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Title: Fostering College and Career Readiness: How Career Development Activities in Schools Impact on Graduation Rates and Students' Life Success.
Creator: Sampson, James P., Hooley, Tristram, Marriot, John
Abstract/Description: This paper sets out the recent evidence around career development. This evidence is examined within the context of the college and career readiness agenda. The argument is made that in order for young people to be genuinely "ready" for both college and career they need to have attended to their academic achievement, their aspirations and plans for the future, their ability to make transitions and their ability to direct their own careers. It is argued that career development offers schools a...
Show moreThis paper sets out the recent evidence around career development. This evidence is examined within the context of the college and career readiness agenda. The argument is made that in order for young people to be genuinely "ready" for both college and career they need to have attended to their academic achievement, their aspirations and plans for the future, their ability to make transitions and their ability to direct their own careers. It is argued that career development offers schools a body of practice that has been shown to have a positive impact on young people's readiness for college and career. The report acknowledges that the provision of career development has been in decline in many North American schools despite evidence of its effectiveness. Given the current instability of the labor market, the increasing complexity of the education system and the need to grow the skills base of the workforce in a competitive global market, failing to attend to young people's careers seems shortsighted. As this paper shows, there is a strong body of evidence which demonstrates that career development activity in schools can help young people to experience academic achievement, successfully transition to the labor market and live happier and more productive lives. It is hoped that setting out the evidence in this area of research will provide policy makers and school leaders with the resources required to make informed decisions and to support the development of the future generations of talent. The paper explores the impacts of career development in relation to four main questions: • Does career development engage young people in their schooling and help keep them attending school? • Does career development positively impact on young people's academic achievement? • Does career development assist young people in making successful transitions to college or the labor market? • Does career development have a positive effect on people's career and life success?
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_edpsy_faculty_publications-0008X
Format: Citation

Title: Happy and sad thoughts: An exploration of children's integer reasoning.
Creator: Whitacre, Ian, Bishop, Jessica, Lamb, Lisa, Phillipp, Randolph, Schappelle, Bonnie P., Lewis, Melinda
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary children's conceptions that might serve as foundations for integer reasoning. Working from an abstract algebraic perspective and using an opposite-magnitudes context that is relevant to children, we analyzed the reasoning of 33 children in grades K-5. We focus our report on three prominent ways of reasoning. We do this by describing and analyzing the responses of three particular children (in Grades 1, 3, and 5) who exemplify these ways...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate elementary children's conceptions that might serve as foundations for integer reasoning. Working from an abstract algebraic perspective and using an opposite-magnitudes context that is relevant to children, we analyzed the reasoning of 33 children in grades K-5. We focus our report on three prominent ways of reasoning. We do this by describing and analyzing the responses of three particular children (in Grades 1, 3, and 5) who exemplify these ways of reasoning. We view each of the three ways of reasoning as rich and interesting, and we see relationships of each to formal integer reasoning. At the same time, we view these ways of reasoning in terms of increasing levels of sophistication, potentially belonging to a single learning trajectory. Thus, we see the roots of more sophisticated integer reasoning in children's early intuitions about opposite magnitudes.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_ste_faculty_publications-0010, 10.1016/j.jmathb.2012.03.001
Format: Set of related objects

Title: Building Word Knowledge: Opportunities for Direct Vocabulary Instruction in General Education for Students with Reading Difficulties.
Creator: Wanzek, Jeanne
Abstract/Description: Direct vocabulary instruction has been recommended as one critical component of reading instruction. Although most students in the elementary grades need to continue building their vocabulary knowledge, students with reading difficulties are at the most risk of falling further behind each year in vocabulary and concept knowledge without effective instruction. This study examined the amount and type of direct vocabulary instruction available for students with reading difficulties during core...
Show moreDirect vocabulary instruction has been recommended as one critical component of reading instruction. Although most students in the elementary grades need to continue building their vocabulary knowledge, students with reading difficulties are at the most risk of falling further behind each year in vocabulary and concept knowledge without effective instruction. This study examined the amount and type of direct vocabulary instruction available for students with reading difficulties during core classroom reading instruction and supplemental reading interventions. Fourteen second-grade classroom and reading intervention teachers serving students with reading difficulties in three elementary schools in three states participated in the study. Results suggested about 8% of core classroom reading instruction was devoted to direct vocabulary instruction with a focus on word definitions and providing examples of word meaning. Minimal amounts of direct vocabulary instruction were noted in supplemental reading interventions. Thus, students with reading difficulties had limited opportunities through core reading instruction and supplemental reading interventions to receive research-based, effective vocabulary instruction.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_fcrr-pubs-0007, 10.1080/10573569.2013.789786
Format: Citation

Title: A Partial Listing of Instruments That Can be Used as a Component of Readiness Assessment.
Creator: Sampson, James P., McClain, Mary-Catherine, Musch, Elizabeth, Reardon, Robert C.
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_techcenter_publications-0002
Format: Citation

Title: Using Pivotal Response Training and Technology to Engage Preschoolers With Autism in Conversations.
Creator: Stockall, Nancy, Dennis, Lindsay
Abstract/Description: It is well known that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate a significant delay in language development that impacts their ability to engage in robust conversations. In this article the authors discuss two specific elements of pivotal response training—motivation and self-initiations—for children with ASD. Specific research-based intervention strategies are addressed for teaching preschoolers with ASD to ask questions leading to social conversations. Additionally, the...
Show moreIt is well known that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate a significant delay in language development that impacts their ability to engage in robust conversations. In this article the authors discuss two specific elements of pivotal response training—motivation and self-initiations—for children with ASD. Specific research-based intervention strategies are addressed for teaching preschoolers with ASD to ask questions leading to social conversations. Additionally, the authors suggest ways that teachers can embed technology, specifically the use of iPad apps, to further support conversations.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_ste_faculty_publications-0015, 10.1177/1053451213509486
Format: Citation

Title: The Effects of Professional Development on Preschool Teacher's Instructional Behaviours During Storybook Reading.
Creator: Dennis, Lindsay, Horn, Eva M.
Abstract/Description: Early literacy skill development at the preschool level is critical for later success in learning to read and other reading-related activities. Professional development (PD), specifically coaching via performance feedback delivered through email, may provide a viable alternative to other types of trainings (e.g. workshops) that are often ineffective. This study investigated the impact of PD on the instructional behaviours of teachers of children between the ages of three and five, as well as...
Show moreEarly literacy skill development at the preschool level is critical for later success in learning to read and other reading-related activities. Professional development (PD), specifically coaching via performance feedback delivered through email, may provide a viable alternative to other types of trainings (e.g. workshops) that are often ineffective. This study investigated the impact of PD on the instructional behaviours of teachers of children between the ages of three and five, as well as the subsequent impact on children's level and complexity of engagement during book reading sessions. A single-case multiple baseline design was applied across three teachers and six children in two preschool classrooms. Results of the study indicate that PD produced change in teacher's behaviours, specifically, their increased implementation of specific evidence-based storybook reading strategies following intervention. Child level behaviours were not significantly changed as a result of the intervention. Implications for the results are provided for implementation of PD in early childhood settings.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_ste_faculty_publications-0016, 10.1080/03004430.2013.853055
Format: Citation

Title: The Effects of Team-Based Learning on Social Studies Knowledge Acquisition in High School.
Creator: Wanzek, Jeanne, Vaughn, Sharon, Kent, Shawn, Swanson, Elizabeth, Roberts, Greg, Haynes, Martha, Fall, Anna-Maria, Spisak, Stephanie, Solis, Michael
Abstract/Description: This randomized control trial examined the efficacy of team-based learning implemented within 11th grade social studies classes. A randomized blocked design was implemented with 26 classes randomly assigned to treatment or comparison. In the treatment classes teachers implemented team-based learning practices to support students in engaging in dialogue about course content, application of content to solve problems, and use of evidence to support responses. Significant differences in favor of...
Show moreThis randomized control trial examined the efficacy of team-based learning implemented within 11th grade social studies classes. A randomized blocked design was implemented with 26 classes randomly assigned to treatment or comparison. In the treatment classes teachers implemented team-based learning practices to support students in engaging in dialogue about course content, application of content to solve problems, and use of evidence to support responses. Significant differences in favor of the treatment group on content acquisition were noted (Hedges' g = .19). Examination of differences in response to the treatment indicated groups of students classified with high or moderate pretest scores benefitted from the treatment, whereas a group of students classified with low pretest scores did not benefit from the treatment.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_fcrr-pubs-0006, 10.1080/19345747.2013.836765
Format: Citation

Title: The Need for an Islamic Pedagogy.
Creator: Sabrin, Mohammed, Easton, Peter, Milligan, Jeffrey, Luschei, Tom, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: For the neo-colonized Muslim ummah ("nation") without a place to fully practice Islam since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, there is pressing demand in the Muslim world for an Islamic pedagogy extracted from the Qur'an and Sunnah (and the rich scholarship that exists concerning them) that illustrates the Islamic perspective of knowledge and morality and how it could be practiced in the various disciplines of the educational system to promote human development (Cook 1999; Cook 2001). Re-newed...
Show moreFor the neo-colonized Muslim ummah ("nation") without a place to fully practice Islam since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, there is pressing demand in the Muslim world for an Islamic pedagogy extracted from the Qur'an and Sunnah (and the rich scholarship that exists concerning them) that illustrates the Islamic perspective of knowledge and morality and how it could be practiced in the various disciplines of the educational system to promote human development (Cook 1999; Cook 2001). Re-newed identification of the general public of Muslims with pre-colonization identities has been particularly on the rise since the 1970s—which is commonly known as the beginning of the "Islamic Awakening" in the Muslim world (Cook, 2001, p.381; Haddad and Esposito, 1991, p.1). However, similar to many other institutions in most modern day Muslim countries, formal education mostly consists of teaching methods inherited from previous colonizers, like rote memorization (Gesink, 2006, pgs. 328-329; Ofori-Attah, 2008, pgs.15, 18). This dissonance of values is perpetuated by corrupt authoritarian puppet regimes who seek to maintain their power by supporting Western hegemony in the region; hence, providing quality education that enhances critical thinking skills that might challenge the status quo is not an initiative that receives much support (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 2004, p.149). While teachers in the Muslim world, in places like Egypt, often teach Islamic and positivistic empirical sciences, both are taught through a banking theory approach that does little to develop critical thinking skills, let alone master basic conceptual knowledge. Aside from the ineffectiveness of such methods, such a teaching philosophy spreads a passive slave-like mentality to education which does not cultivate active citizens who will work for social justice . How one teaches reflects their values. The following exemplar of an Islamic pedagogy hopes to offer a culturally relevant solution. The intent of this research is to develop an Islamic pedagogy that inspires an active approach to creating change in one's society by changing oneself and working to be an active contribution to societal change simultaneously. This thesis focuses on Islamic Pedagogy as it relates to two branches-developing caring student/teacher relationships and utilizing these relationships to apply a case-based learning approach where students learn how to apply knowledge directly from the educator and from their peers. While this research is mostly theoretical and could possibly be valid for many parts of the Muslim world, the main geographical intent for application is Egypt.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2140
Format: Thesis

Title: Reflective Pedagogy: Making Meaning in Experiential Based Online Courses.
Creator: Guthrie, Kathy L.
Abstract/Description: The use of reflective pedagogies has long been considered critical to facilitating meaningful learning through experientially based curricula; however, the use of such methods has not been extensively explored as implemented in virtual environments. The study reviewed utilizes a combination of survey research and individual interviews to examine student perceptions of the meaningful learning which occurred as a result of their participation in two Web-based courses that utilized reflective...
Show moreThe use of reflective pedagogies has long been considered critical to facilitating meaningful learning through experientially based curricula; however, the use of such methods has not been extensively explored as implemented in virtual environments. The study reviewed utilizes a combination of survey research and individual interviews to examine student perceptions of the meaningful learning which occurred as a result of their participation in two Web-based courses that utilized reflective pedagogies. One course focuses on topics related to service-learning and the second on placement-based internships. Both were instructed using online coursework based in reflective pedagogies to compliment on-site placements within local communities.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_edlp_faculty_publications-0001X
Format: Citation

Title: Teaching and Learning Social Justice through Online Service-Learning Courses.
Creator: Guthrie, Kathy L., McCracken, Holly
Abstract/Description: Creating a virtual classroom in which diverse students feel welcome to discuss and experience topics related to social justice, action, and change is a study in the value of connectedness and collaboration. Through a combination of technologies, pedagogies, and on-site experiences, virtual cultures develop that encourage the formation of demanding yet stimulating learning environments in which communications and interactions are intellectually transformative. This article explores student...
Show moreCreating a virtual classroom in which diverse students feel welcome to discuss and experience topics related to social justice, action, and change is a study in the value of connectedness and collaboration. Through a combination of technologies, pedagogies, and on-site experiences, virtual cultures develop that encourage the formation of demanding yet stimulating learning environments in which communications and interactions are intellectually transformative. This article explores student perceptions of their participation in an online service-learning course while working in local service organizations. Qualitative methodology was used to identify the philosophical intersection at which multiple pedagogies meet: social justice, service-learning, civic engagement, and leadership as instructed in a web-based environment. This study illustrates the capacity for intentionally constructed online educational experiences focused on social justice, civic engagement, and leadership to affect learning and to provide educators with pedagogical best practices to facilitate requisite change in teaching practice., In this study, students working in local service organizations participated in an online service-learning course, and their perceptions were documented. Students shared discussions and experiences related to social justice, action, and civic engagement, as part of their web-based learning environment. Findings in this study illustrated the potential of online educational experiences to inform instructional best practices and create learning environments that are transformative.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_edlp_faculty_publications-0002, 10.19173/irrodl.v11i3.894
Format: Citation

