Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Teachers' Unions On Issues In School Reform, Katie Reed

Public Administration & Policy

The thesis is divided into a number of sections. Part II examines some of the relevant literature on teachers’ unions and reform in education (specifically, merit pay, charter school, and school voucher reforms). The literature review presented in Part II is split up into two sections itself; Section A which examines the actual effectiveness of the aforementioned school reform programs on student achievement, and Section B, which examines literature showing the ways in which teachers’ unions impact school reform. In Part III, primary sources, including direct statements and information from teacher union websites and newspaper articles, are analyzed to determine …

Predictors Of Educational Program Usage Within United States Prisons, Grant E. Tietjen

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study investigates factors that predict inmate participation in prison educational programs using the Bureau of Justice (BJS) 2004 Survey of State and Federal Inmates. I apply the theories of controlology, Marxist criminological theory, and critical education theory. I then review the literature on various types of prison educational programs. The potential predictors of educational program participation are ethnicity, age, children, marital status, class, prior education, sentence length, and type of crime. I hypothesize that people who have higher socio-economic status (SES), shorter sentence lengths, higher levels of pre-incarceration education, and inmates convicted of non-violent crimes are more likely to …

The Effects Of Different Types Of Prompts On Achievement And Attitude In Mathematics, Barbara R. Greer Edd

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of three different types of writing prompts, procedural, summary, and self-monitoring, on achievement and self-concept of ability in mathematics. Participants included 81 eighth grade students taking a course designed to prepare students for algebra in the ninth grade in a large urban school district in Southern California. Data were gathered using a quasi-experimental design, teacher-researcher created pre-and post-tests, the Minnesota Mathematics Attitude Inventory, teacher field notes, student responses to prompts, and individual and group interviews. Controlling for demographic and other variables identified in the study, simultaneous regression analysis revealed that only summary writing had a …

An Experimental Study Of Instructor Immediacy In The Wimba Virtual Classroom, Lorah Wood Bodie Edd

Dissertations

The social underpinnings of learning make it important to understand how people experience themselves and form relationships in web-based educational environments. Social presence is a critical factor of a communication medium that plays an important role in building community and improving the effectiveness of instruction. The components of social presence include words conveyed, verbal and nonverbal immediacy cues, and the context of the communication. The immediacy component of social presence is most often defined as perceived psychological closeness which is created in part by nonverbal cues (e.g., smiling and using gestures) and verbal cues (e.g., utilizing humor and inclusive pronouns). …

The Effect Of Instructor Nonverbal Immediacy Behaviors And Feedback Sensitivity On Student Affective Learning Outcomes In Writing Conferences, Laura Martin

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of teacher nonverbal immediacy and verbal feedback sensitivity on affective learning outcomes in one-on-one writing conferences. The assumption is that if the teacher-student relationship is made stronger through the use of teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors, then verbal feedback can be more direct and task-oriented, thereby allowing teachers to be more efficient in their evaluation. The hypotheses presented are that students who experience an immediate instructor during a writing conference will have more affect for the teacher, more affect for writing conferences, and more affect for writing in general than students …

Ninth Annual Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Symposium, Mti Report S-08-04, Mineta Transportation Institute

Mineta Transportation Institute

On March 25, 2009, the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) continued its support of the U.S. Department of Transportations Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program by conducting the ninth National Garrett Morgan Symposium and Videoconference on Sustainable Transportation. The purpose of this national videoconference was to stimulate the minds of young people and encourage them to pursue the academic programs that will prepare them for professional careers in transportation engineering, planning, administration and technology.

Natural Hazards Education In Australian Schools: How Can We Make It More Effective?, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

Domestic Homicide: Female Victim’S Employment Status As A Risk Factor, Sharlette A. Kellum

Dr. Sharlette A. Kellum-Gilbert

This study investigated whether a significant relationship exists between a woman’s employment status and the potentiality of her being killed while in an abusive relationship. Would an abusive man be more likely to kill his female intimate partner if she sought independence from him (e.g., employment away from the home)? If he saw the woman’s employment as a means of leaving the abusive environment, he might consider ending her life before she could successfully leave the relationship. There was also a question of whether or not there were other factors related to domestic homicides. Men who kill the women they …

Social And Economic Indicators Typifying The Community's Health, George A. Erickcek, Bridget F. Timmeney, Brad R. Watts, Brian Pittelko

Reports

No abstract provided.

