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Elementary teachers' experiences with social studies professional development in Alabama
Title
Elementary teachers' experiences with social studies professional development in Alabama.
Author
Landry, Nicole Andress
Abstract/Description
Limited professional training regarding elementary social studies content and pedagogy contributes to the reduction of elementary social studies instruction. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore how the experiences of elementary educators during the 2018 Alabama Bicentennial Summer Institutes held in Mobile, Alabama, have contributed to their professional development in social studies instruction. This study sought to understand how the experience of a social...
Show moreLimited professional training regarding elementary social studies content and pedagogy contributes to the reduction of elementary social studies instruction. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore how the experiences of elementary educators during the 2018 Alabama Bicentennial Summer Institutes held in Mobile, Alabama, have contributed to their professional development in social studies instruction. This study sought to understand how the experience of a social studies professional development for elementary teachers contributed to instructional methods, instructional planning decisions, collaboration, and the use of primary sources. Transformative learning theory (TLT) provided the theoretical perspective for understanding how changes in adult learners may occur in a professional development setting such as the 2018 Alabama Bicentennial Summer Institute. Learning in TLT transpires during critical reflection and rational discourse resulting in changes in the frame of reference (Mezirow, 1996, 1997). Principles of phenomenology guided me to realize interrelated themes. I purposefully selected six participants to represent the experiences of Grades 3-5 teachers from multiple districts and systems. The process included professional development, analysis of lesson plans, purposeful selection of participants, observations, interviews, data triangulation, and intense interaction. Data collection and analysis for emergent themes occurred cyclically during the 2018 Alabama Bicentennial Summer Institute activities, classroom observations, lesson plan analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Emerging themes suggested a transformative influence of the 2018 Alabama Bicentennial Summer Institute experience on the participants' classroom instruction, instructional planning, and use of primary sources.
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Date Issued
2021
Identifier
1293882707, WFE0000765
Format
Document (PDF)
Responsive evaluation of a community college mathematics laboratory
Title
Responsive evaluation of a community college mathematics laboratory: a dissertation in practice.
Author
Hollinger, La Shannon Neru
Abstract/Description
This dissertation in practice (DIP), responsive evaluation (RE) explored relationships of the Faulkner Academic Math Excellence (FAME) Laboratory characteristics and specific perceptions of students enrolled in developmental mathematics education courses at a rural community college in Alabama's southeastern region. This program evaluation examined information surrounding the effectiveness of the FAME Lab program and service activities housed within a two-year community college. The study...
Show moreThis dissertation in practice (DIP), responsive evaluation (RE) explored relationships of the Faulkner Academic Math Excellence (FAME) Laboratory characteristics and specific perceptions of students enrolled in developmental mathematics education courses at a rural community college in Alabama's southeastern region. This program evaluation examined information surrounding the effectiveness of the FAME Lab program and service activities housed within a two-year community college. The study explored perceptions of students within a community college developmental mathematics education program relative to three areas of focus: (a) students' expressed access and use of the FAME Lab program services, (b) students' perceptions of the influence of the FAME Lab program services relative to academic performance levels, and (c) students' perceived value of the FAME Lab program relative to successes in developmental math courses. The researcher performed an extensive review of the literature and identified a critical problem of low numbers of students successfully completing developmental mathematics courses among colleges across the United States as a pervasive challenge, uniquely identified within community colleges and evidenced by 96% of colleges across the country requiring remediation courses, primarily in mathematics (Butrymowicz, 2017). The participants in the study were community college developmental education students and faculty of the community college. A potential limitation of this study includes researcher bias. The magnitude of the problem identified in the literature provided the impetus for the investigation and aligned with the nature of the meaning and purpose for using the DIP, explicitly recognizing an existing problem in practice and performing a study aligned with the need acknowledged by the problem in practice. The Faulkner Academic Math Excellence (FAME) Laboratory program exemplifies and aligns with the type of intervention programs reflective of the remediation programs that colleges across the United States are utilizing to curb or remedy the problem of low numbers of students successfully completing developmental mathematics courses. The researcher communicated with the Vice-President of Instruction and the Math Division Chair and received approval to conduct the DIP study. The researcher created a questionnaire for the student participants and conducted a RE of the FAME Lab program to respond to the problem defined for investigation. The current study provided a practitioner approach to examining the problem by incorporating the use of the RE model (Stake, 2014) to discern the problem within a focused setting, explicitly utilizing the FAME Lab program within a two-year college located in the southeastern region of the United States. The use of the RE protocol provided the researcher with strategies to inform results focused on three areas of consideration: (a) the examination of program activities rather than program goals or intents; (b) the acquisition of students' needs, reactions, and information rather than college leaders' intentions or purposes; and (c) the reporting of differing perspectives in determining the success and failure of the program. Based on the researcher's critical use of the RE protocol, a 12-step implementation plan for the FAME Lab program to assist students in attaining success within developmental mathematics was provided to college officials and are is provided for consideration by other developmental math programs at colleges across the United States. These 12 considerations, presented in Chapter 5, coupled with additional discussions of study results, add to the body of literature supporting students' preparation for entering college mathematics programs, a practitioner problem pervasive in colleges across the United States. The study will inform and advance the professional practice by informing the implementation of developmental mathematics education for students who do not complete developmental mathematics courses successfully.
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Date Issued
2021
Identifier
1293983842, WFE0000768
Format
Document (PDF)