Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
28 results
Search Results
Item An analysis of elementary education majors' and music majors' experiences with Comprehensive Musicianship principles in high school general music courses(2010) Sitarz, Jane Margaret; Montgomery, Janet M; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of elementary education majors and music majors at a mid-Atlantic university who experienced principles of the Comprehensive Musicianship approach during their high school general music experiences. Principles of the Comprehensive Musicianship approach came from Heavner's (1995) theoretical Comprehensive Musicianship curriculum model, and include concepts, content, activities, instructional literature, and evaluation techniques. Two hundred seventy three elementary education majors and music majors were invited to complete a questionnaire about their high school general music experiences, and 43 usable responses were obtained. Percentages of participants who experienced each of the Comprehensive Musicianship principles were calculated, and results indicated that Comprehensive Musicianship principles were not experienced equally. These findings reveal the need for greater attention to the equality of Comprehensive Musicianship principles in high school general music courses.Item FROM INTERACTION TO INTERACTION: EXPLORING SHARED RESOURCES CONSTRUCTED THROUGH AND MEDIATING CLASSROOM SCIENCE LEARNING(2010) Tang, Xiaowei; Coffey, Janet E; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Recent reform documents and science education literature emphasize the importance of scientific argumentation as a discourse and practice of science that should be supported in school science learning. Much of this literature focuses on the structure of argument, whether for assessing the quality of argument or designing instructional scaffolds. This study challenges the narrowness of this research paradigm and argues for the necessity of examining students' argumentative practices as rooted in the complex, evolving system of the classroom. Employing a sociocultural-historical lens of activity theory (Engestrӧm, 1987, 1999), discourse analysis is employed to explore how a high school biology class continuously builds affordances and constraints for argumentation practices through interactions. The ways in which argumentation occurs, including the nature of teacher and student participation, are influenced by learning goals, classroom norms, teacher-student relationships and epistemological stances constructed through a class' interactive history. Based on such findings, science education should consider promoting classroom scientific argumentation as a long-term process, requiring supportive resources that develop through continuous classroom interactions. Moreover, in order to understand affordances that support disciplinary learning in classroom, we need to look beyond just disciplinary interactions. This work has implications for classroom research on argumentation and teacher education, specifically, the preparation of teachers for secondary science teaching.Item STUDYING EPISTEMIC COGNITION IN THE HISTORY CLASSROOM: CASES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING TO THINK HISTORICALLY(2010) Maggioni, Liliana; Alexander, Patricia A; VanSledright, Bruce; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Building on the literature on epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, and historical thinking, three class-level case studies were conducted to investigate features of historical thinking and history-specific epistemic beliefs of high-school students and their teachers. These cases also considered teachers' pedagogical practices and the potential effects of those practices on students' historical thinking and epistemic beliefs. Two junior honors and one freshman US History classes were selected from a school system that fostered the preparation of students for AP History courses by encouraging the use of a variety of primary sources and analysis of documents in teaching history. Preliminary visits indicated that these classes' teachers used different pedagogical practices. Class observations spanned one semester of instruction. History-specific epistemic beliefs were explored using interviews structured around the items of the Beliefs about History Questionnaire (BHQ) and historical thinking was assessed through analysis of think-alouds collected while student informants (4 from each class) and their teachers read a set of 6 documents and responded to a constructed response task (CRT). Specifically, student data were collected at the middle and end of the semester, while teachers were interviewed only once, at the end of the semester. In one of the junior classes, 27 additional juniors responded in writing to the BHQ and to the CRTs. Additional questionnaires and interviews explored teachers' goals, rationales for their practice, and interest in history. In regard to history-specific epistemic beliefs, results indicated that students and teachers manifested ideas indicative of different developmental levels, suggesting that their epistemic beliefs are a complex system, not necessarily characterized by a high level of integration. Differences across students tended to be greater in regard to epistemic beliefs than to historical thinking. In addition, comparison of initial and follow-up data suggested different trajectories of change in regard to students' epistemic beliefs while changes in historical thinking were modest and not consistently suggesting progression in competence. These trends were confirmed by the analysis of students' written responses to the BHQ and the CRTs. The study identified a set of ideas and behaviors that tended to produce cognitive impasse and hindered the development of historical thinking and a series of pedagogical practices, mostly aligned with teachers' goals and beliefs, which might have fostered such outcomes.Item Youth Exchange and Peacebuilding Post 9/11: Experiences of Muslim High School Exchange Students(2010) Radomski, Carol; Lin, Jing; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government initiated a youth exchange program to bring Muslim students to the U.S. for a school year. The Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program was created to help reduce tensions, and foster mutual