Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Curriculum and instructional design and development'

In today’s global world, higher educational institutions and businesses are increasingly making use of virtual world learning environments to foster collaborative opportunities for adult students and employees across geographic boundaries, space, and time. Often, however, organizations place the responsibility for learning new skill sets on their adult learners. As a consequence, educators and employers alike argue this new, more complex virtual environment can create a steep learning curve for novice adult learners, causing frustration at the increased time it takes for novices to acquire necessary skills and confidence within the environment. This paper documents the ongoing creation and design of a new adult learner-focused, self-paced, structured skills-based curriculum and virtual world learning environment with situated, virtual world activities for novice adult learners. The primary focus of this project is to move the adult learner from novice to a more experienced user of virtual world environments.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of a standards-based grading system has an effect on classroom instruction. In particular, how does the implementation of a standards-based grading system impact the teaching methods, curriculum, differentiation, and formative assessments being used in classrooms? The researcher identified five schools in the Southern Illinois area that have adopted the standards-based grading system and chose eleven teachers to participate in this study through purposeful convenience sampling. This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach. There were two methods used in order to collect data including face to face interviews and document analysis. The findings of this study are significant to any district who is considering changing their grading system from a traditional grading system to a standards-based grading system. Through six major themes that emerged, this study shows that by switching to a standards-based grading system multiple parts of the classroom are impacted including the teaching methods, content, differentiation, and formative assessments. The six major themes included: teaching methods have been modified to better adjust to the standards-based grading system and include a larger variety of approaches, teaching methods are more of a response to student need than a pre-planned approach to teaching, the curriculum and content being taught in the classroom have better alignment to the standards, teachers have a greater awareness of both the curriculum and standards that are being taught at their grade level, as well as at other grade level, teachers have a better understanding of the individual needs of students and have used differentiation to meet these unique needs, and the use of formative assessments have increased in order to adjust for more fluid groupings being used in the classroom.

Scholars have focused the majority of differentiated instruction research on the effect that differentiation has on student achievement, but have overlooked whether or not the delivery method makes a difference on student achievement. Research questions: Is there a significant difference in Language Arts fluency total mean scores between first grade students who received software computerized differentiated instruction and first grade students who received differentiated instruction provided by the teacher without software? Is there a significant difference in Language Arts in comprehension total mean scores between first grade students who received software computerized differentiated instruction and first grade students who received differentiated instruction provided by the teacher without software? Archival records (128) were examined from a (BOY) and (MOY) mClass Dibels Next and mClass Dibels TRC assessments. There was a statistically significant difference between the students who utilized the Lexia program when compared to their counterparts that received traditional instruction for growth focusing on fluency and it was determined through an independent samples t-test. There was not a statistically significant difference between the students who utilized the Lexia program when compared to their counterparts that receive traditional instruction for growth focusing on comprehension. The results of the inferential tests determined that the students that received their differentiation from the software program had significantly higher growth results than their counterparts that received the differentiation from their classroom teachers in the area of fluency. For the area of comprehension, there was not a significant difference between the two groups.

This study examined two questions related to the effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL) instruction. First, is PBL more effective than a textbook-based instructional model, and second what are teacher perceptions related to PBL methodology? Student growth scores in the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment for reading and math, as measured within one school year, fall to spring, for students in PBL and non-PBL classes were compared. A teacher survey was conducted to measure teacher perceptions of PBL and textbook-based instructional program strengths and weaknesses. Additional data on effective instructional strategies can provide further direction for educators to continue the full implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that call for students to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of grade level standards. The study was located in a large urban school district in Northern California. The overall findings of this study were that the MAP assessment data reflected higher annual growth scores for reading and math in six of the eight grade levels studied. Teacher survey participant responses reflected consistent support for a textbook-based instructional program over a PBL instructional program, due in large part to the additional time teachers spent in preparing for PBL lessons.

Teachers today are spending more time with problem behaviors and less time with instruction. Problem behaviors can affect students’ learning as well as teachers’ instructional time. In contrast to traditional disciplinary practices, this study explored teachers’ perspectives from all three educational levels regarding the efficacy of positive behavior interventions and supports. Many programs and approaches are available to improve student behavior in schools. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is designed to help schools create and sustain effective behavioral supports for students. This study was focused on the perceptions of teachers after the implementation of a program of positive behavior support in districts within the state of Illinois. Forty-five school districts were randomly chosen from each region and educational level. The research that guided the study related to the perceptions of teachers on the efficacy of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system. The research was inconclusive, as teachers reported that the behavior system was needed, but it did not change the behaviors of the students who displayed challenging behaviors. This study was significant as it added to the body of research of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.