Title: Effects of Spatial Visualization and Achievement on Students' Use of Multiple Representations.
Creator: Erbilgin, Evrim, Fernandez, Maria L., Jakubowski, Elizabeth M., Aspinwall, Leslie N., Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Recently, there has been a growing interest in research on students' use of multiple representations in mathematics education. This study focused on how and achievement affect students' use of multiple representations. The methodology used was case studies. The researcher conducted 16 interviews with four 8th grade students from the same regular mathematics class: one high achieving-high spatial ability, one high achieving-low spatial ability, one low achieving-high spatial ability, and one...
Show moreRecently, there has been a growing interest in research on students' use of multiple representations in mathematics education. This study focused on how and achievement affect students' use of multiple representations. The methodology used was case studies. The researcher conducted 16 interviews with four 8th grade students from the same regular mathematics class: one high achieving-high spatial ability, one high achieving-low spatial ability, one low achieving-high spatial ability, and one low achieving-low spatial ability. The students were asked linear equation and function problems requiring the use of different representations. Additionally, the mathematics class was observed for 7 hours. The Wheatley Spatial Ability test was applied to the class of 8th graders to determine the spatial ability levels of the students. The students' achievement levels were determined from students' Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, linear equation class exam scores, and consultation with the teacher. The findings suggest that both achievement and spatial visualization has effects on students' use of multiple representations.
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Date Issued: 2003
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0431
Format: Thesis

Title: Application of Workforce 2000/2020 Analysis to a Southern Rural Community.
Creator: Zuokemefa, Pade, Easton, Peter, Jones, Maxine, Herrington, Carolyn, Biance, Michael, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Since publication of the Hudson Institute report on Workforce 2000: Work and Workers in the 21st Century in 1987 and the appearance of its sequel, Workforce 2020, a decade later, a popular form of analysis of economic trends and adult education needs has emerged and its conclusions have been widely cited. The approach has, however, been developed and almost entirely applied at the "macro" level of regions, States and the country as a whole. This dissertation assesses the applicability and...
Show moreSince publication of the Hudson Institute report on Workforce 2000: Work and Workers in the 21st Century in 1987 and the appearance of its sequel, Workforce 2020, a decade later, a popular form of analysis of economic trends and adult education needs has emerged and its conclusions have been widely cited. The approach has, however, been developed and almost entirely applied at the "macro" level of regions, States and the country as a whole. This dissertation assesses the applicability and utility of a Workforce 2000/2020 type of analysis for a rural Southern minority community by performing a "double diagnosis" that involves 1) using the Workforce 2000/2020 framework to examine the learning challenges, needs and opportunities facing a small Southern rural community (Gretna, Florida) as it enters the 21st century; and 2) at the same time assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Workforce 2000/2020 as an approach to these issues in local rural and minority communities by observing and analyzing the results of this "experiment" with local stakeholders. The methodology used for this study was a "mixed method" procedure that combined an "embedded" case study framework with action research. Sampling was done at the community level (City of Gretna), and within-case (or local sampling scheme). Within-case or local sampling used elite, snowball and key informants strategies to identify stakeholder groups and choose participants within each group. The study was performed in three sequential phases. In the first phase, a Workforce 2000/2020 study was conducted of demographic and economic trends in the city of Gretna and their impact on labor supply and demand using both qualitative and quantitative data. In the second phase, these substantive results were analyzed with local stakeholder representatives and the patterns compared to those characteristics of "macro" Workforce 2000/2020 studies. Finally, the experience of the Gretna analysis itself was assessed and compared to the methodology of macro Workforce 2000/2020-type studies to examine the applicability of this approach to a rural minority community and the modifications required. The macro Workforce 2000/2020 analysis suggests that, nationwide, the skill level of our workforce is insufficient to meet the competitive challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. In short, there is a growing mismatch (or at least a growing risk of one) between a high level of demand for skilled labor and an inadequate supply of existing workers or new job entrants having those qualifications. Analysis of the situation in Gretna, however, suggests something rather different. There appears to be much less mismatch. The demand for skilled labor is very low and the supply of human resources is almost equally low. In fact, the picture for Gretna is more one of a region mired in low-level equilibrium of supply and demand than one of a disequilibrium created by unmet opportunity. The Workforce 2000/2020 approach offers several strengths and weaknesses. As a principal strength, the effort to line the supply of human resources against the demand for it provides some unique insight into the situation of the community and serves to assemble types of data and groups of actors, like educators and business people that are not often or as systematically brought into dialogue. On the other hand, however, the approach pays little attention to historical and social context, does not prescribe participatory measures designed to include the voices of those concerned, and puts preponderant emphasis on supply-side factors to the detriment of a critical understanding of the roots of demand. An attempt was made to remedy these principal shortcomings in the approach used for this study.
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Date Issued: 2003
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0473
Format: Thesis

Title: Making Sense of Students' Understanding of Fractions: An Exploratory Study of Sixth Graders' Construction of Fraction Concepts Through the Use of Physical Referents and Real World Representations.
Creator: Stewart, Veon, Jakubowski, Elizabeth, Bunea, Florentina, Aspinwall, Leslie, Fernandez, Maria L., Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study was an investigative, whole class descriptive research, on the development of twenty sixth graders' understanding of fractions as they interacted with physical referents, hands-on task-based activities and activities that model real life situations during eight weeks of a teaching sequence. The study was conducted in a metropolitan school situated in southeast Florida. The teaching sequence consisted of 12 task-based activities that spanned 20 sessions with each session lasting for...
Show moreThis study was an investigative, whole class descriptive research, on the development of twenty sixth graders' understanding of fractions as they interacted with physical referents, hands-on task-based activities and activities that model real life situations during eight weeks of a teaching sequence. The study was conducted in a metropolitan school situated in southeast Florida. The teaching sequence consisted of 12 task-based activities that spanned 20 sessions with each session lasting for approximately 60 minutes. Data was collected through audio- and video-recording, in addition to the numerous written tasks. The task-based activities that the students were involved with during this study were analyzed to gain an insight into their understanding of fractions in the context of subdividing, comparing and partitioning of continuous and discrete models and the connections they made with the fraction ideas generated through these activities. The study also examined how these students make sense of fractions and investigated how their performance differed when fractions were presented using different models. Herscovics and Bergeron's (1988) extended model of understanding, and the partitioning strategies identified by Charles and Nason (2000) and Lamon (1996) provided the theoretical framework through which the investigation was explored. Results from the study revealed that the participants exhibited an understanding of unit and non-unit fraction based on the components of the above-mentioned model of understanding. The students also displayed a number of different partitioning strategies. The knowledge growth that was evident in the whole class confirms earlier studies as to the significant role that partitioning plays in the basic development of the fraction concept. Although discrete models were used by the students, a majority of the students exhibited a preference for using continuous models as forms of reference for given fractions. The students appreciated working with fractions that model real world situations. Preliminary findings from this study seem to indicate that students should be introduced to fraction concepts via partitioning activities. The partitioning activities should be introduced in grades earlier than sixth grade. Further research can be undertaken to investigate the role partitioning activities play in the development of students' ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0390
Format: Thesis

Title: A Model for Assesing Future Retirment Adequacy of Recent College Graduates: Who Is at Risk of Under-Saving?.
Creator: Stiles, Jason L., Schwartz, Robert A., Cooper, David J., Dalton, Jon C., Hu, Shouping, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study created a model to assess the general retirement literacy and level of intention to save for retirement of recent Millennial college students about to graduate from four-year public universities in the United States. The study sought to answer the questions: How prepared are students to make informed and effective financial decisions related to their retirement at the point where they begin their careers? Which factors influence levels of preparation? What are the levels of...
Show moreThis study created a model to assess the general retirement literacy and level of intention to save for retirement of recent Millennial college students about to graduate from four-year public universities in the United States. The study sought to answer the questions: How prepared are students to make informed and effective financial decisions related to their retirement at the point where they begin their careers? Which factors influence levels of preparation? What are the levels of intention for these students regarding retirement investment? Identifying the segments of the new college graduate population that are particularly unprepared to act on retirement financial decisions is the first step toward intervening in a persistent and growing problem. Higher education administrators equipped with this information, as with existing efforts in student retention, have the ability to develop targeted strategies to improve educational outcomes. The theory of Optimal Retirement Investment is advanced as a result of the study. Conducted at two large four-year public universities, this study confirmed previous academic and popular observations that students are unprepared and will likely under-save for retirement. The study employed a quantitative causal comparative methodology and included the development of an online survey and two stochastic simulation models. The data generated from the survey and models were analyzed through reliability analysis to develop sub scales, and correlation and multiple regression analysis to identify factors influencing retirement literacy, retirement intention, and ultimately projected retirement savings balances.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0384
Format: Thesis

Title: Measures of Tongue Strength and Perceptual Characteristics of Speech in Parkinson Disease.
Creator: Prendergast, Tamika Michelle, Stierwalt, Julie, LaPointe, Leonard, Heald, Gary, School of Communication Science and Disorders, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The present study examined tongue strength and speech characteristics in six individuals with Parkinson disease across two sessions of approximately 20 months. The Iowa Oral Performance Instrument was used to measure tongue strength. In addition, speech samples were recorded and rated for respiration, articulation, resonance, and phonation by five speech-language pathologists experienced in the assessment and treatment of dysarthria. A Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to compare tongue...
Show moreThe present study examined tongue strength and speech characteristics in six individuals with Parkinson disease across two sessions of approximately 20 months. The Iowa Oral Performance Instrument was used to measure tongue strength. In addition, speech samples were recorded and rated for respiration, articulation, resonance, and phonation by five speech-language pathologists experienced in the assessment and treatment of dysarthria. A Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to compare tongue strength measures across the sessions. Wilcoxon signed ranks tests were also conducted to compare the judges' perceptual ratings over time. Results revealed a significant reduction in tongue strength at the second session. Perceptions of speech characteristics specifically, consonant imprecision, vowel imprecision, rate, and overall speech also demonstrated a consistent pattern of degradation over time, though those changes were not statistically significant.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0442
Format: Thesis

Title: African American Students' Graphic Understanding of the Derivative: Critical Case Studies.
Creator: Stringer, Eddy W., Aspinwall, Leslie N., Shaw, Kenneth, Easton, Peter, Jakubowski, Elizabeth, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Data suggests that a significant loss of African American students from STEM majors occur between their freshmen and sophomore year. This attrition corresponds to the time period when students encounter the calculus sequence. For this reason, calculus persists as a serious barrier preventing African American students from entering STEM fields. There has been a dearth of research studies on how African American students learn or engage in the learning of calculus. In this study, I developed...
Show moreData suggests that a significant loss of African American students from STEM majors occur between their freshmen and sophomore year. This attrition corresponds to the time period when students encounter the calculus sequence. For this reason, calculus persists as a serious barrier preventing African American students from entering STEM fields. There has been a dearth of research studies on how African American students learn or engage in the learning of calculus. In this study, I developed cases describing two African American participants – Matt and Danny- and their methods used to complete tasks and create meaning for the graphs of functions and their derivatives. Three research questions were investigated: 1. What is the role of graphic representations in African American male community college students' construction of the derivative in calculus? 2. How do African American male community college students synthesize graphic and analytic meaning of the derivative in calculus? 3. What pedagogical approaches are the most effective in assisting African American students with visual understanding of derivative graphs? During the task-based clinical interviews, the participants were presented with both analytic tasks and graphic tasks and asked to calculate derivatives when presented with analytic tasks (symbols) and to draw derivative when presented with the graphs as I sought to gain understanding of the mathematical processes. The participants' understanding of the derivative was different because of their preference for mathematical processing. Matt relied on analytic processing and symbolic representation. His understanding of the derivative merely involved the manipulation of formulas, which is dominated by most college mathematics examination. Danny relied on a combination of analytic processing and geometric processing and preferred to primarily operate on graphic representations. His understanding of the derivative was associated with both analytic representations (formulas) and graphic representation. This study found that the participants' knowledge was strongly associated with their mathematical processing capabilities. Matt's overreliance on his memory and analytic thinking impeded his understanding of derivative graphs. This one-sided thinking caused Matt's knowledge (procedural and conceptual) to be disconnected and only understood how to complete tasks when asked questions in the right context. Danny's harmonic thinking enabled him to complete tasks with much less difficulty than Danny. Danny's flexibility with his thinking allowed him to understand the changes in the slope of the tangents of graph when he was not presented with a formula to associate with the graphs. Both participants would frequently use verbal –description to aid their understanding of the behavior of derivative graphs when their analytic and visual thinking would fail. The study demonstrates that using graphical representation for functions and their derivative have the potential for producing richer understanding of the concept of the derivative. It also demonstrates that some African American students need further understanding of graphs with a cusp, a sharp corner, a vertical line, vertical asymptotes, or any other discontinuity. It also shows that students are able to connect their procedural knowledge with their conceptual knowledge when students are able to work between both graphic representation and analytic representations.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0397
Format: Thesis