understanding and respect between people in the U.S. and the Muslim world. It is commonly assumed that exchange programs promote cross-cultural understanding and goodwill, leading to a more peaceful world. Drawing on literature in the fields of peace education, intergroup relations, and international educational exchange, this study explores the connections between youth exchange and peacebuilding in our post 9/11 world. This qualitative, interview-based study examines the experiences of twenty-one Muslim high school exchange students participating in the YES program in the 2007-2008 school year. The study participants were between 16 and 19 years old and came from eight countries in the Middle East and Asia. The study highlights the exchange students' experiences living with American host families and attending American high schools. The study also explores how the exchange students carried out their role as young ambassadors, helping Americans understand their countries, cultures, and religion, as well as how they dealt with sometimes being labeled as terrorists. The experiences of the exchange students in this study provide evidence that youth exchange can foster changes in attitudes, affects, skills, and behaviors that are likely to contribute to a more peaceful world. The program structure and duration facilitate the formation of close personal relationships, as well as tremendous personal growth. The program goals and expectations also contribute to the students' success as young ambassadors. The students were able to correct inaccurate stereotypes and develop skills in cultural mediation. This study also demonstrates that youth exchange incorporates many of the key components of peace education programs. Recommendations for program changes include focusing more directly on peace and peace education, addressing conflict issues, building skills in conflict mediation, developing leaders for peace, and training local coordinators in peace education.Item A TALE OF TWO GROUPS: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MINORITY STUDENTS AND NON-MINORITY STUDENTS IN THEIR PREDISPOSITION TO AND ENGAGEMENT WITH DIVERSE PEERS AT A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTION(2009) Hall, Wendell Diedrik; Cabrera, Alberto F.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which minority students and non-minority students differ in their predispositions to engage in campus-based diversity activities upon entering college and engagement with diverse college peers during college. These ethnicity-based interactional differences were examined under a revised version of the Transition to College Model (Locks et al., 2008). The Diverse College Student Engagement Model accounts for the joint influence of student pre-college characteristics along with collegiate experiences, in shaping engagement with racially diverse peers at a predominantly White college. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Latent Means Modeling (LMM), this dissertation examined direct and indirect effects of factors that influence engagement with diverse students in college. Findings indicated that engagement with diverse peers does not take place in a vacuum; conditions and mechanisms that facilitate engagement also matter. Several pre-college variables and college variables were shown to influence predisposition to engage in diversity-related activities and engagement among diverse peers in college. Findings from testing the proposed model indicate that minority students were significantly higher in the latent factor Predisposition to Engage when entering college; however, no significant differences were found in the latent factor Engagement after the sophomore year of college. The differences appear to have been attenuated by some of the campus mechanisms the University of Maryland has in place to foster engagement among diverse students.Item Attending to Stories of High School Displacement: The Lived High School Experience of GED® College Graduates(2009) Snyder, Mary Grace Catherine; Hultgren, Francine H; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry is called by the question, "What is the lived high school experience of GED college graduates?" GED college graduates are people who have dropped out of high school, used the GED Tests to earn their jurisdiction's high school diploma, then graduated from a four-year institution. If these individuals have the intellectual acumen and personal commitment to earn a bachelor's degree, then why did they drop out of high school? Conversations with seven GED college graduates uncover the displacement that drove them out of a traditional high school program. The hermeneutic phenomenological methodology is grounded in the philosophical work of Heidegger, especially as developed by Merleau-Ponty and Levinas, which elicits an awareness of our embodied being's struggle to embrace Being and the moral necessity of responding to that presence. Van Manen's work guides the "doing" of this philosophy as human science research in education. The stories of the lived high school experiences of the seven GED college graduates reveal the disquiet of their displacement. They each felt that they did not fit the mold that high school wanted: they felt they were different, outcasts, not part of the "in crowd." They felt the inequitable treatment and bodily discomfort caused by this difference. They report only a nominal, caring presence at school, and this disregard further alienated them. School was disappointed in their lack of commitment and enthusiasm for traditional coursework, and the students, in turn, were disappointed that school cared so little for their needs. Dropping out protected them from the pain of further displacement. Attending to these stories of displacement may help educators imagine a different way of creating high school. Smaller high schools might make each student a more significant part of the student body, better known to teachers, and more likely to feel implaced. Additionally, alternate programs might allow students to deviate from the traditional K-12 timeline into work experiences, to follow compelling interests, or to gather into community around similar questions about their world. Teacher preparation programs that offer multiple visions for high school could be instrumental in making such change a reality.Item Teacher Sense-making