This quantitative descriptive comparative study compared test scores from the Ohio Achievement Assessment of students who were taught reading in ability grouped classrooms with those who were taught in non-ability grouped classrooms. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive comparative study was to determine if a statistically significant difference existed between reading scores on the Ohio Achievement Assessments Test (OAA) of third grade students who are ability grouped and third grade students who are not ability grouped with regards to gender and ethnicity. The theories examined for this quantitative descriptive comparative study were the constructivist theory and the theory of multiple intelligences. The primary research question was whether or not there was a significant statistical difference in student test scores for the Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA) in reading in ability grouped and non-ability grouped classrooms, with regard to gender or ethnicity. This study was a quantitative descriptive comparative design using archived data from the Ohio Department of Education and a school district located in Ohio. The study consisted of 334 student test scores, ability grouped males, females, White, Hispanic, and Black students and then the same groups for non-ability grouped students with regard to their gender and ethnicity. Descriptive statistics (standard deviation and the mean) were used to analyze the variables that were under investigation and to answer the hypotheses. Data analysis was completed using independent samples t-test to determine statistical significant difference among ability or non-ability grouped students with regard to gender. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if a statistical significant difference existed between ability grouped and non-ability grouped students with regard to ethnicity, this resulted in a post-hoc test. It was determined that a statistical significant difference did not exist between males and females, regardless of their grouping status for reading on the Ohio Achievement Assessment. When grouping students by ability, there was a statistically significant difference in Hispanic students increase in achievement, when being compared to Black and White students. When non-ability grouped students were compared, there was not a statistically significant difference in OAA scores with regard to ethnicity. Further research is needed to provide holistic recommendations for grouping strategies across curriculum, types of schools, and age of students.

The purpose of this study was to design a grammar curriculum that could help college age students in basic writing classes to identify and correct grammatical errors in their own writing. After reviewing literature in best practices in grammar instruction as well as other kinds of instructional best practices, the grammar curriculum, Effective MUGs (MUGs stands for mechanics, usage, and grammar), takes advantage of these best practices including sentence combining, sentence revision, sentence creation, grammar in context, strategies instruction, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). The study was designed to measure how effective the grammar curriculum was (by examining student writing in essays as well as grammar exercises), how students used tools in the curriculum (by examining results from cognition labs), and how students and instructors perceived the curriculum (through interviews). The data on student grammatical error from this study must be viewed with reservations because of the lack of statistical significance. The most significant findings were qualitative and offered insight into the strengths of the Effective MUGs curriculum as well as which aspects that need revision. Both students and instructors thought that the gradual release of strategies instruction was one of the most effective tools and they both enjoyed using BYOD in conjunction with Google Docs. Students were most challenged by subject-verb identification and feeling confident about use of unfamiliar sentence elements; instructor interviews confirmed these student challenges. The data from the study will prompt revision to the curriculum as well as enhanced professional development.

The study investigated the use of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) in English and Business classrooms in Higher Education from the context of learners’ performance outcomes, as well as stakeholders’ (learners, administrators, and faculty) perceptions pertaining to their experiences when using an MMOG based curriculum. The findings strongly suggest that MMOGs helped enhance learner performances in statistically significant ways, and provided valuable insights into elements of interest and concerns of stakeholders about MMOG usage in classrooms. Based on these insights, I designed a practitioners’ guide to assist future scholars interested in this curricular approach. This guide provides innovative tips on show how faculty, administrators and institutions may imbibe this cutting-edge technology in easy and affordable ways within classrooms, while dealing with several concerns such stakeholders may have regarding the use of such games. Given the rise in popularity of game based technology and the existing literature on the value of game based education, coupled with a paucity of studies examining applicability and implementation issues in the context of using MMOGs, I hope that this submission will be a valuable contribution to the literature.