Title: Foreign Language Reading Anxiety: Investigating English-Speaking University Students Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language in the United States.
Creator: Zhao, Aiping, Hasson, Deborah J., Wood, Susan, Lan, Feng, Kennell, Patrick, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The aim of this study was to explore the foreign language reading anxiety among learners of Chinese in colleges in the United States. Early studies on foreign language anxiety had an obvious focus on the language skill of speaking (e.g., Aida, 1994; Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Phillips, 1992; Young, 1986) and the foreign language anxiety study related to other language skills such as reading, listening and writing have not drawn researchers' attention until very recently (Cheng, Horwitz &...
Show moreThe aim of this study was to explore the foreign language reading anxiety among learners of Chinese in colleges in the United States. Early studies on foreign language anxiety had an obvious focus on the language skill of speaking (e.g., Aida, 1994; Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Phillips, 1992; Young, 1986) and the foreign language anxiety study related to other language skills such as reading, listening and writing have not drawn researchers' attention until very recently (Cheng, Horwitz & Schallert, 1999; Saito et al., 1999; Vogely, 1998). Foreign language reading anxiety is a construct that is related to but distinct from general foreign language anxiety (Saito, Horwitz, & Garza, 1999; Sellers, 2000; Shi & Liu, 2006). Alphabetic and syllabic target languages such as English, Spanish, and Japanese have been studied in the foreign language reading anxiety research but logographic language has rarely been included. By including Chinese, a logographic language, as a target language in research on the foreign language reading anxiety, this study intended to expand the understanding of the nature of foreign language reading anxiety and also the reading process of Chinese as a foreign language. According to the sociocognitive perspective of reading (Bernhardt, 1991), reading is a meaning-reconstruction process where readers interact with not only the text-based components but also the extra-text components of a reading passage. Text-based components are such as word recognition, phonemic/graphemic decoding, and syntactic features. In reading a Chinese passage, learners of Chinese usually spend excessive time on word recognition due to the non direct relation between the form and the pronunciation of a Chinese character. Humans are limited in cognitive capacity (Eysenck, 1992). Therefore, after most of the cognitive capacity is used in dealing with word recognition, very little cognitive capacity is available for the activation of discourse knowledge, prior knowledge, and metacognition that deal with the extra-text components. The inefficient reading process might lead to reading anxiety among readers. Bernhardt (2005) pointed out that the role of affect such as anxiety had been neglected from the previous reading models, which might explain some more of the variance in reading performance. A review of the previous studies demonstrated that many fundamental questions concerning foreign language reading anxiety such as the sources of foreign language reading anxiety and the relation between foreign language reading anxiety and foreign language reading performance had not been thoroughly investigated. Two basic assumptions raised by Saito et al. (1999) informed the proposed study. First, foreign language reading anxiety was a construct that was related to but distinct from foreign language anxiety. Second, foreign language reading anxiety varied depending on different target languages. In this study, the researcher explored the following specific research questions. 1. What is the foreign language reading anxiety level among English speaking university students learning Chinese as a foreign language in the United States? 2. What background variables are related to foreign language reading anxiety? a. Is gender related to foreign language reading anxiety? b. Is course level related to foreign language reading anxiety? c. Is time spent in China related to foreign language reading anxiety? 3. Is there a relationship between foreign language reading anxiety and foreign language reading performance? A survey research design was employed in this study. Survey research has been widely used in foreign language anxiety studies (e.g., Horwitz et al., 1986; Saito et al., 1999). A total of 125 learners of Chinese in a large public research university in the U.S. took part in this survey study. The primary data source came from the two anxiety instruments, namely, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986) and Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (Saito et al., 1999) and also a background information questionnaire. Data from an email interview were the secondary data source triangulating the results obtained from the primary data source. Statistical analysis such as 2*2*2 factorial ANOVA and Pearson Product - Moment correlation analysis were adopted in this study. The study found: 1.The level of foreign language reading anxiety was similar to the level of general foreign language anxiety among learners of Chinese. Reading Chinese as a foreign language was anxiety-provoking to some students. Unfamiliar scripts, unfamiliar topics and worry about the reading effect were identified as the main sources of foreign language reading anxiety. 2. There was a significant course level effect on the level of foreign language reading anxiety with intermediate students having a significantly higher level of foreign language reading anxiety than elementary students. 3. There was a significant negative correlation between foreign language reading anxiety and foreign language reading performance. The findings suggest that reading was as anxiety-provoking to learners of a non-cognate non-western language as speaking did. The unfamiliar scripts were found to be the major source of foreign language reading anxiety, which confirmed one of the hypothesized sources of Saito et al. (1999). The finding about the significant course level effect on the level of foreign language reading anxiety also conformed to the studies done among learners of Japanese (Kitano, 2001; Saito & Samimy, 1996; Samimy & Tabuse, 1992). This finding reminded instructors of Chinese that as students advanced into higher level classes their foreign language reading anxiety increased due to the new characters needed to be learned and the increasing level of difficulty of the reading passages. Measures such as raising students' radical awareness, choosing reading passages that fit students' proficiency level, providing background information about the topic of reading passage and giving evaluation feedback after the reading activity were suggested to decrease students' level of reading anxiety. The limitations in both the research design and the statistical analysis were acknowledged. The limitations in research design mainly came from the exclusion of advanced class students, the cancellation of the face to face small group discussion, the inclusion of the researcher's students, and the use of non standardized reading scores. The mean replacement of the missing data, the small cell size in the ANOVA analysis and the ceiling effect of the reading score were the limitations existing in the statistical analysis procedures. Future research was suggested to include advanced level students in examining the role that unfamiliar culture elements played in foreign language reading anxiety as advanced level students had more opportunity to encounter cultural elements in the more authentic reading materials. The relation between foreign language reading anxiety and the use of different word recognition strategies, different topics and styles of reading passages are also worth exploring.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0529
Format: Thesis

Title: Unique but Inclusive Individuality: A Dialogue with John Dewey and Liang Shuming Toward Educational Reform in China.
Creator: Zhang, Huajun, Milligan, Jeffrey Ayala, Anderson, Tom, Easton, Peter, Hu, Shouping, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation is written in the context of the radically changing Chinese society, in which the individual easily gets separated from the meaning of life and follows the dualistic social conventions for success. This problem is consistent with the situation of the present educational practice in schools. Education does not respond students' disconnection from the radically changing society and thus cannot provide a meaningful resource for cultivating individuals' self-identity. Thus, this...
Show moreThis dissertation is written in the context of the radically changing Chinese society, in which the individual easily gets separated from the meaning of life and follows the dualistic social conventions for success. This problem is consistent with the situation of the present educational practice in schools. Education does not respond students' disconnection from the radically changing society and thus cannot provide a meaningful resource for cultivating individuals' self-identity. Thus, this dissertation suggests a philosophy of education which highlights the cultivation of students' unique but inclusive individuality so that the individual learns how to nurture one's own mind in this radically changing context rather than getting lost and feeling empty. This conception of individuality is inspired by the American pragmatist John Dewey and the Chinese Confucian scholar Liang Shuming, a contemporary of Dewey. I use a methodology of comparative philosophy of education to discuss my proposal on individuality and education. I am not trying to write Dewey and Liang's thought in a "right" way; neither am I trying to compare Dewey and Liang's thought for judgment. It is more about dialogue and communication, to learn from different but related thoughts for solving the problem in the present. I am using a pragmatic approach to launch a philosophical discussion. Because my concern is shared by Dewey and Liang in their respective projects, this dialogue can be meaningful for my question. After discussing Dewey's and Liang's thoughts, I propose a new idea of education: to cultivate a unique but inclusive individuality by going through inner struggles and gaining self-enlightenment. Finally, the dissertation proposes story-telling as a teaching approach to create new space for students and teachers in school. Story-telling is a method that the individual can interpret life experience in multiple ways to explore different alternatives and possibilities she may have and to find the consistent meaning to connect the past to the present. It is also a method of self-expression when the individual goes through inner struggle and finds connection with the world outside. In this effort, the individual is developing a mind of her own. Narrative is thus a method worth trying in the current educational practice to formulate a new philosophy of education which emphasizes the development of unique and inclusive individuality as one goal of education.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0538
Format: Thesis

Title: The Impact of Engagement on the Academic Performance and Persistence of First-Year College Students at a Four-Year Public Institution.
Creator: Zhou, Juan, Hu, Shouping, Rice, Diana, Dalton, Jon, Schwartz, Robert A., Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Higher education stake holders and policy makers attach great importance to the accountability issue. Among the accountability measures, student academic performance and persistence are the two most commonly used college outcomes. Numerous studies have been focused on the factors affecting academic performance and persistence to provide implications for institution administrators in improving the accountability issue. Among the various factors, student engagement is a very popular variable...
Show moreHigher education stake holders and policy makers attach great importance to the accountability issue. Among the accountability measures, student academic performance and persistence are the two most commonly used college outcomes. Numerous studies have been focused on the factors affecting academic performance and persistence to provide implications for institution administrators in improving the accountability issue. Among the various factors, student engagement is a very popular variable that is demonstrated to be related to college outcomes. Engagement is defined as (Hu & Kuh, 2002, p.555) "the quality of effort students themselves devote to educationally purposeful activities that contribute directly to desired outcomes". However, the engagement studies mainly looked at the outcomes throughout the college years. Few studies explored the relationship between engagement and student outcomes for freshmen. This study aims at expanding the research in this area. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between first year college student engagement and their outcomes—academic performance represented by GPA and persistence. There are two guiding research questions to this study: 1) Is there a significant relationship between student engagement and student persistence among first year college students? 2) Is there a significant relationship between student engagement and student academic performance among first year college students? For the first question, since persistence was treated as a dichotomous variable in the study, binary logistic regression was used. For the second question, since GPA was treated as a continuous variable, multiple regression was used. The study also explored the impact of certain student characteristics on student outcomes. The set of characteristics includes gender, race/ethnicity, high school GPA, SAT/ACT scores, father's education level, mother's education level, financial aid, and enrollment status. The study utilized NSSE data from a southeastern four year public institution, combining it with student records obtained from the registrar's office from the same institution. There are 466 freshmen included in this study. These freshmen entered the university in the Fall semester of 2004. They took part in the NSSE survey in the Spring of 2005.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0517
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring a Program for Improving Supervisory Practices of Mathematics Cooperating Teachers.
Creator: Erbilgin, Evrim, Fernández, Maria L., Aspinwall, Leslie N., Chicken, Eric, Jakubowski, Elizabeth, Steadman, Sharilyn C., Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida...
Show moreErbilgin, Evrim, Fernández, Maria L., Aspinwall, Leslie N., Chicken, Eric, Jakubowski, Elizabeth, Steadman, Sharilyn C., Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: The purpose of the study was to understand how a program based on educative supervision supported the supervisory knowledge and practices of mathematics cooperating teachers. Educative supervision referred to a supervision style where the supervisors challenge student teachers' teaching methods by asking open-ended questions, discussing critical incidents from their teaching, moving away from being evaluative, and being sensitive to their zone of proximal development (Blanton, Berenson, &...
Show moreThe purpose of the study was to understand how a program based on educative supervision supported the supervisory knowledge and practices of mathematics cooperating teachers. Educative supervision referred to a supervision style where the supervisors challenge student teachers' teaching methods by asking open-ended questions, discussing critical incidents from their teaching, moving away from being evaluative, and being sensitive to their zone of proximal development (Blanton, Berenson, & Norwood, 2001). The case study method was followed in this study, where the case was the designed program. The program consisted of online discussions on reading materials or video clips, face to face communications, conducting weekly post-lesson conferences with the student teachers, and reflections on those post-lesson conferences. Three mathematics cooperating teachers and their student teachers were the participants of this study. Qualitative data analysis techniques were applied to all data sets to understand how the program supported the supervisory knowledge and practices of the cooperating teachers. Data was mainly analyzed from three perspectives. First, the amount of conversational time used by each participant was calculated. Secondly, content of the post-lesson conferences was classified into the following categories: Mathematics, Pedagogy, Mathematics Pedagogy, Teacher-Student Relationship, Classroom Management, and General Teacher Growth. Thirdly, the types of communications used by each participant were collapsed into the following categories: Questioning, Assessing, Suggesting, Describing, Explaining, and Emotional talking. Data analysis indicated some changes in the supervision style of the participating cooperating teachers towards the educative supervision. First, the percent of talking done by the student teachers in the post lesson conferences increased after the discussion of educative supervision in the program. Secondly, mathematics pedagogy became the most discussed content category in the post-lesson conferences. Furthermore, the depth of talks on mathematics pedagogy grew. Thirdly, the cooperating teachers moved away from conveying their feedback directly to the student teachers; they started asking open-ended questions to have the student teachers reflect on their teaching. Finally, having student teachers reflect on their teaching became a central goal for all of the cooperating teachers.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0555
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Kindergarten Entrance Age on Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement from Kindergarten Through Third Grade.
Creator: Yesil-Dagli, Ummuhan, Jones, Ithel, Kamata, Akihito, Wolfgang, Charles H., Lake, Vickie E., Connor, Carol McDonald, Department of Childhood Education, Reading and Disability...
Show moreYesil-Dagli, Ummuhan, Jones, Ithel, Kamata, Akihito, Wolfgang, Charles H., Lake, Vickie E., Connor, Carol McDonald, Department of Childhood Education, Reading and Disability Services, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: This study examined the longitudinal effects of age of entry into kindergarten on children's reading and mathematics achievement in kindergarten, first- and third-grade. Early entrants, younger-ontime, medial-ontime, older-ontime and delayed entrants were compared. The effect of absolute age of children at the time of kindergarten entry and relative age of children to their classmates was explored. Children's gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and preschool attendance were controlled....
Show moreThis study examined the longitudinal effects of age of entry into kindergarten on children's reading and mathematics achievement in kindergarten, first- and third-grade. Early entrants, younger-ontime, medial-ontime, older-ontime and delayed entrants were compared. The effect of absolute age of children at the time of kindergarten entry and relative age of children to their classmates was explored. Children's gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and preschool attendance were controlled. Children's beginning cognitive ability levels in reading and mathematics were controlled in the kindergarten year. Data for the study came from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Cross sectional analyses were conducted by utilizing 2-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) analyses, and longitudinal analyses were conducted utilizing cross classified random effects model (CREM). HLM results suggested that delayed students scored higher than medial ontime students in the kindergarten, first and third grade in reading and in the kindergarten, and first grade in mathematics. Older-ontime students scored higher and younger-ontime students scored lower than medial-ontime students in the kindergarten and first grade in reading and mathematics. Early entrant students' performance was lower than medial-ontime students in all grades in mathematics and in the kindergarten and first grade in reading. The effect of the absolute age was evident in all grades except for the first grade mathematics. Relative age was associated with kindergarten and first grade reading achievement and kindergarten mathematics achievement. CCRM results suggested that delayed entrant students scored significantly higher than medial-ontime students by the third grade in mathematics. The effect of the absolute age of children's entrance age was significant in the third grade mathematics achievement. No performance differences were evident among older-ontime, medial-ontime, younger-ontime and early entrant students in the third grade mathematics performances. Furthermore, there were no age effects by the third grade on the reading achievement or on the growth rate for reading and mathematics achievement. It was concluded the gap that appears to exist in the kindergarten year due to age effects disappear or diminish, while the gap due to gender, SES and ethnicity widens as children progress in their school year by the end of the third grade.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0652
Format: Thesis

