong Kong and runs programs eight to 28-days in length. To gauge the effects the tools and techniques have on each group member's intercultural competency pre and post expedition surveys, and end-of-expedition interviews were employed. Literature on experiential education, ethnography, ethnographic tools and tech niques, and intercultural competencies support the overall project. Additionally, the results, data analysis, discussion of the findings, and recommendations for future studies are presented to summarize and solidify the overall research study. The study results showed that approximately half of the total study population increased their capacity to listen and observe because of the implementation of ethnographic tools and techniques. Additionally, the implementation of ethnographic tools and techniques may have provided insight into how the host culture, and family life are more similar than different to theirs back home. The group member's qualitative answers to the interview questions provided interculturally competent answers and looks in part to be due to the use of ethnographic tools and techniques.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Susan Noffke. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-231) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<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> A learning center in the southeastern part of the United States used the Singapore mathematics curriculum (SMC) to support student learning of a wide range of mathematics skills. However, a study had yet to be conducted to gain an understanding about the administration and implementation of the program. This case study was conceptually based on constructivist pedagogical theory, where learning is constructed between the teacher and students. The research questions explored how the learning center staff administered and implemented the SMC. Data for this study were collected through multiple in-depth interviews and observations of 2 educators at the learning center. These data were analyzed through typological and inductive analyses in order to discover the underlying meaning of the data. The typologies for this study were bar modeling, textbooks, workbooks, teacher edition, activities, and games. The findings that were derived from these analyses focused on 10 themes, which became the basis of a professional development training project. These themes focused on bar modeling, manipulatives, and stages of learning: concrete, pictorial, and abstract, place value, number bonds, visualization, mastery, and games. The project will support positive social change by increasing educators' insight into how to administer and implement the SMC in order to improve student mathematics achievement.</p>

<p> Doctors in a Northern California community reported that medical assisting students did not use medical terminology in context, could not think critically, and faltered in decision making and problem solving during their internships in medical offices. The intent of this instrumental case study was to investigate the gap between current methods of lecturing and active-learning projects designed to engage medical assisting students in learning medical terminology, forming critical thinking skills, and developing decision-making techniques. Informed by a constructivist theoretical framework, data were collected regarding the teaching methods of 4 medical instructors through interviews and classroom observations. Documentation from the doctors and nurses whom graduates served upon matriculation was also reviewed. Open coding of data resulted in emerging themes. Findings showed that instructors were unsure how to implement activities to promote critical thinking, active learning in the classroom, and decision-making skills for students. As a result of this research, a 3-day professional development workshop for college instructors was developed, focusing on critical thinking and problem-based learning activities. This study may contribute to positive social change when medical assisting students graduate with the ability to use medical terminology in context, think critically, and provide satisfactory patient care, thus bringing valued expertise to patient care and offsetting the national shortage of labor in this sphere.</p>

<p> Careful journaling spanning ten years of classroom work in elementary and middle school grades was the data used in the research. Utilizing journals and various forms of correspondence and note-taking, this investigation demonstrates what is required of classroom teachers and the reaction to more and more demands being made on their time with students.</p><p> The research indicated that standardized testing, data collection and the dehumanization of students and deskilling of teachers continues to grow each year exacerbated by less funding and less autonomy of the teacher in the classroom.</p><p> <i>Key Words:</i> Praxis, critical pedagogy, conscientization, critical theory, Common Core, No Child Left Behind, standardized testing, high stakes testing, deskilling, ESOL, ESL, autoethnography, Freire, hope, poverty, racism.</p>

The purpose of this study was to analyze the general education faculty members’ perspectives on the internationalization of the general education curriculum in Mississippi community colleges. The participants in this study included all full-time instructors of general education courses at 2 of the 15 public community colleges in the state of Mississippi. The study used a survey Analysis of Faculty Perception: Factors Affecting the Internationalization of General Education Curriculum in Mississippi Community Colleges to examine factors that included a) importance of internationalization, b) institutional success with internationalization efforts and c) importance and existence of administrative support for internationalization. No studies were found that analyze nor investigate the importance of internationalizing the general education curriculum in Mississippi community colleges. Quantitative data were collected using Survey Monkey online instrument that was sent to full-time general education faculty members teaching at the 2 community colleges in the State of Mississippi. The data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Mann-Whitney U Test tables and descriptive statistics were reported. Results showed that a large number of the educators recognized the need for a partner institution in another country. Many of them also recommended that there should be a designated administrative office to coordinate and support international education initiatives, and they also saw the need for their college to have a plan designed to increase international/global understanding among students and to have general education courses with an international/global focus available to all students. Some differences in perceptions were observed in the teachers’ perceptions of internationalization based on years worked in higher education, country of birth, gender, international experience, and level of education. The educators believed that internationalization activities on their campus was a positive movement towards expanding their offerings to students by helping to develop an educational environment where they can become more globally competitive and more professionally effective. Many of the educators in this study support the expansion of programs that support study abroad or student exchange programs.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Mark Dressman. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 250-264) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1714. Adviser: Walter Feinberg. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-152) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Aligning Individual Education Program (IEP) goals of students with severe disabilities with the general education curriculum is required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA). This study sought to determine the perspectives of special educators regarding this requirement. Special educators from three school districts participated in focus groups to offer their perspectives in aligning IEP goals with the general education curriculum. The researchers also sought the special educators' perspectives with regards to providing access to the general education curriculum. The study found that special educators are striving to align IEP goals through the use of general education classes, the extended core, and portfolios. The main approaches to providing access to the core curriculum were general education classes, peer tutors, and adapted curriculum.