Motivation and engagement helps students succeed in school. When students are apathetic and not invested in their lessons, they may experience severe academic problems. Character education is the explicit instruction of positive values and has been found to improve student motivation and engagement. A type of character education is humane education. The purpose of humane education is to integrate animal-related curricula to foster compassion in children’s relationships with both animals and people. In this qualitative phenomenological case study, research was conducted to examine the problem of not knowing what aspects of humane education most contributed to student motivation and engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore teacher perceptions regarding how humane education, specifically animal well-being, influenced student motivation and engagement. Eight humane education teachers with a minimum of two years’ experience teaching humane education were individually interviewed to better understand the most effective ways to use this curriculum to positively impact student motivation and engagement. Semi-structured interviews occurred in person and via telephone. Participants included four teachers from New Jersey, three from New York, and one educator from California. Respondents had both primary and secondary teaching experience in both public and private schools. All participants perceived humane education as being particularly motivating and engaging for their students as opposed to other curricula, and attributed student interest is enhanced because of children’s connection to animals. Six particular themes became apparent from the participants’ perceptions of humane education as being most impactful on positive student motivation and engagement in their learning. These themes involved: 1) teaching techniques, 2) safe topics and species, 3) food and farm animals 4) student and teacher connection, 4) age, gender, and culture of student, 5) administrator, colleague, and parent reaction, and 6) with companion and farm animals being perceived as engendering the most student motivation and engagement. Recommendations for future research include using student participants in a pretest-posttest design to determine if humane education helped them learn more effectively and conducting a quantitative examination of student performance as related to specific components of humane education. The results of this case study could inform educators when choosing effective curriculum and classroom materials for the purposes of assisting student motivation and engagement. The results could also be implemented in the ways educators integrate animals across school disciplines and how teachers could effectively incorporate humane education to motivate and engage their students.

This study explored the relation between two elementary school principals' behaviors and the professional development provided to educators in two schools undergoing pedagogical and cultural changes designed to increase student achievement. The researcher observed the schools' dynamics regarding professional development and any other professional and pedagogical discourse done for the purpose of collaborating and developing a structure in which data analysis, lesson planning and design, and other types of professional development are practiced. A qualitative method was used for this study and was based on a simple descriptive study using a multisite case study. Daniels (2009) conducted a research study on three schools in one school district. This study was an attempt to embody a similar study in two elementary schools (a K–3 school and a 4–8 school) in one district, though a different district from Daniels's study. The population in this study consisted of educators from two school sites located in a small, rural, and agricultural community that serve students in Grades K–8. The data collection demonstrated it is crucial to have a strong and competent principal who promotes and supports the change process in an effective and systematic manner. Additional results indicated that the use of strategic professional development fosters collegial teamwork whereby educators share their knowledge and guarantee continuous structural improvement that leads to increased student achievement.

A mini-economy is an ongoing classroom project in which elementary school students apply for jobs, receive simulated income, go shopping at the classroom store, and ultimately create their own businesses. This study uses design-based research methodology to find out what classroom practices emerge when the College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards (C3 Framework) (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013) is used by elementary teachers as the basis for instruction in the context of a classroom mini-economy, and how analysis of those practices can be used to improve instructional design. Design-based research seeks to simultaneously create and analyze teaching materials, with the purpose of improving both the materials themselves and the research literature on which the materials are based. In this case, the goal of the teaching materials was to improve the authenticity and rigor of the teacher-participants’ classroom mini-economies. Therefore, the study draws upon research literature in Authentic Intellectual Work, as well as inquiry teaching in social studies, particularly in economic education.

Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) is a way to think about curriculum, instruction, and assessment. It seeks “to identify some kinds of intellectual work as more complex and socially or personally meaningful than others” (King, Newmann, & Carmichael, 2009). It consists of construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school (Scheurman & Newmann, 1998). Inquiry teaching in social studies has taken many forms, most currently in the C3 Framework, which was the approach used in this study. The C3 Framework conceptualizes inquiry as “the disciplinary concepts and practices that support students as they develop the capacity to know, analyze, explain, and argue about interdisciplinary challenges in our social world” (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013, p. 6). Classroom mini-economies in particular fall within the realm of the social science of economics, so the study pays special attention to the literature on K-12 economic education.

The study reveals ways in which teachers were able to use the C3 Framework to build authenticity in the mini-economy, though it also reveals that teachers were willing to dilute the quality of the inquiry process when it fit with their larger goals. The findings suggest that inquiry as conceived in the C3 Framework can be used as a powerful tool for equipping students for an increasingly complex social world. However, the inquiry process is at its best when lesson materials that use it are carefully designed to meet teachers’ desires to provide interdisciplinary and real-world experiences for their students.