Title: Co-Study Art Education: A Study of Integrated Curriculum.
Creator: Doster, Jennifer Ruth Jones, Anderson, Tom, Shargel, Emanuel, Funk, Fanchon, Rosal, Marcia, Department of Art Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Art in elementary and secondary schools is often tagged as a superfluous class, to be removed or restricted at the first sign of a budget crunch, and offered only after "real learning" has taken place. The values of art are often overlooked. Art is a language that utilizes the creative parts of the brain and has served as the core for some integrated curricula. Teachers have been increasingly encouraged to integrate their curricula with other subject matter because integration is viewed as a...
Show moreArt in elementary and secondary schools is often tagged as a superfluous class, to be removed or restricted at the first sign of a budget crunch, and offered only after "real learning" has taken place. The values of art are often overlooked. Art is a language that utilizes the creative parts of the brain and has served as the core for some integrated curricula. Teachers have been increasingly encouraged to integrate their curricula with other subject matter because integration is viewed as a way to deal with our era's increased information load, state mandates for school administrators concerning student performance, standardized curricula and assessment, and concern over relevancy of school to the workplace. This study focused on how art could be integrated more effectively with other subjects, in general, and specifically with American history. This study examined how an evolution of integrated curriculum, called Co-Study Curriculum, used art in the delivery of American history. The research questions addressed were: (1) Will the Co-Study Curriculum process enhance students' perceptions of their understanding of American history?, and (2) Does the Co-Study Curriculum process of integrating art and American history have an effect on students' attitudes toward art? This is a qualitative study with quantitative components; the research type is consistent with classroom action research. The methods used for assessment included: a post assessment survey of students' perceptions on the impact of the Co-Study Curriculum process and its usefulness in the classroom, a pre and post assessment of students' attitudes toward art, interviews of selected students, and teacher researcher observations. Included, also, is a Co-Study Curriculum Guide that provides step-by-step instructions for implementing the art activities used in this study. Each art activity in the guide is aligned with the Florida Curriculum Framework, Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies. A five-year longitudinal pilot study of the Co-Study Curriculum process preceded this study and gave the impetus for it. Findings from this study support the research questions, specifically, that the Co-Study Curriculum positively affected students' perceptions of their understanding of American history and their attitudes toward art. Implications of this study support that art education should consider broadening its concept and educational role by offering not only courses within its discipline but also by expanding its role through encouraging teachers of other subject matter to collaborate and integrate art into the presentation of their curriculum. Further, this broadened role should be taught within art education courses at the university level.
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Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0685
Format: Thesis

Title: Learning from the Beehive Collective: A Participatory Action Research Study of Image-Based Education in an Experimental Community.
Creator: Erler, Carolyn Ruth, Villeneuve, Pat, Milligan, Jeffrey, Anderson, Tom, Davenport, Melanie, Department of Art Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: In developing a curriculum for the Beehive Collective's "Plan Colombia" campaign, I examine how multiple narratives offering different points of view on the same topic can help viewers discover the ways that images and words are used to construct arguments, shape opinion, and recruit true believers. Following Burke (1974), I argue that the goal of communication is to persuade, and visual works of persuasion or argument are no different in this regard. Young people who are politically...
Show moreIn developing a curriculum for the Beehive Collective's "Plan Colombia" campaign, I examine how multiple narratives offering different points of view on the same topic can help viewers discover the ways that images and words are used to construct arguments, shape opinion, and recruit true believers. Following Burke (1974), I argue that the goal of communication is to persuade, and visual works of persuasion or argument are no different in this regard. Young people who are politically disengaged because of the obvious insincerity of political actors can benefit from exposure to multiple narratives and counter-narratives that address the crucial connection of fakery to fact.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0552
Format: Thesis

Title: Establishment of Literacy Standards for an Oral Language: The Case of Nafara Discourse Patterns, Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa.
Creator: Diarassouba, Sidiky, Carroll, Pamela S., Hellweg, Joseph, Hasson, Deborah, Milligan, Jeffrey, Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study sought to establish the rhetorical pattern of a major folktale genre known as mu'urii, in Nafara, a dialect of Senari, one of the major indigenous languages spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. This study will provide a basis for addressing the root causes of impediments to French (L2) literacy in Côte d'Ivoire. This study used oral folktales as a means of elicitation and vehicle of investigation. Three questions guided the researcher in this project. Question One was concerned with setting...
Show moreThis study sought to establish the rhetorical pattern of a major folktale genre known as mu'urii, in Nafara, a dialect of Senari, one of the major indigenous languages spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. This study will provide a basis for addressing the root causes of impediments to French (L2) literacy in Côte d'Ivoire. This study used oral folktales as a means of elicitation and vehicle of investigation. Three questions guided the researcher in this project. Question One was concerned with setting the conditions for establishing the discourse pattern of folktales in Nafara, while Questions Two and Three addressed the educational implications of findings that emerged from Question One. The research was framed in terms of two main theoretical foundations: 1) Discourse Analysis as a theory of human communication, and 2) the ethnography of communication. Nafara was oral until the present undertaking came to life. Therefore, a methodological field test was carried out to check the feasibility of the study. During this phase, Nafara grammar and lexicon were described, as a prerequisite for any textual analysis. This methodological field proved very beneficial as it allowed for setting a sound ground for the full study, during which further scrutiny into the materials collected allowed the investigator to get a better synthesis of the linguistic system of the language under investigation, by carrying out a description and analysis of more substantive Nafara texts. Discourse analysis was the major method of text analysis. It was supplemented with other methods, including ethnopoetics (an application of the ethnography of communication) and story grammar. Thus, using a combination of the foregoing methods, line, stanza, scene analysis and the narrative backbone of key events was identified to flesh out the discourse pattern in the Nafara genre in question. Establishing the rhetorical pattern is tantamount to building a model that reflects the way the notional content of the tale is organized to convey cultural meaning. Thus, after giving a full description of the rhetorical pattern based on one version of each popular tales, sketches of the rhetorical patterns that emerged from other tales were contrasted and compared with the more elaborate ones. First, versions of the same popular tale were set against each other, then the researcher looked across all the six versions, showing areas of differences and commonalities. The foregoing showed that while versions of the popular tales greatly differed in terms of supporting materials, the core discourse pattern was found to be constant across all versions of the tales. The researcher's contention is that awareness of the Nafara rhetorical pattern can serve as a vehicle for French (L2) education in Côte d'Ivoire, as it can provide a basis for teaching French grammar and composition through comparison and contrast with Nafara (L1) patterns. Therefore, knowledge of Nafara (L1) rhetorical organization is essential if the issue of underachievement in French (L2) education is to be efficiently tackled. Findings of this study will also provide a springboard for promoting reading and writing in Nafara. Another much expected spillover effect of this study is that its results will also offer options to writers (both native and non-native) by making them aware of differential issues in composition, according to the language and audience in view. The present study aimed to provide additional information for enhancing language education and learning in general in Côte d'Ivoire.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0740
Format: Thesis

Title: An Examination of Factors Influencing Student Performance and Persistence in a Heavily-Text Based Secondary Online Learning Environment.
Creator: Seay, Cheryl Hogg, Driscoll, Marcy P., Piazza, Carolyn, Dennen, Vanessa, Reiser, Robert, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how secondary education students perform and persist in a heavily text-based online learning environment. The study explored the following research questions: 1. How does reading achievement level influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online learning environment? 2. How does student motivation influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how secondary education students perform and persist in a heavily text-based online learning environment. The study explored the following research questions: 1. How does reading achievement level influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online learning environment? 2. How does student motivation influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online learning environment? 3. How does the design of online instructional materials and the learners' preferred mode of processing information influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online learning environment? 4. What are students' perceptions of instructional effectiveness and how do these perceptions influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online learning environment? 5. What are students' perceptions of school and parental support and how do these perceptions influence learners' performance and persistence in a heavily text-based secondary online learning environment? The study focused on students from low performing high schools who were enrolled in a state-required Florida Virtual School course, Life Management Course. The number of study participants was based on students enrolled in the course between August 2006 and July 2007, and a convenience sample of approximately 1,000 students were surveyed based on low-performing school enrollment data, course enrollment data and survey response rates for the Florida Virtual School. The intent of the researcher was to use a two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to better understand this phenomenon. The first phase involved, data including state-based reading assessment scores and responses to survey instruments were collected for each participant. The second phase involved learner support surveys administered to each study participant and an examination of the course in which they were enrolled. The general design of the study in this phase was a multiple-case design in which each individual participant was the unit of analysis. A cross-case analysis was conducted to identify possible patterns that emerged from the analysis of the individual participants or single case. However, due to the nature of the data collected, the qualitative aspects of data became the researcher's primary focus. The study involved two dependent variables: (1) student performance and (2) student persistence and the following independent variables: (1) student characteristics, (2) literacy skills, (3) motivation, (4) instructional design, (5) instructional effectiveness, and (6) learner support. The actual sample size for the study was 965 participants; however, there were only eight respondents. A preliminary review of the data collected revealed that there was not variance in either the performance or persistence outcomes; each of the respondents not only passed the Life Management course, but also persisted and received a course grade. Due to this lack of variance, the researcher was unable to perform statistical analysis which might establish a predictive relationship between the dependent and independent variables of the study. However, through the development of summary profiles for each of the eight respondents and descriptive data, the researcher was able to make some general observations about the individual cases and the aggregate data. Limitations and implications of the study, as well as recommendations for future research are provided.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0287
Format: Thesis

