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

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 44

HOW L2 LEGAL WRITERS USE STRATEGIES FOR SCHOLARLY WRITING: A MIXED METHODS STUDY
(2010) Bain Butler, Donna Patricia; Oxford, Rebecca L; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation research fills existing gaps regarding the practices and processes of teaching second language (L2) writers at higher ranges of proficiency in academic domain context. It is a mixed methods, longitudinal, descriptive, classroom-based study. The research purpose was to explore strategic competence as a catalyst for professional proficiency in the scholarly (academic) writing of international Master of Laws (LL.M.) students who need to show analytical thinking and communicative precision in their research papers and law review articles. The theoretical framework views scholarly writing in a second language as developmental learning in two domains, language and law, and as socialized cultural practice. The study showed how scholarly legal writing was both a cognitive and a social-cultural process for participants (N=6) as they shifted from the writer-centered activity of drafting to the reader-centered activity of revising and constructing knowledge. A triangulated, multi-stage design was used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data at recursive stages of writing (that is, pre-writing, drafting, and revising). The instruments developed for collecting the data raised strategy awareness for participants in the study and can be used for teaching. The research contributes to our knowledge of scholarly writing in the professions, helps us understand challenges and strategies for L2 writers in graduate programs, provides a useful way to conduct a mixed-methods writing study, reveals the interface between L2 and L1 academic legal discourse, and offers tested tools for developing professional-level competence in L2 academic writers. The study bridges the L1 research and L2 research literature by exploring how superior language learners used research-based strategies to build on their existing competences for professional-level research writing. This highly contextualized, learner-centered research contributes to several related fields by addressing L2 issues associated with plagiarism, the native-speaker standard, learner self-assessment and self-editing--all of which are issues of cross-cultural literacy. The following six fields are involved in and affected by this study: Applied Linguistics, Content-Based (Legal) English Teaching, English Composition, International (Legal) Education, Teaching English for (Academic and Specific) Legal Purposes, and Professional Development.
In Search of Signature Pedagogies for Teacher Education: The Critical Case of Kodály-Inspired Music Teacher Education
(2010) Baumann, Paul J.; Malen, Betty; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The purposes of this study are to identify the features of Kodály-inspired music teacher education programs that either confirm or refute the notion that signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005 a, b, c) are present in this form of teacher education and to identify whether and how philosophical, pedagogical, and institutional influences support such pedagogies. Signature pedagogies are shared modes of teaching that are distinct to a specific profession. These pedagogies, based in the cognitive, practical, and normative apprenticeships of professional preparation, dominate the preparation programs of a profession, both within and across institutions. This study employs a collective case study design to examine Kodály-inspired teacher education programs, specifically those endorsed by the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE). This study serves as a critical test of the applicability of the construct of signature pedagogies to teacher education. Because these programs purport to hold shared philosophical and pedagogical ideals and are governed by an endorsing body (OAKE), signature pedagogies ought to be present in these programs if they are present in any teacher education programs. Embedded in this collective case are: (1) a history of Kodály-inspired pedagogy and its adoption and adaptation in the U.S., (2) case studies of two prominent and influential OAKE-endorsed Kodály-inspired teacher education programs, and (3) case studies of four to five faculty in each of these programs. Data sources include primary and secondary texts and documents, observations of the various events and activities that occur as a part of Kodály-inspired teacher education programs, and focus group and individual interviews with program faculty and students. This study finds that the two case sites possess four signature pedagogies: (1) demonstration teaching, (2) master class teaching, (3) discovery learning, and (4) the music literature collection and retrieval system. These pedagogies appear to be inextricably tethered to the contexts, professional body (OAKE), and work of Kodály-inspired music educators though multiple complex linkages. The study closes by assessing the applicability and usefulness of the construct for the discourses and study of teacher education and by offering revisions to the construct that may help to improve the construct's usefulness in future research.