Gender Mainstreaming In Social Protection By Vibhuti Patel, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

Gender mainstreaming has become a buzzword in development discourse in the 21st century. The volume under review is a timely publication in the context of the ever increasing pauperisation and immiserisation of millions of people, especially women and children. Naila Kabeer has performed a daunting task in examining the effect of economic globalisation on gender relations for a large majority of the poor around the world and the affirmative actions taken by the nation states.

Experience Corps: Effects On Student Reading, Nancy Morrow-Howell, Stacey Mccrary, Yung Soo Lee, Ed Spitznagel, Melissa Jonson-Reid

Center for Social Development Research

Experience Corps: Effects on Student Reading

Evaluation Of Experience Corps: Student Reading Outcomes, Nancy Morrow-Howell, Melissa Jonson-Reid, Stacey Mccrary, Yungsoo Lee, Ed Spitznagel

Center for Social Development Research

Evaluation of Experience Corps: Student Reading Outcomes

Child Safety And Children In The Education System: Prioritizing The Need For Statewide Anti-Bullying Policies, Angelique Day

Social Work Faculty Publications

This study was conducted to explore the responses of 380 students enrolled at Michigan State University who had experienced bullying in high school as victims, perpetrators, and witnesses. Findings included significant predictors of bullying behavior. For example, male students were more likely to bully than their female counterparts; and bystanders who witnessed bullying incidents were more likely to become both victims and/or perpetrators of bullying. The MSU students offered recommendations for policymakers to create anti-bullying legislation with enforcement guidelines and other methods of improving school culture to reduce future bullying incidents.

What Should We Be Doing To Reduce Or End Campus Violence?, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

Over the last several years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of violence on college and university campuses. These have precipitated discussions and new initiatives on campuses and within our professional organizations intended to prevent and respond to violence.

Taking It To The Streets! Engaging In The Praxis Of Community Organization, Paul Force-Emery Mackie

Social Work Department Publications

This grassroots action focused on excessive property development of affordable, single-family homes against aggressive property developers. This presentation traces the author's involvement with a variety of neighborhood stakeholders, socio-political entities, and BSSW students to work for real, positive, sustainable social change to improve their local community.

A Formative Experiment Investigating The Use Of Reflective Video Journals To Increase High School Students' Metacognition, Brian Jeffrey Dixon Edd

Dissertations

This study sought to determine the factors that enhance the effectiveness of reflective video journals to increase the metacognition of adolescent students. To achieve this pedagogical goal, this study followed the six-phase methodology of a formative experiment. Twelve high school students participated in a six- session after-school reflective video journaling program. Diverse data collection methods were used to determine the factors in the educational environment that enhance or inhibit students' metacognition, how the intervention and its implementation were necessarily modified to more effectively achieve the pedagogical goal, the potential impact of feedback and peer response, and any unanticipated positive or …

Don't Criticise The Effects Of Video Games On Kids, Exploit Them!, Jeffrey E. Brand

Jeffrey Brand

[Extract] For young learners today, video games are part of the "cultural furniture". The development of boys and girls, their socialisation, and their formal learning (including literacy) are at risk if they reject contemporary media. What humanises technology most completely is appropriation of it. As any parent or teacher who has tried it knows, using popular media in the service of formal learning most readily overcomes the risk attributed to them. It also eliminates the source of moral panics: ignorance about the learners' world.

A Quasi-Experimental Study On Students' Perceptions And Intended Use Of Digital Recording Technology In A College Technology Classroom, Zenia Bahorski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This quasi-experimental study employed a modified Technology Acceptance Model approach in conjunction with a Perceived Classroom Interaction Model. The study investigated the impact of digital audio recording of college classroom lectures on students' perceptions of interaction levels, usefulness, and use of the digital media.

The study surveyed six introductory computer science and technology classes. Previous computer knowledge was not assumed. The results found no significant differences of students' perceptions of interaction levels in traditional classroom lectures. However, gender was found to have a significant effect on speaking in class when a recorder was present. No significant differences were found when …

A Tale Of Two School Systems, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Explains that suburban schools are more popular than urban schools primarily due to their more socially homogenous student bodies, and suggests that urban school systems seek to retain students through expanded magnet school programs.