Title: A Longitudinal Comparison of Vocational and Non-Vocational Education Students in Leon County Public Secondary Schools: A Study of May 1999 & May 2000 High School Graduates.
Creator: Erefah, Ebenezer W., Thomas, Hollie, Rehm, Marsha, Snyder, William R., Greenwood, Bonnie B., Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was to compare vocational and non-vocational education students in public secondary schools in Leon County, Florida, to see whether high school graduates who were in vocational education programs in their 9th through 12th grades had more advantages in graduation, postsecondary school enrollment, employment, and wages, over their non-vocational education counterparts. In order to achieve this purpose, data for Godby, Leon, Lincoln, and Rickards High Schools' May 1999,...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to compare vocational and non-vocational education students in public secondary schools in Leon County, Florida, to see whether high school graduates who were in vocational education programs in their 9th through 12th grades had more advantages in graduation, postsecondary school enrollment, employment, and wages, over their non-vocational education counterparts. In order to achieve this purpose, data for Godby, Leon, Lincoln, and Rickards High Schools' May 1999, and May 2000, high-school and post-highschool were collected, analyzed, and compared. Eighth grade data were also collected to determine the subjects' socioeconomic status. A sample of 2,698 students was obtained from the four high schools involved in this study. The data for the investigation were obtained from the Florida Department of Education's (FDOE) "Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program" (FETPIP) and "Educational Information and Accountability Services" (EIAS) databases. Through "skewed" (rearranged) students identification numbers, it was possible to track each high school graduate to their eighth grade data. The analytical method heavily relied on descriptive statistics with intensive use of tables. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to summarize and analyze the data. Findings The study indicated that students in high school vocational education programs may have some advantages over non-vocational education students in terms of high school graduation, postsecondary school enrollment, employment and probably wages. The data indicated that participation in vocational education programs were distributed among the students that were representative of both the lower socioeconomic status (LSES) and the higher socioeconomic status (HSES) categories, male and female, black and white. The data further indicated that vocational education programs may have motivational values to the advantage of academically disadvantaged students, especially those within the LSES category, thereby enabling them to remain in school and graduate. Analyses of the data showed that in most cases, vocational education students, especially within the LSES, reported a higher rate of graduation from high school than their non-vocational education colleagues. The data further showed that in some cases, especially among the LSES black students, the more vocational education credits or courses a student earned in high school, the more likely the student graduates from high school. The study also indicated that vocational education high school graduates were very competitive against their non-vocational education high school counterparts in terms of college enrollments. In some cases, especially among the LSES students, vocational education high school graduates reported higher rates of university enrollments than non-vocational education students. Regarding community college enrollment, the study indicated that both vocational and non-vocational education high school graduates were more attracted to the Associate in Arts (AA) degrees (college transfer option) than the Associate in Science (AS) degree programs (more professional and work option). The study further indicated that most vocational education high school graduates who enrolled in undergraduate BS degree programs were majoring in the fields similar to the vocational education programs in which they were trained in high school. Higher rates of employment were also reported among vocational education high school graduates than among non-vocational education counterparts. The study further showed that high school graduates who had participated in a Diversified Cooperative Education vocational program (internship or on-the-job training program), Business Technology Education, Computer Science Education, and Family and Consumer Science Education in high school were more likely than were non-vocational education colleagues to be employed in professional fields such as banks, doctors offices, law enforcement, hotels, and with more hours, and presumably better wages. The study also indicated that in some cases, vocational education high school graduates who were working in the fields for which they were trained in high school earned more wages with more working hours than did their non-vocational education colleagues. Since these were only high school graduates with limited occupational skills and job experience, the wage differences between vocational and non-vocational education high school graduates may not be very wide. Conclusions: Participation in vocational education enhanced the chances of high school graduation, especially if the students earn two or more vocational education credits or courses, improved the chances of enrollment in undergraduate BS, AA, and AS degree programs, and also improved the prospect of job opportunities and higher wages, especially among the students and high school graduates who worked in the fields for which they were trained in high school. These benefits of vocational education over non-vocational education were more noticeably among lower socioeconomic status black male and female, and white female students and high school graduates.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0554
Format: Thesis

Title: Preschool Children's Multimodal Meaning Making: Verbal and Nonverbal Comunication within Two Different Clasroom Settings.
Creator: Dogan, Zubeyde, Jones, Ithel, Rutledge, Stacey, Rice, Diana, Valente, Joseph, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study investigated the effects of two different classroom contexts, sociodramatic play and a teacher led activity, on children's use of verbal and non-verbal communication. Additionally, the effect of children's gender on their use of verbal and non-verbal communicational modes was examined. Participating in the study were 24 children between the ages of 37 and 55 months old, who were attending two preschools. The data collection was completed through observation of children's play and...
Show moreThis study investigated the effects of two different classroom contexts, sociodramatic play and a teacher led activity, on children's use of verbal and non-verbal communication. Additionally, the effect of children's gender on their use of verbal and non-verbal communicational modes was examined. Participating in the study were 24 children between the ages of 37 and 55 months old, who were attending two preschools. The data collection was completed through observation of children's play and teacher-led reading-retelling -drawing activities. Children were observed on two occasions for each activity, and the total observation time was 40 minutes per child. The observations were conducted during a three week period. Data analyses were completed by using Descriptive and Repeated measurement ANOVA statistical techniques. The study's findings, consistent with current thinking, showed that in the two preschool contexts (open and closed field) the young children used multimodal communication when interacting with their peers. The observations illustrated that children used their facial expressions to communicate their willingness or unwillingness to start or continue playing, or participating in teacher-led activities. While the pointing gestures were used to accompany requests, or direct the attention of others; the metaphoric gestures were used to supplement language when explaining. According to the findings, children use language to serve a variety of functions during different classroom activities. In the play context, language is used mostly to serve imaginative and interactional functions. In the closed-field context, where the interaction was led by the teacher, the most common language function used by the children was informative language.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0719
Format: Thesis

Title: An Investigation of the Current Status of Aquatic Physical Activity in K-12 Public School Physical Education Programs in the State of Florida.
Creator: Beale, Angela Kishaun, Lynn, Susan K., Milton, Sandi, Walsdorf, Kristie, Imwold, Charles H., Department of Sport Management, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the current status of Aquatic Physical Activity (APA) in K-12 public school physical education programs in the state of Florida. If steps are ever to be taken to effectively promote APA in Florida public schools, efforts must be made to assess the current standing of such programs. Seven research questions guided the study. In general, questions focused on the extent and types of aquatic programs used in Florida public schools, the attitudes of...
Show moreThe purpose of the study was to investigate the current status of Aquatic Physical Activity (APA) in K-12 public school physical education programs in the state of Florida. If steps are ever to be taken to effectively promote APA in Florida public schools, efforts must be made to assess the current standing of such programs. Seven research questions guided the study. In general, questions focused on the extent and types of aquatic programs used in Florida public schools, the attitudes of physical educators towards APA, the accessibility of aquatic facilities, the professional qualifications of educators relative to teaching APA, and the varying uses of APA based on school level and based on school location in Florida. A quantitative approach was used to conduct this research utilizing a survey technique. The principal research design was a descriptive cross-sectional design. The population for this study consisted of physical educators in Florida K-12 public schools. Data was collected through a self-administered on-line survey in an effort to gather descriptive information. Descriptive statistics including frequency distributions and percentages were used to analyze the participants' responses to the questions. Analysis of Variance was reported and discussed. The research questions were answered by the information gathered from the survey questionnaire. Additionally any unsolicited qualitative comments offered by participants regarding the study were used to provide more depth and meaning for quantitative data. The following conclusions were reached based on the analysis of data from this study: a) the majority of physical education professionals do not use APA within their physical education classes; b) instructional swimming is the most commonly used type of APA in Florida's public school physical education programs; c) the majority of physical education professionals agree that APA is a valuable component within a program, but that the barriers (e.g., lack of aquatic facilities, scheduling conflicts, safety issues, feasibility, lack of training) toward implementing an APA program are many; d) most physical education professionals do hold aquatic certifications; e) the majority of physical education professionals have not ever attended an APA workshop or training; but would be willing to attend an APA workshop within their school district were workshops offered; and f) the majority of physical education professionals did not have access to on-site aquatic facilities.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1169
Format: Thesis

Title: The Dynamics of Implementing Continuing Professional Education Legislation: A Case Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Comprehensive System of Personnel Development.
Creator: Wesley, Marilyn Elaine, Easton, Peter B., Sampson, James, Ebener, Deborah, Rutledge, Stacey, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The state/federal Vocational Rehabilitation program assists eligible individuals with disabilities in entering or returning to employment. In 1998, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, was further amended to require vocational rehabilitation counselors in the state/federal program to upgrade their academic credentials in order to be "qualified" to serve their customers. This generally meant that counselors who did not have a graduate degree in rehabilitation counseling or a closely...
Show moreThe state/federal Vocational Rehabilitation program assists eligible individuals with disabilities in entering or returning to employment. In 1998, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, was further amended to require vocational rehabilitation counselors in the state/federal program to upgrade their academic credentials in order to be "qualified" to serve their customers. This generally meant that counselors who did not have a graduate degree in rehabilitation counseling or a closely related field had to obtain one. There were a substantial number of counselors affected by the requirements of this Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) section of the law. States have been working since then to comply with the requirement. Some have achieved full compliance while others continue to struggle. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation strategies used by various states over the past twelve years in order to achieve compliance with the federal CSPD mandate, to investigate the lessons learned from their successes and failures, and to determine the role that adult and continuing education has played in the successful initiatives. This study operates within the framework of adult education and represents an instance of implementation research that is devoted to identifying policy solutions to a pressing social problem and to understanding better the training-related factors that underlie these solutions. This project used a case study approach to investigate, analyze, and compare the "implementation histories" of an elite sample of states and a key informant interview strategy to help interpret the data assembled in this way. Triangulation between the two sets of data was used to analyze the record of individual and collective experiences and to draw conclusions. Study findings included the following: while there were some differences in the implementation strategies employed by the states, none emerged as clear markers for implementation success or failure; high-compliance states shared some common economic and demographic characteristics including higher median household income, less diverse population, lower state agency turnover rate, and higher average counselor starting salary than low- and medium-compliance states; the proliferation of online Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling programs has substantially assisted state agencies in working toward compliance; compliance success is substantially hampered by the shortage of qualified personnel, and it appears that the shortage will continue and is likely to get worse. These findings suggest that it is unlikely that full compliance will be achieved under the current system and structure.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1179
Format: Thesis

Title: An Analysis of the Academic Success Inventory for College Students: Construct Validity and Factor Scale Invariance.
Creator: Welles, Theresa L. (Theresa Lopez), Prevatt, Frances, Stepina, Lee, Sampson, James, Turner, Jeannine, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State...
Show moreWelles, Theresa L. (Theresa Lopez), Prevatt, Frances, Stepina, Lee, Sampson, James, Turner, Jeannine, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: The Academic Success Inventory for College Students (ASICS) is a newly developed self-report instrument designed to measure academic success in college students. The findings in this study provide evidence for the construct validity of the ASICS by proving reliability and the following subvalidities: face, content, factor, and discriminant. Using MANOVA to compare honors and at-risk college students, significant differences were indicated on most of the scales of the ASICS in the expected...
Show moreThe Academic Success Inventory for College Students (ASICS) is a newly developed self-report instrument designed to measure academic success in college students. The findings in this study provide evidence for the construct validity of the ASICS by proving reliability and the following subvalidities: face, content, factor, and discriminant. Using MANOVA to compare honors and at-risk college students, significant differences were indicated on most of the scales of the ASICS in the expected direction of more positive functioning by the honors students. Two of the scales, external motivation/future and lack of anxiety indicated no statistically significant differences. Further analysis of factor scale invariance was implemented using MG-CFA, which involved estimation of a series of models testing invariance by comparing the GFI statistics of particular models with between-group constraints. An omnibus test of equality of covariance matrices and mean vectors across two groups was highly significant. Additional configural invariance testing indicated that the general pattern of fixed and free factor loadings in the ten-factor model does not hold across groups. An examination of the MIs revealed that in both groups most items have small to moderate factor loadings on factors with which they are not supposed to be correlated. Explanations for partial invariance are offered and implications for practice and future research are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1189
Format: Thesis

Title: Shared Knowledge in High School Basketball Teams: Effects on Team Performance.
Creator: Weisman, Jeff, Eccles, David, Tenenbaum, Gershon, Johnson, Tristan, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study used three high school varsity and three high school junior varsity basketball teams to examine the relationship between players' basketball experience (with their team, their teammates, and with basketball) with shared knowledge and shared knowledge's relationship to performance. Participants completed several measures that related to demographic information, basketball experience, and shared knowledge. The results showed that varsity players had more experience playing at their...
Show moreThis study used three high school varsity and three high school junior varsity basketball teams to examine the relationship between players' basketball experience (with their team, their teammates, and with basketball) with shared knowledge and shared knowledge's relationship to performance. Participants completed several measures that related to demographic information, basketball experience, and shared knowledge. The results showed that varsity players had more experience playing at their school and at the varsity level than junior varsity players. Varsity players also tended to possess more shared knowledge than junior varsity players. There was also some evidence that shared knowledge aids team performance. Finally, players whose primary position was either a point guard or shooting guard reported that they understood the responsibilities of the guard positions better than they did the power forward and center positions. The reverse of this was true for players whose primary position was either a power forward or center. The results of the study support the shared knowledge concept in high school basketball teams.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1212
Format: Thesis