and Policy Implementation: A Qualitative Case Study of a School District's Reading Initiative in Science(2009) Quinn, John Rory; Mawhinney, Hanne; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In response to No Child Left Behind federal legislation and Maryland's Bridge to Excellence Act, a school district created a strategic plan that included a program initiative for improving reading in secondary schools. The initiative involved the implementation of Reading Apprenticeship, a program that required content teachers to infuse reading instruction into their practice by modeling reading behaviors and utilizing tools designed to promote metacognitive conversations with their students. This qualitative case study used a cognitive perspective to explore the sense-making of a team of middle school science teachers who received training and sought to implement the program in their instructional practice during the 2004-2005 school year. The findings revealed that policy implementation varied for the different members of the team and was adversely affect by other policies and resistance by students. At the same time, policy implementation was enhanced by teacher participation in the communities of practice associated with the initiative. Implications from the study advocate that school districts actively engage in sense-giving activities and support the communities of practice that are established when new policy measures are introduced. The study calls for further research on how students respond to policy initiatives and how they shape their teachers' sense-making. This study contributed to the sparse body of literature in this new field of education policy implementation research.Item Leveling the Field: The Need for Explicit Instruction of Argumentative Form for 'Struggling' Secondary Students(2009) Bado-Aleman, Jennifer; McCaleb, Joseph; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this essay, a method for explicit teaching of argumentative form is purported, based on the methods of classical rhetoric. Throughout, it argues that the secondary student labeled "struggling" is often one who is a cultural minority and who experiences a cultural mismatch between implicit standards in argumentative writing and that of his own culture. In order to provide culturally responsive instruction for such students, the essay suggests that teachers must make these standards for what constitutes a "well-organized" explicit and teach students methods to self-regulate their thinking during the composing process. In this way, students are granted an opportunity to succeed academically in terms of writing ability.Item Passions and Possibilities: The Lived Experience of Teaching Advanced Placement English in Public High School(2009) Borenzweig, Suzanne R.; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study explores the lived experiences of Advanced Placement English teachers in public school high school. Max van Manen's methodology for hermeneutic phenomenological research establishes the framework for the inquiry. The writings of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Greene provide philosophical grounding throughout the research process. The work of curricular theorists elucidates possibilities for understanding the experiences of Advanced Placement English teachers, as I address the question: "What is it like to teach Advanced Placement English while caught in the tension between teaching and testing?" Six Advanced Placement teachers engage with the researcher in conversations about being with students in the Advanced Placement English classroom. The teachers also reflect on their practice through a series of shared journal entries. The teachers, five women and one man, range in age from 25 to 45 years, and have between 2 and 10 years experience teaching Advanced Placement English. The phenomenological text constructed from conversations and written reflections brings forth aspects of the experience of dwelling aright in the Zone of Between in AP English teaching: between teaching and testing, high school and college, and childhood and adulthood. The teachers approach their work as master-craftspeople in the classroom-workshop, passing on to their student-apprentices the proper use of tools in the art and craft of reading, writing, thinking, and test-taking in the AP English classroom. As teachers prepare students for the College Board exam, they also embrace, question, and innovate around aspects of the test. The teachers use the exam as a foundation for courage and encouragement, confidence and passion building, and creative ways-of-being with students. The study suggests a need for Advanced Placement teachers to participate in the development of curriculum, to retain the autonomy to teach from the self, and to be trusted to provide students with meaningful experiences in the art and craft of literature study. The study also reveals the importance of widening the narrow definition of student achievement to include more than test scores. Finally, the study recommends an inquiry-based project approach to assessment to expand the notion of teaching with passion for possibility in the Advanced Placement English classroom.Item inForm: Didactic Eco-Conscious Architecture(2008) Claudio, Angelo; Williams, Isaac; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Architecture has the potential to reflect the cultural values of a society. Conversely, an expressive and didactic architecture can affect cultural value systems. At the most fundamental level, sustainability is about being aware of our place in a larger whole and respecting the interconnectivity all life shares on this planet. Without a cultural value system that supports this worldview, sustainable architecture will eventually reduce into a style or application. This thesis explores the didactic potential of architecture in regards to sustainability. It focuses on the recognition of unique characteristics in the built and natural environment of a place; the building's response to these environmental factors; and how an expressive architecture may teach the inhabitants of the building and local residents of the surrounding neighborhood about their environment. A secondary school in downtown San Francisco is an opportune typology for this exploration. Form may follow function, but can form inform?
- «
- 1 (current)
- 2
- 3
- »