Influence of Subject Matter Discipline and Science Content Knowledge on National Board Certified Science Teachers' Conceptions, Enactment, and Goals for Inquiry
(2009) Breslyn, Wayne; McGinnis, J. Randy; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The present study investigated differences in the continuing development of National Board Certified Science Teachers' (NBCSTs) conceptions of inquiry across the disciplines of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The central research question of the study was, "How does a NBCST's science discipline (biology, chemistry, earth science, or physics) influence their conceptions, enactment, and goals for inquiry-based teaching and learning?" A mixed methods approach was used that included an analysis of the National Board portfolio entry, Active Scientific Inquiry, for participants (n=48) achieving certification in the 2007 cohort. The portfolio entry provided detailed documentation of teachers' goals and enactment of an inquiry lesson taught in their classroom. Based on the results from portfolio analysis, participant interviews were conducted with science teachers (n=12) from the 2008 NBCST cohort who represented the science disciplines of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The interviews provided a broader range of contexts to explore teachers' conceptions, enactment, and goals of inquiry. Other factors studied were disciplinary differences in NBCSTs' views of the nature of science, the relation between their science content knowledge and use of inquiry, and changes in their conceptions of inquiry as result of the NB certification process. Findings, based on a situated cognitive framework, suggested that differences exist between biology, chemistry, and earth science teachers' conceptions, enactment, and goals for inquiry. Further, individuals teaching in more than one discipline often held different conceptions of inquiry depending on the discipline in which they were teaching. Implications for the research community include being aware of disciplinary differences in studies on inquiry and exercising caution in generalizing findings across disciplines. In addition, teachers who teach in more than one discipline can highlight the contextual and culturally based nature of teachers' conceptions of inquiry. For the education community, disciplinary differences should be considered in the development of curriculum and professional development. An understanding of disciplinary trends can allow for more targeted and relevant representations of inquiry.
Pre-service Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching: A Comparison of Two University Mathematics Courses
(2009) Lueke, H. Michael; Chazan, Daniel; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
One enduring problem in the field of mathematics education is preparing teachers to present mathematics in sufficiently deep and meaningful ways to their students. A focus of this preparation is developing in practitioners sufficient knowledge of mathematics for teaching. Mathematical knowledge for teaching has been theorized widely and is currently the focus of many empirical investigations in the field. This study positions itself within this literature and seeks to connect the research to undergraduate, pre-service elementary school teachers (PSTs), and the content courses which comprise the bulk of their mathematical preparation within a typical university teacher education program. Little is known about the impact that these courses have on teacher knowledge and still less has been studied about the efficacy of different pedagogical--or mathematical--approaches in these courses among PSTs. In order to test claims made in situated learning theory and respond to prevalent political rhetoric about mathematics teacher education, this project compared mathematics courses designed for PSTs in two different universities along three dimensions: (1) Differences in pedagogical and mathematical approaches to developing content knowledge for teaching in PSTs; (2) Resulting differences in PST performance on mathematical knowledge for teaching instruments (3) Resulting differences among PSTs' attitudes about mathematics, teaching, and their perception of the course's relevance to their anticipated work as elementary school teachers. Data from multiple data sources reveals that, though differences were small, PSTs' mathematical knowledge for teaching was substantively different between the two campuses. In addition, the data indicate that PSTs developed different attitudes about mathematics and teaching. Finally, PSTs' evaluated their course's relevance for teaching practice differently. This study suggests that when designing content courses for pre-service teachers, teacher educators should pay close attention to the interaction between mathematical approaches and pedagogical perspectives.
An Analysis of the Elements of the Professional Learning Communities Institute and Its Relationship to the Sources of Collective Efficacy
(2009) Marks, Susan Faye; Parham, Carol S.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Educating students to meet high accountability standards and even more importantly preparing students to be competitive in a complex and demanding world requires schools to become high functioning organizations. This mixed-method study examined the relationship between professional learning communities and the collective efficacy in 10 elementary schools that participated in the Professional Learning Communities Institute (PLCI) in a large suburban school district outside Washington, DC. The implementation of the PLCI allowed the researcher to analyze these relationships in schools receiving structured and deliberate professional development in becoming professional learning communities as well as the effect this experience had on the beliefs of the group about their ability to make a difference for their students. The researcher analyzed survey and interview data through the lens of the characteristics of professional learning communities as outlined by Hord (1997) and the sources of efficacy as defined by Bandura (1997). The findings from this study revealed a significant relationship between the five dimensions of professional learning communities and collective efficacy. The characteristics of professional learning communities of shared leadership, shared vision, collective learning, supportive conditions, and shared personal practice work in a school organization to strengthen the collective efficacy of staff. The professional development that the schools received in becoming professional learning communities promoted collective efficacy. Although the 10 schools demonstrated strong collective efficacy, in general, there were some differences between schools. This study found that some variables influenced the perceived collective efficacy in the schools surveyed. There was a moderate inverse significant relationship between poverty level and collective efficacy. Low-poverty schools had higher collective efficacy than high-poverty schools. The length of time that teachers were in their current school was mildly related to the collective efficacy in that school. There was a negative mild relationship between the teachers' number of years of experience and the poverty level of the school.