Title: The Mckay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities: Parents' Use of Information and Information Sources.
Creator: Weidner, Virginia R., Herrington, Carolyn D., Oseroff, Andrew, Biance, Michael, Beckham, Joseph, Iatarola, Patrice, Harris, Doug, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy...
Show moreWeidner, Virginia R., Herrington, Carolyn D., Oseroff, Andrew, Biance, Michael, Beckham, Joseph, Iatarola, Patrice, Harris, Doug, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: This paper reports on the results of a study on the information and information sources that parents use when choosing a school under the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program. Surveys were sent to parents of students using the voucher in Duval County Florida and to parents of students with disabilities who are in the public school system. The results indicate that parents collect information on class size, academic quality, quality of teachers, special education...
Show moreThis paper reports on the results of a study on the information and information sources that parents use when choosing a school under the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program. Surveys were sent to parents of students using the voucher in Duval County Florida and to parents of students with disabilities who are in the public school system. The results indicate that parents collect information on class size, academic quality, quality of teachers, special education programs, and curriculum. The types of information collected were consistent across race/ethnicity, income levels, area of student's disability, level of parents' education and parents' motivation. The most frequently used sources for information were the Florida Department of Education, friends/relatives, the private schools, and the Web/Internet. The Florida Department of Education was the most frequently used source for information on the scholarship; while the Web/Internet was the most frequently used source for information on the schools that accept the vouchers. Advocacy groups and professionals not associated with the schools were used as sources most often by respondents with children with higher levels of needed services and with low incidence disabilities. The data lend support to concerns that vouchers that are not limited to low income families will be used more often by parents with higher levels of education and income. Although, race/ethnicity did not appear to be a factor in information gathering in this study, the data indicate that more than sixty percent of African-American and Hispanic respondents who are using the McKay Scholarship are attending private religious schools. Currently, there is a case before the Florida Supreme Court which could find the use of vouchers at religious schools unconstitutional. The findings indicate that if vouchers cannot be used in religious schools then African-American and Hispanic families will be adversely affected to a greater extent than non-minority families. The data also indicate that parents of students using a voucher are more satisfied with the school their child attends and with the information and information sources they used than are public school parents.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1218
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring Phonemic Awareness in Preschool English Language Learners.
Creator: Bell, Douglas D., Jones, Ithel, Mullis, Ronald, Wolfgang, Charles, Lake, Vickie, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The importance of early literacy has been supported by research for many years. Children that are English language learners are at particular risk for literacy difficulties. Phonemic awareness, particularly segmentation and blending, is accepted as being an important factor in literacy ability. There are very few studies that explore phonemic awareness as early as preschool. The present study explored the facilitation of phonemic awareness with preschool English language learners....
Show moreThe importance of early literacy has been supported by research for many years. Children that are English language learners are at particular risk for literacy difficulties. Phonemic awareness, particularly segmentation and blending, is accepted as being an important factor in literacy ability. There are very few studies that explore phonemic awareness as early as preschool. The present study explored the facilitation of phonemic awareness with preschool English language learners. Developmentally appropriate play based activities were used to scaffold phonemic awareness in the treatment group. The teachers were scaffolded in the ability to provide this instruction either by training or coaching. The results indicated a significant change in phonemic segmentation ability from the pretest to the post test.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1308
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of the Delivery Style of Teacher Feedback on the Writing Self-Efficacy and Dispositions of Young Students.
Creator: Hawthorne, Jennifer, Rice, Diana, Schwartz, Robert A., Piazza, Carolyn, Davis, Angie, Witte, Shelbie, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of the delivery method of teacher feedback on elementary students' writings upon the writing self-efficacy and dispositions of young students. The participants in the study were third grade students from a public elementary school in the Southeastern United States. Using Bandura's social learning theory (1977) which holds that personality differences are acquired through the learning process, especially through the process of modeling,...
Show moreThe purpose of this research was to examine the effect of the delivery method of teacher feedback on elementary students' writings upon the writing self-efficacy and dispositions of young students. The participants in the study were third grade students from a public elementary school in the Southeastern United States. Using Bandura's social learning theory (1977) which holds that personality differences are acquired through the learning process, especially through the process of modeling, data were collected to measure two affective domains of writing, self-efficacy and dispositions. During a nine-week study in which a comparison group had teacher feedback written on a separate rubric sheet and a treatment group had feedback written directly on their papers both based on the Six Traits of Writing, students were given a pre-test and post-test Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (Shell, Colvin, & Bruning, 1995) and a Writing Dispositions Scale (Piazza & Siebert, 2008). Analysis of Covariance and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance were used in the evaluation of hypotheses related to self-efficacy, dispositions, gender, and skill level. No significant differences were found between the comparison and treatment groups, by gender, or by skill level; however, significant differences by teacher were observed on the Writing Self-Efficacy Scale. The results of this study provide teachers with practical applications for the classroom as well as address gaps in current writing research.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4196
Format: Thesis

Title: The Women's Studio Workshop: Inside an All-Woman Art Space.
Creator: Hallmark, Kara Kelley, Anderson, Tom, Milligan, Jeffrey, Orr, Penny, Villeneuve, Pat, Department of Art Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study is to bring to the forefront the lives and experiences of women artists within one context, the Women's Studio Workshop. In order to ensure that women artists have equal inclusion in the canon, we must record their lives and work (Sandell & Collins, 1997; Korzenik, 1990; Nochlin, 1971). In response to the lack of opportunities, U.S. women artists have organized for more than a century (Briggs, 1932; Skiles, 1975; Sturken, 1978). An upsurge of women's artist...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to bring to the forefront the lives and experiences of women artists within one context, the Women's Studio Workshop. In order to ensure that women artists have equal inclusion in the canon, we must record their lives and work (Sandell & Collins, 1997; Korzenik, 1990; Nochlin, 1971). In response to the lack of opportunities, U.S. women artists have organized for more than a century (Briggs, 1932; Skiles, 1975; Sturken, 1978). An upsurge of women's artist organizations occured during the early 1970s feminist art movement as a part of the larger women's liberation movement (Brodsky, 1994). Driven by my curiosity about women artist organizations, I located a present day group of women artists to research. The overarching question "What is the nature of one woman centered art space?" guided my inquiry and the overarching theme of giving voice to the women artists shaped the story. The Women's Studio Workshop is one example of a women's artist community that provides support, education, exhibition, employment, and empowerment to women artists since the early 1970s. Fully immersed in the environment, I observed daily activities, interviewed staff and visiting artists, and participated in the community on three separate visits over the course of 18 months. The findings are presented as a series of little narratives that thread together to tell one story of the Women's Studio Workshop. The stories revealed a community with connection to history and its surrounding environment. The Women's Studio Workshop is its own miniature art world that is both separate from and working within the art world at large. A grass-roots nonprofit organization, the workshop provides opportunities for women artists to create art in a room of their own. The workshop is a place where artists from several different generations can usually be found collaborating, sharing, and growing together. Although the workshop does not hold an overtly political agenda, indeed the actions of the workshop are woman-centered, which sets the stage for political activity and dialogue. Women reportedly felt more comfortable in a woman-centered environment, free to have intimate conversations and talk without censoring their words. This feminist inspired inquiry was shaped largely by my own personal perspective, which is explicitley stated throughout the findings and intrepretations. For art education, this literature will be another example of a women's artist organization that functions as a community arts program by collaborating with local schools and an example of women artists organizing and making their way in the world as artists despite discriminatory obstacles and as an example of careers in the arts for both the female and male art student. For the disclipline of women's studies, this paper will serve as another source of feminist praxis, illustrating where and how action reflects and supports feminist theory as well as contributing to the documentation of women's lives and experiences.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4313
Format: Thesis

Title: An Exploratory Study of the Use of Resources by Students with Diverse Levels of Mathematics Self-Efficacy.
Creator: Hamilton, Margelet, Jakubowski, Elizabeth, Milton, Sande, Gallard, Alejandro J., Shaw, Ken, School of Teacher Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this quantitative research study was to observe if students' levels of Mathematics Self-Efficacy (MSE) had any effect on how they used resources available to them through an academic intervention and retention program. The sample size consisted of 81 students admitted to a four year university under the special criteria of first-generation, single parent household, and/or financially disadvantaged status. This study was completed during one standard university semester (approx....
Show moreThe purpose of this quantitative research study was to observe if students' levels of Mathematics Self-Efficacy (MSE) had any effect on how they used resources available to them through an academic intervention and retention program. The sample size consisted of 81 students admitted to a four year university under the special criteria of first-generation, single parent household, and/or financially disadvantaged status. This study was completed during one standard university semester (approx. 4 months). A survey tool was used to measure their MSE levels and their frequency of usage of specified resources. The results suggested that those students with a positive change in MSE showed an increase in a variety of resources were as those who had a negative or no change in their MSE levels showed a decrease in their usage of the same resources. It was also identified that for more conclusive results, this study could be converted into a longitudinal study.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4305
Format: Thesis

Title: A Case Study of a Summer Music Camp and the Impact of Participation on Perceptions of the College of Music and the Hosting University.
Creator: Hampton, Chris, Rosal, Marcia, Gertz, Marc, Schrader, Linda, Gussak, David, Department of Art Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study focuses on a group of students participating in a summer music camp on a large public university's main campus. The study investigates their characteristics and illuminates some of the influences and important factors within their college choice process. Ultimately, the study is intended to increase the knowledge about potential students within the fine arts so that more of the best, brightest and most prepared can be matched with institutions of higher education. The study began...
Show moreThis study focuses on a group of students participating in a summer music camp on a large public university's main campus. The study investigates their characteristics and illuminates some of the influences and important factors within their college choice process. Ultimately, the study is intended to increase the knowledge about potential students within the fine arts so that more of the best, brightest and most prepared can be matched with institutions of higher education. The study began with an observation of the demographic and biographic characteristics within a sample of music campers enrolled in a summer program for high school students at the hosting university. The analysis of this data was used to uncover the type of students interested in pursuing further education in the fine arts. In addition, the study examined student perceptions of the College of Music and the hosting university during and after participation in the program as related to four selected college choice factors identified in the literature on academic marketing. Furthermore, an aim of the research was to observe the importance of college choice factors for these individuals. The study involved quantitative and qualitative analysis including pre and post-camp surveys and focus groups, a t test along with means and standard deviation were conducted. Four focus groups were conducted with campers to augment the pre and post-survey data. Questions asked in the groups mirrored the survey's focus on perceptions of the four college choice factors: faculty, facilities, social atmosphere and academics. The focus group results were intended to offer insight into perceptions of College of Music and the hosting university's qualities, but delve much deeper into the camper's experience, their feelings, thoughts, and priorities regarding the four college choice factors. A descriptive narrative was created from the transcriptions and two camper profiles were also created to further understanding of the college choice dynamic among fine arts students in the music camp at the hosting university.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4299
Format: Thesis

Title: Prospective Secondary Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge of the Concept of Function.
Creator: Haciomeroglu, Guney, Jakubowski, Elizabeth M., Song, Kai-Sheng, Aspinwall, Leslie N., Fernández, Maria L., Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The current study examined two prospective secondary mathematics teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of the concept of functions as they completed a function questionnaire, card sorting activity, analysis of two lesson plans and their video recorded teaching, preparation and analysis of lesson plan on exponential functions, and video teaching episode of the lesson plan on exponential functions during six weeks of a teaching sequence. The task-based activities...
Show moreThe current study examined two prospective secondary mathematics teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of the concept of functions as they completed a function questionnaire, card sorting activity, analysis of two lesson plans and their video recorded teaching, preparation and analysis of lesson plan on exponential functions, and video teaching episode of the lesson plan on exponential functions during six weeks of a teaching sequence. The task-based activities that the prospective secondary mathematics teachers were involved in during this study were analyzed to gain insight into their knowledge of the concept of functions. Even's (1989) framework was used to examine the participants' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of the concept of functions. The model of Wilson, Shulman and Richert (1987) was used to organize the tasks and investigate whether or not their pedagogical content knowledge improved as a result of doing these tasks. The study also examined the relationship between the prospective secondary mathematics teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of the concept of functions. The results of the study revealed that the participants mentioned the nature of univalence property but did not know the arbitrary nature of functions. The study also revealed excessive use of the vertical line test without explaining what it meant to fail the test, why it worked or why it was or was not a function. The participants' understanding of functions among different representations was very weak and not connected. Participants' weak subject matter knowledge as well as weak pedagogical content knowledge prevented them from taking students misconceptions, sources of incorrect solutions, into account. The participants did gain some experience in preparing and teaching a lesson. However, they did not show a big improvement during the lesson plan analysis. In their teaching and the evaluation of their teaching, they pointed out important issues: strong and weak aspects of lesson plans, things to change in their lesson, and weakness and strength of their teaching.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4343
Format: Thesis

Title: A Qualitative Study to Determine How Art Therapy May Benefit Women with Addictions Who Have Relapsed.
Creator: Hagens, Cherry A., Gussak, David, Rosal, Marcia, Anderson, Tom, Department of Art Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Chemical dependency addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Addiction interferes with an individual's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual development. This qualitative study focused on women who have relapsed from previous attempts at sobriety and investigated how art may allow for deeper personal exploration and emotional expression. Each participant was given the opportunity to express her concerns about her multiple attempts...
Show moreChemical dependency addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Addiction interferes with an individual's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual development. This qualitative study focused on women who have relapsed from previous attempts at sobriety and investigated how art may allow for deeper personal exploration and emotional expression. Each participant was given the opportunity to express her concerns about her multiple attempts in recovery and the use of art for clarification of her needs. The women were interviewed regarding their ideas of harm reduction, relapse prevention, and motivation in recovery. Using a heuristic philosophy for the collection of data and materials, this study profited from empirical information acquired through observation, inquiry, and content analysis of daily journals. Using a grounded theory approach, the interview style changed according to the individual's needs and as additional material and responses was collected. These interviews, discussion of personal art, observations made during the session, and content analysis of journals from both therapist and client were triangulated to find common themes about these women's ideas about the recovery process from addictions. The benefits of art therapy with people with chemical dependency addictions were gleaned from the nine weeks of qualitative research.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4338
Format: Thesis