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was threefold. First, this study compared the effects of two different simulation-based instructional strategies on athletic trainers’ clinical competence in performing cardiovascular screening with cardiac auscultations. Second, this study identified the athletic trainers’ perceptions of learning through simulation-based instructional strategies. Third, this study attempted to identify and offer instructional recommendations based on the outcomes.

The quantitative phase analyzed cognitive and diagnostic reasoning knowledge and history-taking and clinical skills specific to cardiovascular screenings with cardiac auscultations as it was taught to athletic trainers (ATs) at a continuing professional education (CPE) course. The quantitative results found that high-fidelity and low-fidelity simulation-based instructional strategies significantly increased cognitive and diagnostic reasoning knowledge and history-taking and clinical skill from pre-test to post-test assessment on all dependent variables. When comparing the two fidelity types to each other, the analysis found that the participants in the high-fidelity simulation group gained significantly more skill when compared to the low-fidelity group.

In the qualitative analysis of this study, three themes emerged specific to the perceptions of the athletic trainers’ experiences as they learn through simulation-based instructional strategies. The first theme that emerged was a clear indication that participants’ exhibited positive perceptions of learning through simulation-based instructional strategies. The second theme that emerged was that the high-fidelity simulation experience during the pre-assessment and post-assessment raised an awareness of the deficit of knowledge and skills in performing a comprehensive cardiovascular screening with cardiac auscultations. Lastly, the third theme that emerged was specific to the perceived limitations in the effectiveness of low-fidelity simulation and the perceived strengths in the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation.

A few instructional recommendations emerged from this dissertation study. Simulation-based instructional strategies are an ideal teaching method to utilize during continuing professional education courses with athletic trainers. Specifically, this study identified that both, high-fidelity and low-fidelity simulation, are effective in teaching cardiovascular screening with cardiac auscultations. Additionally, the participants perceived influences of a pre-test on the identification of their knowledge and skills deficit suggests that there are benefits of utilizing an authentic simulation pre-test as part of CPE courses.

This quasi-experimental study compared academic learning in project-centered instruction with group projects, project-centered instruction with individual projects, and teacher-led instruction. A repeated measures pre and posttest design was used to measure the change in Social Studies content learning in sixth grade students for three different instructional units taught with each of the three teaching approaches. ANOVA was used to compare pre and posttest scores. All three teaching approaches were compared, and the two project-centered conditions were compared to identify possible learning differences related to cooperative learning. Students in the group project condition demonstrated the greatest gains in content learning. Students in the individual project condition demonstrated the smallest gains from pre to posttest. The results of this study suggest that for most students the opportunity to engage in discourse about content through group work, or via teacher talk and class discussion enhances academic learning to a greater degree than individual study and research for middle school students.

This inquiry investigated four design educators’ perspectives and beliefs of global competence teaching and learning, and aimed to inform effective global competence curricula planning and instruction across disciplines. The literature uncovered multiple reasons to warrant design educator reflections: (a) similarities among global competence and design thinking characteristics, (b) design education accreditation emphasis on globally oriented standards, and (c) design thinking as a resource to improve practices across disciplines. Accordingly, the inquiry employed a qualitative design and a multiple case-study approach. Data collection methods included: (a) interviews, (b) image artifacts, and (c) researcher reflective memos. A comparative analysis used systematic coding to reveal core theme statements grounded in the data.

The inquiry revealed all four design educators believed: (a) active learning and information gathering activities were effective ways to teach global competence, (b) interaction with others from different backgrounds contributed to global competence development, (c) a formal education experience changed the ways they view the world and empathize with others, (d) the critique was an effective global competence teaching and learning tool, and (e) the role of perception processes fostered ability to recognize qualities of other people and places. All four design educators’ image artifacts represented meanings and interpretations of global competence as human-centered, and expressed physical connection. Ultimately, three overarching discoveries emerged: (a) design educators use mindshifts to develop global competence, (b) design educators are makers of their global competence development, and (c) design educators are mature motivators of global competence development.

The inquiry concluded with a model for design education global competence development grounded in the data and the literature. Implications for action connected to three higher education teaching and learning areas: (a) mindfulness, (b) the maker movement, and (c) mindsets. Overall, the four design educators’ information-rich narratives and practical curricula design applications presented in this inquiry aim to encourage other educators to relate the global dimensions of their own disciplines to current teaching and research practice.