A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MENTOR ROLES IN A RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
(2009) Joseph, Ocheze Wosu; Parham, Carol S; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Title of Dissertation: A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MENTOR ROLES IN A RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Ocheze Wosu Joseph, Doctor of Education, 2009 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Carol S. Parham, Chair The most important component of an effective induction program is a skilled and well trained mentor teacher. In an effort to bring support to novice teachers, school districts across the United States are implementing mentoring programs. This study was designed to investigate the roles mentor teachers play in providing support and developing novice teachers in a rural school district. Data for this study were collected by way of questionnaire responses, interviews and focus groups with mentor teachers, stakeholders associated with the mentor program, and teachers who participated in the district's mentoring program during 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 school years. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this study. Two levels of Kirkpatrick's (1998) Learning and Training Evaluation Theory were used as a conceptual framework. Findings of the study indicated that new teachers generally perceived the roles of their mentor resource teacher to be effective. There was no statistically significant difference between the mentor role of coach, consultant and collaborator. However, the qualitative data suggests that teachers would have liked more modeling in the classroom by their mentor teacher and secondary teachers noted that it would be more useful to have a mentor with the same content area background. These data provided insight regarding mentor roles that helped novices develop as reflective practitioners. This study has policy and practice implications for districts concerned with developing and/or enhancing their mentor program. It provides a model for defining roles of a mentor teacher as well as identifying those roles that are effective.
UNDERSTANDING AND TEACHING RATIONAL NUMBERS: A CRITICAL CASE STUDY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(2009) Walters, Jonathan Kirk; Croninger, Robert; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
A lot of money is spent each year on teacher professional development, but researchers and policymakers are still trying to determine what that investment yields in terms of improvements in teacher knowledge and practice. This study focuses on the extent to which middle school mathematics teachers comprehended and made use of the core content, pedagogical content and pedagogical components of a well designed professional development model. At the time of data collection, the teachers were participating in a large, federally funded randomized field trial on professional development that focused on rational numbers. Compared with many other teachers participating in the randomized study, these three teachers were highly receptive to the intensive, content-focused model and thus represent a critical case study of professional development. Using interview and classroom observation data from the 2007-08 school year, the study indicates that teachers understood and implemented many of the pedagogical components emphasized in the model, but they had difficulty comprehending and articulating the core rational number content. Within the domain of rational numbers, the study shows that teachers had more difficulty understanding ratio and proportion concepts as compared with fraction and decimal concepts. The study also describes sources of variation in teachers' understanding of the professional development material and the extent to which they utilized the professional development material while teaching. Teachers' understanding of math content is a critical link in the theory of action driving current educational policies that call for increased rigor and coherence in K-12 mathematics. This case study illustrates that even well designed and well implemented professional development models may be incapable of improving teachers' content knowledge to levels that positively affect their instructional practices.
Teacher Knowledge: An Ideal Typology
(2009) Michaloski, Gordon Anthony; Valli, Linda; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: TEACHER KNOWLEDGE: AN IDEAL TYPOLOGY Gordon Anthony Michaloski, Doctor of Philosophy, 2009 Dissertation directed by: Professor Linda Valli, Department of Curriculum and Instruction This collective case study examined the possible roles for received knowledge and classroom experience in the formation of an ideal typology for teacher knowledge. The problematic nature of teacher knowledge development was examined with regard to behavioral, psychological, and social influences. Theoretical underpinnings drew principally from schema theory and formative theory about the nature and development of teacher knowledge. The compatibility of tacit and codified knowledge about teaching was a key concern. Special attention was given to examining how teachers integrate received knowledge with classroom experience and the frequently reported discord between the two. Other issues addressed included teacher compliance and the effectiveness of teacher preparation. An initial conceptual framework founded upon possible roles for received knowledge and classroom experience was expanded into an ideal topology for teacher knowledge when combined with a concern for personal versus collaborative processes. Data suggested four ideal types: a) personal-experiential, b) personal-received, c) collaborative-experiential, and d) collaborative-received. The qualitative research design involved open-ended questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and lesson plan documents from 14 classroom teachers in the mid-Atlantic region. Participants were chosen from public and private schools, and were diverse in ethnicity, gender, years of experience, teacher preparation, and grade levels taught. The purpose of the study was twofold: a) to arrive at a better understanding of the relationship between received knowledge and classroom experience in the formation of knowledge about teaching, and b) to contribute toward general theory on teacher knowledge and its development. The study is significant in that a better understanding of how teachers integrate classroom experience with received knowledge may contribute to a more workable model for teacher knowledge development and thereby contribute toward more effective planning of teacher education, professional development, and graduate level coursework.