Title: Pursuing STEM and Related Careers: The Role of Math Self-Efficacy and High School Math and Science Courses in Building Momentum.
Creator: Ramp, Laura, Iatarola, Patrice, Ueno, Koji, Preston, Courtney, Rutledge, Stacy A., Perez-Felkner, Lara, Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Educational...
Show moreRamp, Laura, Iatarola, Patrice, Ueno, Koji, Preston, Courtney, Rutledge, Stacy A., Perez-Felkner, Lara, Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
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Abstract/Description: Education policy over the past decade has often focused on increasing participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. A number of studies indicate that the STEM pipeline "leaks," as individuals who pursue STEM college majors do not follow through with occupations in these fields. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002 and from the General Social Surveys (GSS) for 2010, 2012, and 2014, I expand the concept of STEM momentum to explore...
Show moreEducation policy over the past decade has often focused on increasing participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. A number of studies indicate that the STEM pipeline "leaks," as individuals who pursue STEM college majors do not follow through with occupations in these fields. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002 and from the General Social Surveys (GSS) for 2010, 2012, and 2014, I expand the concept of STEM momentum to explore how momentum builds in high school and carries into postsecondary enrollment and occupations. In addition, with the GSS data, participants are grouped by age to explore any patterns that may emerge in aligning outcomes with shifts in the labor market and in policy. Moreover, the occupations included as STEM and applied STEM are expanded to include occupations in these fields that require any level of education or certification above a high school diploma. I find that math self-efficacy and high school math and science coursework completed matter for building STEM momentum. This momentum carries into postsecondary enrollment and college major selection. The momentum built from math self-efficacy and high school math and science coursework completed carries indirectly into occupation through college major. In terms of labor market and policy shifts, I find that there appears to be increases in participation in STEM fields by females and different racial groups, although, gaps remain. I find that the STEM pipeline not only continues to "leak" for STEM fields, but it also "leaks" for applied STEM fields.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_FA2016_Ramp_fsu_0071E_13508
Format: Thesis

Title: The Impact of Service-Learning on the Leadership Development of Adolescent Students in an Advanced Language Arts Class.
Creator: Holmes, Lindsay Anne, Hanline, Mary Frances, Al Otaiba, Stephanie Dent, Rivera, Mabel, Department of Childhood Education, Reading and Disability Services, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: In 1972 the Marland Report included "leadership" as a domain of giftedness to be used in the identification of students for gifted and talented programs. Following the publication of the report, educators and researchers began to notice the deficit of effective leadership training programs available to students identified as gifted and talented in the United States (Feldhusen & Kennedy, 1988; Karnes & Chauvin, 1986; Passow, et. al., 1989; Sisk, 1988; Smyth & Ross, 1999). Current literature...
Show moreIn 1972 the Marland Report included "leadership" as a domain of giftedness to be used in the identification of students for gifted and talented programs. Following the publication of the report, educators and researchers began to notice the deficit of effective leadership training programs available to students identified as gifted and talented in the United States (Feldhusen & Kennedy, 1988; Karnes & Chauvin, 1986; Passow, et. al., 1989; Sisk, 1988; Smyth & Ross, 1999). Current literature points to transformational leadership as the most effective style. Transformational leaders inspire, motivate, support, and work towards the best interests of a group (Karnes & Bean, 1996; Ross & Smyth, 1995). Although leadership training programs based on building transformational skills are rare in the United States, service-learning is one movement already in existence that provides students with a setting in which to develop more effective leadership. This study compared the leadership development of two groups of adolescent students in an advanced language arts class based on their scores on the Leadership Skills Inventory (Karnes & Chauvin, 2000b). Requirements to be in the class were either (a) identification as gifted and talented or (b) recommendation from a previous language arts teachers. The control group received no supplemental leadership program, while the experimental group participated in a service-learning project between the pre- and post-assessments. Results indicated a significant increase in four categories of the Leadership Skills Inventory for the experimental group between the pre-assessment and post-assessment measures: fundamentals of leadership (FL), speech communication skills (SPS), group dynamic skills (GDS), and planning skills (PLS). Qualitative data was also collected on students' perceptions of effective leadership. After participating in the service-learning project, these perceptions shifted to include more characteristics of transformational leadership.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3813
Format: Thesis

Title: The Relationship Between State Financial Aid and Student Persistence and Success in College: An Examination of Hispanic Undocumented Immigrant Students in Texas Community Colleges.
Creator: Bynum, Catherine S., Hu, Shouping, Tillman, Kathryn Harker, Schwartz, Robert A., Iatarola, Patrice, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State...
Show moreBynum, Catherine S., Hu, Shouping, Tillman, Kathryn Harker, Schwartz, Robert A., Iatarola, Patrice, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: Abstract: Immigration trends indicate that undocumented students have the potential to participate in the American higher education system. Although 5% to 10% of the undocumented population attends college, research suggests that these individuals often have difficulty in completing a program of study. College retention can be attributed to a myriad of factors, to include financial assistance. As a result, many higher education institutions have implemented financial aid and academic programs...
Show moreAbstract: Immigration trends indicate that undocumented students have the potential to participate in the American higher education system. Although 5% to 10% of the undocumented population attends college, research suggests that these individuals often have difficulty in completing a program of study. College retention can be attributed to a myriad of factors, to include financial assistance. As a result, many higher education institutions have implemented financial aid and academic programs for minorities, non-traditional, first time in college (FTIC), foreign born and low-income students to assist in raising students' levels of retention, academic performance and program of study completion (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Conversely, the primary benefactors of educational and financial subsidies have been those deemed as "legitimate benefactors of rights, privileges and social goods"--those of legal U.S. residency and citizenry (Perry, 2004, p. 3). The purpose of this study was to determine if financial aid [receipt and amount] among other student characteristics improved student success and persistence. In order to better understand factors associated with undocumented student success and persistence, the researcher conducted a quantitative methodology. The data was obtained from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), which entailed the undocumented student population enrolled as 2003-2004 first time in college (FTIC) cohort members [n = 31,769] of two-year Texas colleges. Accordingly, the researcher analyzed all Hispanic undocumented students included in the study (n = 31,769) to determine the results of the following: 1). The relationship between the receipt of in-state financial aid and success; and 2). The relationship between the receipt of in-state financial aid and persistence. Additionally, of this sample (n = 31, 769), the researcher utilized the data referencing only 54% of students who actually received financial aid to determine the correlation between the amount of financial aid received and student success / persistence. Logistic regression analysis suggested that among the influential independent variables, financial aid [amount], being of the female gender, enrolled full-time, and classified as limited English proficient (LEP) positively influenced and persistence and success. Further, among the variables that negatively influenced success and persistence were those who were classified as being academically disadvantaged. Moreover, parental educational status did not render any significant correlation with success and persistence. Finally, financial aid [receipt] warranted a negatively correlation on student success, which was the inverse finding for student persistence. This study contributed to the body of literature regarding factors [background and pre-collegiate characteristics] that influenced success and persistence among undocumented college students. Additionally, further research is needed to analyze additional "identifiable" variables that could potentially enhance student persistence and success; and determine the degree completion rates and rates of return for this particular population.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4602
Format: Thesis

Title: Examining Educational Leaders' Knowledge Base: Investigating Educational Leaders' Domain Knowledge of Reading.
Creator: Goldwyn, Shana, Lang, Laura Hassler, Connor, Carol, PIRT, Howard Goldstein Outside, Iatarola, Patrice, Rutledge, Stacey, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,...
Show moreGoldwyn, Shana, Lang, Laura Hassler, Connor, Carol, PIRT, Howard Goldstein Outside, Iatarola, Patrice, Rutledge, Stacey, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: The concept of instructional leadership, emerging out of the growing body of research that supports the importance of the principal in school reform (i.e. Marzano, 2003; Hallinger & Heck, 1998), has been pressed to the forefront of the course of study in many principal preparation programs. Instructional leadership focuses on the responsibility that the principal has in fostering student achievement (Blasé & Blasé, 1998). However, research in this area has typically focused on the theoretical...
Show moreThe concept of instructional leadership, emerging out of the growing body of research that supports the importance of the principal in school reform (i.e. Marzano, 2003; Hallinger & Heck, 1998), has been pressed to the forefront of the course of study in many principal preparation programs. Instructional leadership focuses on the responsibility that the principal has in fostering student achievement (Blasé & Blasé, 1998). However, research in this area has typically focused on the theoretical perspectives of principals, school reform, effective schools, and instructional leadership behavior. Little is known about the knowledge required and specific behaviors for principals to engage across content areas. When principals, both pre-service and inservice, believe themselves to be instructional leaders, how are they ensuring that they possess the body of knowledge necessary to employ behaviors that foster leadership in instruction and curriculum? The relationship of the principal and teacher is extremely complex, particularly in dealing with instruction. Principals have many critical responsibilities but none eclipse those related to teaching and learning. Therefore, it is essential that they are well equipped with the appropriate instructional knowledge to lead in this area. Previous research on educational leaders' knowledge as it relates to instructional leadership has concentrated mostly on theory, specifically those theories of leadership, organization, and reform. Further, research has shown that there is a positive correlation between the specific body of knowledge for teachers, defined as the applied understanding of a small set of content related topics, and student achievement (McCutchen, Abbott & Green, 2002; Moats, 1999). Perhaps the level of knowledge that teachers hold is related to how much knowledge a principal has in a specific area. Or conceivably it is not specific content area knowledge that is related to how much knowledge a teacher has, but rather, the ability to provide direction and leadership or seek answers in that particular content area. I speculate that there is a specific component of domain knowledge necessary for principals to effectively influence teacher practices and student achievement. Using eight schools, this mixed-methods study investigated educational leaders' body of knowledge in the area of reading. With a sample of nine educational leaders, 31 teachers and 499 students, it examined the relations between this body of knowledge, teachers' knowledge, and student achievement. Additionally, it explored where educational leaders are gaining their knowledge and their perceptions of what specific content knowledge is essential to successful instructional leadership. Current policy legislation, historical changes in conceptualizations of the role of the principal, relationships with teachers and principals, and theories of instructional leadership provide a framework for this study, creating an investigation that adds to the body of knowledge on principal preparation and licensure, as well as characteristics of effective principals and schools. Data were gathered through contextualized measures of principal domain knowledge of reading, teacher domain knowledge of reading, and student achievement in reading. Follow-up interviews were collected to further consider the perceptions and beliefs of principals surrounding domain knowledge of reading. Data were analyzed using complementary methods: descriptive and hierarchical modeling for quantitative research questions, and the phenomenological approach for qualitative research questions. Though the predictive nature of principal domain knowledge was not statistically significant, there were trends that stressed the importance of this knowledge for principals. The correlation between principal domain knowledge and student achievement, though positive, was not statistically significant. Additionally, the correlation between principal domain knowledge and teacher domain knowledge, also positive, was not statistically significant. However, higher principal knowledge was associated with larger growth in student achievement. Higher teacher knowledge was also associated with larger growth in student achievement. When looking at the interaction between principal knowledge and teacher knowledge as it relates to student achievement, results showed this interaction to be such that if principals have low domain knowledge, then teacher knowledge is the greatest factor in predicting student achievement. If principals have high domain knowledge, teacher knowledge becomes less important in predicting student achievement outcomes and principal knowledge becomes the greatest prediction factor. These findings suggest that increasing educational leaders' domain knowledge may be a useful concept to include in professional development and principal preparation programs to ensure that all students make sufficient growth in reading throughout the school year.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4167
Format: Thesis

Title: Flipped Learning and 21st Century Literacies: Constructing Preservice Secondary English Teachers' TPACK.
Creator: Piotrowski, Amy, Witte, Shelbie, Jakubowski, Elizabeth M., Neal, Michael R., Davis, Angela F., Schrader, Linda Bethe, Southerland, Sherry A., Florida State University, College...
Show morePiotrowski, Amy, Witte, Shelbie, Jakubowski, Elizabeth M., Neal, Michael R., Davis, Angela F., Schrader, Linda Bethe, Southerland, Sherry A., Florida State University, College of Education, School of Teacher Education
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Abstract/Description: This study examined how preservice English Language Arts teachers learn to teach and use their knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology during an English education course focused on technology. Seeking to address a gap in the research, this study utilized a case study methodology to look at preservice teachers’ learning about the flipped classroom and designing lessons integrating technology as a way for a teacher education course to facilitate preservice teachers’ construction of their...
Show moreThis study examined how preservice English Language Arts teachers learn to teach and use their knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology during an English education course focused on technology. Seeking to address a gap in the research, this study utilized a case study methodology to look at preservice teachers’ learning about the flipped classroom and designing lessons integrating technology as a way for a teacher education course to facilitate preservice teachers’ construction of their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The participants were preservice English teachers taking an online English education course during Summer 2015. The researcher used a survey to purposefully select nine individuals with a range of self reported knowledge. Participants were then interviewed twice, had their course assignments collected and analyzed, and submitted three written reflections. The course that the participants took challenged preservice teachers to bring together their content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge to create flipped lessons videos and a series of lesson plans. The data showed that there was no pattern or stages of TPACK development. Participants saw potential for flipped learning to be useful in secondary English classes and that while participants wanted to use technology and teach digital literacies in their future classrooms, they also wanted their students to engage in traditional print literacy.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_2016SU_Piotrowski_fsu_0071E_13158
Format: Thesis