The Global Text Project, Richard T. Watson, Donald J. Mccubbrey

The African Journal of Information Systems

The Global Text Project is intended to create global free textbooks for students in the developing countries. We argue that two key technological and social developments offer an opportunity to create a new model for textbook publishing. First, the Internet is a low cost channel for distributing information products in digital form. Second, global digital communities have created the platform for collaborative creation of content. Through this model a free and open content library will be developed for students covering all major subjects for an undergraduate education. This project is a contributory measure to the global efforts to address the …

Stepping Up: Managing Diversity In Challenging Times, Carol Hardy-Fanta

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

Since its launch in 2008, Commonwealth Compact has grown steadily, employing several strategies to promote diversity statewide. The Benchmarks initiative has collected data, analyzed in this report, on a significant portion of the state workforce. Guided by Stephen Crosby, dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass Boston, Commonwealth Compact has conducted newsmaking surveys of public opinion and of boards of directors statewide. In addition, it has convened ongoing coalitions with its higher education partners, and established a collaborative of local business schools aimed specifically at increasing faculty diversity. The Compact has sponsored or co-sponsored …

Youth Migration And Poverty In Sub-Saharan Africa: Empowering The Rural Youth, Charlotte Min-Harris

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Sangaré, a poor young farmer from a village in southern Mali, leaves his wife and three children to find stable employment in the capital city of Bamako. What he finds is an unrewarding reality that leads him from small job to small job, only earning about US 22 cents per day. These jobs range from selling sunglasses, to shining shoes, to driving a rickshaw. Unfortunately, his income has not proved enough to provide for his family, as his aunt has since adopted his daughter, and his children cannot attend school. The inability to find stable employment in Bamako has forced …

Child Labor In Latin America: Poverty As Cause And Effect, Michaelle Tauson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Throughout much of the developing world, children make up an alarming portion of the workforce. These children are robbed of their childhood in order to provide economic supplementation to their families. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 5.7 million children in Latin America participate in the regional workforce (2006). It is a common misconception that children, who do not participate in the formal workforce, are not child laborers. However, the ILO defines child labor as any work that is detrimental to a child’s well-being or interferes with a child’s education. Due to the many categories and classifications of child …

Animals In The Classroom: Implications And Implementation, Christen Lynn Robinson

All Graduate Projects

The role of animals in the classroom through Animal Assisted Therapy is examined. The benefits and risks are outlined and discussed. Specific measures to decrease related risks are given. A look at Animal Assisted Therapy from the perspective of the animal itself is also explored. Does the practice exploit animals? The research suggests that it depends upon the type of animal used. A Power Point presentation explaining the benefits of Animal Assisted Therapy is provided. The target audience for the presentation is educators interested in implementing an Animal Assisted Therapy program within the school setting. The presentation clearly outlines the …

A History Of Canadian Studies At The University Of Maine, Robert H. Babcock

Books

The purpose of this book is to explain the development of the Canadian Studies program at the University of Maine from its origins in the early 20th century to its position today as the most comprehensive program of its kind in the United States. Readers will learn how Maine's close proximity to Canada has spawned an ever-widening range of cross-border academic contacts rooted in mutual interests that are reinforced by collaborative academic study, which is benefiting residents on both sides of the international boundary.

Exploring The Impact And Implications Of Residential Mobility: From The Neighborhood To The School, Robin L. Ersing, Richard D. Sutphen, Diane N. Loeffler

Social Work Faculty Publications

This cross-sectional study examines residential relocation among a cohort of 495 fifth graders in one urban community in the Southeastern U.S. The impact of residential mobility is discussed in relation to student/family outcomes as well as the stressors placed upon schools. Results support previous findings which suggest residential relocation is correlated with academic problems. In addition, highly mobile students are twice as likely to be referred by teachers for disciplinary intervention and families are five times more likely than their residentially stable counterparts to be involved with child protective services. Implications from this study address the need for school systems, …

Formal Educational Attainment Of Inuit In Canada, 1981–2006, Chris Penney

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

University Attainment Of The Registered Indian Population, 1981–2006: A Cohort Approach, John Clement

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Influence Of School And Community Relationships On The Performance Of Aboriginal Students In British Columbia Public Schools, Cheryl Aman

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

Thinking Like A Research Expert: Schemata For Teaching Complex Problem-Solving Skills, Paul D. Callister

Paul D. Callister

The difference between expert and novice problem-solvers is that experts have organized their thinking into schemata or mental constructs to both see and solve problems. This article demonstrates why schemata are important, arguing that schemata need to be made explicit in the classroom. It illustrates the use of schemata to understand and categorize complex research problems, map the terrain of legal research resources, match appropriate resources to types of problems, and work through the legal research process. The article concludes by calling upon librarians and research instructors to produce additional schemata and develop a common hierarchical taxonomy of skills, a …