Breaking the Cycle of Hate: A Phenomenological Study of Teachers' Lived Experiences as Both Other and Otherer
(2009) Mojto, Alison Laurie Milofsky; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In this phenomenological study I explore the lived experiences of five k-12 teachers around prejudice and discrimination, both in their lives and in the school context. My research question asks, What is the lived experience of teachers as both other and otherer, as target and perpetrator? Embedded in this larger question are two sub-questions: 1) What are the teachers' experiences participating in and mitigating othering in the classroom? and 2) In what manner do they understand the shaping of their prior experiences as they participate in and mitigate othering in the classroom? My research is grounded in the philosophical writings of Levinas and Derrida, and I rely on van Manen to guide me through the methodology of phenomenology. I listen to the stories of teachers who share their personal experiences around othering, digging for meaning that contributes to my understanding of the process. In my preliminary conversations I explore the role of place and emotions in our relations with the other. The complexity of identity begins to unfold. The five participants in my study share vivid experiences around othering. Through their stories I come to understand that our experiences around othering have very much to do with our sense of self. My participants do not have consistent relationships with others. Their interactions seem very much influenced by their own identity development, their relationship to the other, and the strength of their memories. In the school context, my participants experience othering from parents, students, and colleagues, and they, too, other, but they remain committed to challenging acts of bias in the school. They move beyond the self, reaching out to their students-as-others, forming relationships that transform the classroom from a place of learning to a place of living, seeing, and being seen. Finally, from my participants' words, I draw implications for pre-service and in-service education programs, imagining how we can prepare teachers to reflect critically, thinking about their personal experiences around othering in ways that enable them to teach for transformation in their classrooms.
Re-Making the Namibian Teacher: A Study of Teacher Reflection in an Era of Social Transition and Policy Reform.
(2008-12-15) Ralaingita, Wendi D.S.; Klees, Steven J; Spreen, Carol Anne; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
After achieving independence from South Africa in 1990, the Namibian government began sweeping educational reforms. These reforms were built on a new philosophy of education that envisaged education as playing a transformative role in post-apartheid Namibia. New teacher education programs have been the cornerstone of these reforms and focus on learner-centered pedagogy, placing emphasis on critical reflection - a drastic change from the teacher-centered education previously found in Namibian classrooms. Recent research in Namibian classrooms indicates that teachers communicate an understanding of pedagogical principles endorsed in official policy, but this often does not translate into observable differences in classroom practice. This study examines this situation from a new perspective, moving beyond teachers' understanding of the technical aspects of methodology to focus on the beliefs they hold about education and teaching. Literature on teacher thinking, learning, and change tells us that teachers' beliefs are integral to teachers' practice and to changes in practice. These beliefs may be influenced by multiple, sometimes conflicting, messages that teachers receive through policy declarations, teacher training programs, and discussions with education officials, colleagues and parents. This study examines the meaning teachers in the Namibian context have made of such messages and the beliefs they have developed about the purposes of education, the role of the teacher, and the meaning of quality teaching, as well as the connection of these with their practice. Qualitative methods were used, including teacher and principal interviews and focus groups, classroom observations, interviews at the ministerial level, and document analysis. Deductive and inductive coding was used to generate and analyze themes in order develop a picture of the ways in which the purpose of education, the role(s) of the teacher, and the meaning of quality teaching are portrayed among teachers and at the policy level. Variations among teachers and comparisons between teachers and policy documents were examined. The findings show that teachers' beliefs often concur with ideas espoused in policy documents, though with differences in some key areas. The study also explores the challenges that teachers face in trying to teach in accordance with their beliefs, and implications for professional development are discussed.

Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Browse

Filters

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results