Title: Dual System and Progressive Education: What Can China Learn from the U.S. and Germany's Vocational Education Systems?.
Creator: Wang, Aihua, Milligan, Jeff, Iatarola, Patrice, Easton, Peter, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Unlike the industrialized countries such as the U.S. and Germany, where the formal vocational education evolved from their social and economic development, the vocational education in China has to face challenges like strong influence of Confucianism, lack of philosophical foundation which values hands-on learning and vocational education and low level of universal education and industrialization. Confronted with human resource crisis and problematic vocational education system, China has...
Show moreUnlike the industrialized countries such as the U.S. and Germany, where the formal vocational education evolved from their social and economic development, the vocational education in China has to face challenges like strong influence of Confucianism, lack of philosophical foundation which values hands-on learning and vocational education and low level of universal education and industrialization. Confronted with human resource crisis and problematic vocational education system, China has turned to the developed countries for useful lessons and practices. This study compares secondary vocational education systems among China, the U.S. and Germany with the purpose to explore useful lessons that China can learn from the two countries. From the social functionalist perspective, Germany's dual system shows some advantages in solving China's human resource crisis and in providing structured and job-specific training to students. However, the current practice in China to learn from Germany has been limited and superficial, with some important features about Germany's dual system being neglected by researchers and policy makers. In addition, more attention should be given to John Dewey's philosophy and the progressive aspects of the U.S. vocational education system in order to help China to develop a more informed and balanced strategy to improve its vocational education, not only to meet the demand from its economies and industries, but also to achieve the individual student's development and social equity.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4605
Format: Thesis

Title: Giving Voice to the Man within: Exploring the Masculine Journey of Black College Men.
Creator: Pelzer, Danté L., Jones, Maxine Deloris, Jones, Maxine Deloris, Cox, Bradley, Schwartz, Robert A., Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Educational...
Show morePelzer, Danté L., Jones, Maxine Deloris, Jones, Maxine Deloris, Cox, Bradley, Schwartz, Robert A., Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
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Abstract/Description: The way Black masculinity is portrayed in American society is often negative. Black men are forced to wade through deleterious messaging and images that situate their masculinity within tightly defined stereotypes. Furthermore, Black masculinity is commonly associated with criminality, hyper-sexuality, and academic ineptitude. Black male college students are not immune to these messages. Moreover, these students have developed their masculinity within the context of these mischaracterizations...
Show moreThe way Black masculinity is portrayed in American society is often negative. Black men are forced to wade through deleterious messaging and images that situate their masculinity within tightly defined stereotypes. Furthermore, Black masculinity is commonly associated with criminality, hyper-sexuality, and academic ineptitude. Black male college students are not immune to these messages. Moreover, these students have developed their masculinity within the context of these mischaracterizations. Black men arrive to our college campuses having been socialized by their pre-collegiate environments, relationships, and general observations of the world around them. These sociocultural influences contribute to how Black male college students demonstrate their masculinity once they are on campus. The institutional context and history of a university also plays a role in how Black men demonstrate masculinity. Higher education scholars have noted that the legacy of exclusion and racism at predominantly White institutions present particular challenges to Black male college students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to critically examine how the interpretation, construction, and demonstration of masculinity is uniquely experienced and narrated by 10 Black male college students attending a predominantly White institution. While most higher education studies on Black masculinity have focused on how masculinity is negotiated on college campuses, they have not thoroughly investigated the ways pre-collegiate sociocultural environments and relationships have influenced the masculinity development of Black male college students. Grounded in Critical Race Theory and narrative research, this study explored participants' pre-collegiate and collegiate masculinity experiences. The findings of this study indicate that Black masculinity as demonstrated by the participants is best described as an act of resiliency. The men in this study constructed, interpreted, and demonstrated masculinity in ways that refute and challenge negative stereotypes of Black men. Despite the challenges they encountered on campus participants remained committed to demonstrating masculinity in ways that disrupt oppressive practices and reflect their individual beliefs, learned values, and personal identities.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_2017SP_Pelzer_fsu_0071E_13763
Format: Thesis

Title: A Heideggerian Critique of the Role of 'Relation' in John Dewey's Philosophy of Education.
Creator: Fontaine, Haroldo A. (Haroldo Abraam), Milligan, Jeffrey Ayala, Anderson, Tom, Schwartz, Robert A., Valente, Joseph, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,...
Show moreFontaine, Haroldo A. (Haroldo Abraam), Milligan, Jeffrey Ayala, Anderson, Tom, Schwartz, Robert A., Valente, Joseph, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
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Abstract/Description: John Dewey belonged to the Aristotelian and Kantian metaphysical tradition, which means that he relied on their categories to signify and therefore to know individual entities in the empirical world, including human beings. Specifically, he relied on 'relation.' With the help of the method of intelligence (or the scientific method generally), Dewey found that 'relation' reigns in the physical environment. Since human beings are inextricably bound to it, Dewey inferred that 'relation' reigns,...
Show moreJohn Dewey belonged to the Aristotelian and Kantian metaphysical tradition, which means that he relied on their categories to signify and therefore to know individual entities in the empirical world, including human beings. Specifically, he relied on 'relation.' With the help of the method of intelligence (or the scientific method generally), Dewey found that 'relation' reigns in the physical environment. Since human beings are inextricably bound to it, Dewey inferred that 'relation' reigns, or rather should be made to reign, in the social environment. The chief purpose of education is to ensure this reign, and this purpose is a moral purpose. Concerned with doing the 'right' thing, teachers (and adults generally) would strive to realize this purpose by encouraging students to reconcile their powers and dispositions with conjoint activity aimed at the expansion of the general welfare. In doing so, teachers would be teaching students, in Dewey's view, the essence of morality. It is Dewey's inferring 'relation' from the physical environment, and using it as the ground to draw a conclusion about the essence of morality, with which I take issue in this dissertation. From the perspective of Martin Heidegger's fundamental ontology--and of his 'existentials' in particular, which he formulated as a set of categories with which to distinguish human from non-human entities--I challenge what I refer to as Dewey's 'excessive optimism' with respect to what we may expect from teachers (and adults in general) who insist that children choose to reconcile their powers and dispositions with other children (and adults) in an effort to expand the general welfare, and to adopt the notion that what they are choosing is the essence of morality. From this perspective, I offer an alternative philosophy of moral education that is more consistent with the kinds of teachers (and adults) children are likely to encounter.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4424
Format: Thesis

Title: Going the Distance: Developing Effective Strategies to Implement Distance Learning Technologies and Projects into the Science Curriculum.
Creator: Fleischer, Stuart A., Gallard, Alejandro J., Ruscher, Paul, Gilmer, Penny, Dawson, George, Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This action research study was focused on how two middle school science teachers at the American International School in Israel (AIS-I) addressed strategies to develop projects in which their students could learn at a distance but not from a distance. The idea was not to develop course curriculum to be taught online for students who were not physically located on the campus, but rather for those students to be empowered to construct their own learning on campus and off through thoughtful use...
Show moreThis action research study was focused on how two middle school science teachers at the American International School in Israel (AIS-I) addressed strategies to develop projects in which their students could learn at a distance but not from a distance. The idea was not to develop course curriculum to be taught online for students who were not physically located on the campus, but rather for those students to be empowered to construct their own learning on campus and off through thoughtful use of e-technologies and the innovational use of those technologies. The research questions and methodology followed a modified version of a model called the Integrated Technology Adoption and Diffusion Model—ITADM (Sherry, Billig, Tavalin, & Gibson, 2000). This model was developed to help teachers evaluate their learning processes and future trajectory in using DL technology. The model evolved during the research study and was renamed Relate, Create, Evaluate, and Donate when a second middle school science teacher had difficulty finding short-term successes from the original model. The study found that the middle school science teacher must be flexible in constantly shifting between instructor, facilitator, and consultant roles. This shift in teaching roles called for new strategies to be developed to meet the role change in a new DL reality. In addition, dynamic distance learning communities (DDLC) must be assembled according to the tasks involved and available talent and interests of the teachers.
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Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4440
Format: Thesis

Title: A Social Analysis of First Wednesdays at the Bronx Cultural Corridor.
Creator: Forero, Paula Juliana, Anderson, Tom, Rutledge, Stacey, Villeneuve, Pat, Guyas, Anniina Suominen, Department of Art Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The Bronx Culture Trolley tour is one of the local initiatives launched in 2002 to create cultural awareness in the outer boroughs of New York City, providing free transportation during the first Wednesday of every month, and it is considered to be among the most successful trolley routes that remain in service (Colton, 2007). The Bronx is currently undergoing an economic and cultural revival, and the purpose of this study is to examine visitors' perceptions of the event and understand their...
Show moreThe Bronx Culture Trolley tour is one of the local initiatives launched in 2002 to create cultural awareness in the outer boroughs of New York City, providing free transportation during the first Wednesday of every month, and it is considered to be among the most successful trolley routes that remain in service (Colton, 2007). The Bronx is currently undergoing an economic and cultural revival, and the purpose of this study is to examine visitors' perceptions of the event and understand their motivations to participate in South Bronx cultural events that are scheduled as part of the First Wednesdays Bronx Culture Trolley. This mixed method study presents information on a multi-venue event that complements the available literature on visitors' studies performed at museums. For this study, qualitative data was gathered through in-depth interviews and observations of three cultural organizations during selected First Wednesdays, and quantitative data was gathered with a questionnaire that visitors' voluntarily filled during observations. The cultural organizations observed were Longwood Art Gallery, Haven Arts Gallery and the Bronx Museum of the Arts. In answer to the guiding research question, I found that the main motivation for visitors to attend the Bronx Culture Trolley tour is socially driven with the aim to shape the global perception of the South Bronx as a safe area with a vibrant arts scene. In addition, these findings suggested that the arts community of the South Bronx is growing in number of artists and first-time visitors. Similarly, it also revealed that the trolley provides a safe platform for visitors unfamiliar with the area to learn about the South Bronx and experience its culture. This research provided insight into visitors' agendas and perceptions when attending a multi-venue event, integrating constructivist theories and visitors studies with the study results.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4420
Format: Thesis

Title: Development of Bilingual Communicative Competence Through Play: A Case Study.
Creator: Galeano, Rebecca, Hasson, Deborah, Uzendoski, Michael, Lupo-Anderson, Angela, Pappamihiel, Eleni, Department of Middle and Secondary Education, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study examined ways in which a simultaneously bilingual child increased her productive communicative ability in her weaker language through interaction in pretend play with more capable peers. Resting in the framework of Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this case study focused on the language development of a four year old child as she engaged in unstructured play with peers ranging from 5-9 years old. In order to create a simulated immersion setting, the researcher and her family moved...
Show moreThis study examined ways in which a simultaneously bilingual child increased her productive communicative ability in her weaker language through interaction in pretend play with more capable peers. Resting in the framework of Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this case study focused on the language development of a four year old child as she engaged in unstructured play with peers ranging from 5-9 years old. In order to create a simulated immersion setting, the researcher and her family moved to a predominately Hispanic trailer park so their daughter could interact with other children through play. Play sessions were recorded 2 to 3 times per week over a five week period. Data was transcribed and analyzed using the CHILDES Child Language Data Exchange System. Analysis revealed ways in which peer playmates scaffolded linguistic production and participation. Production was scaffolded as playmates worked with the less proficient learner to collaboratively construct utterances by providing direct translations in Spanish, asking leading questions, and explicitly correcting mistakes through modeling. Scaffolding of participation occurred as playmates dictated lines to the less proficient peer and used phrases which cued her participation. Productive proficiency increased as the learner incorporated a range of different linguistic functions into her speech: describing ongoing events in the present tense, discussing past events using the preterit, expressing wants and needs, discussing preferences, expressing feelings, asking questions, describing objects or actions using adjectives and adverbs, using command forms to affect the behavior of peers, and using possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns, and object pronouns to specifically describe events. Analysis found that this child used her peers' speech as a mediational tool in order to verbally participate in interactions by incorporating linguistic structures, vocabulary and phrases into her own speech or repeating the speech of others. Other identified participation techniques included repetition of her utterances, asking playmates for direct translation or clarification, and using commands to gain attention in order to take the floor. Coping strategies were also identified. Findings also included ways in which playmates scaffolded the less proficient child's participation in the telling of collective narratives by providing topics, appropriating turns, and elaborating on content.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4385
Format: Thesis

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