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
5 results
Search Results
Item Strong Internship Programs in the Newsroom: A Survey of Practices in the Field and Analysis of Tools for Improvement(2016) Hille, Karl B.; Steiner, Linda; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Accredited journalism schools acknowledge the need for strong internships, and provide basic guidance for newsrooms on administering internship programs. However, most newsroom intern supervisors begin with few other resources to build or improve a program. A survey of newsroom intern supervisors was undertaken to explore a range of internship environments, identify common practices and gauge interest in tools for improvement. In addition, a review of published literature pertinent to building, improving and running such a program was sought in order to provide a coaching framework to assist the newsroom supervisor. Most surveyed said they invented their program along the way and expressed an interest in other tools for improvement, but other production duties don’t leave much time for research. These modest survey results offer a peek through a doorway into a new field of internship research that offers much promise for future investigation.Item Planning During the Internship: A Study of the Planning Practices of Preservice English Teachers(2014) Hessong Grove, Rebecca M.; Koziol, Stephen; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This collective case study investigated the planning practices of six English education interns during the full time internship, including planning for edTPA. Research and professional standards emphasize the importance of planning, as it undergirds every aspect of what happens in a classroom. By understanding how interns learn to plan, teacher educators can better facilitate interns' development of planning skills. Using activity theory as a theoretical framework, this study describes how interns' planning practices changed over the course of the internship and identifies factors that influenced changes. Data sources included lesson plans, interviews with interns and mentors, and edTPA lesson plans. Findings showed most interns did not write detailed daily plans, but those who did experienced fewer planning and teaching struggles. Communication and feedback from the mentor were major factors in creating successful plans and planning routines. Three of the interns began writing more detailed plans to improve their teaching, motivated by a desire to be more organized and effective. All interns wrote detailed, formal plans for edTPA, and these plans included elements that were not part of typical written plans, such as differentiation and formative assessment. Other areas of change included increased planning for scaffolding and addressing students' confusion. Graduate interns expressed increased confidence in planning student-centered lessons. Factors that influenced such changes included experience, mentor guidance, and support from a methods course. Interns also drew on their increasing knowledge of students and district curriculum to plan relevant lessons. Interns consistently planned at the whole-class level, with little evidence of planning for individual learning. This study has implications for teacher educators aiming to strengthen candidates' planning practices. Programs must facilitate proactive mentoring and structured co-planning. Pre-service coursework should help candidates integrate student-centered pedagogy, formative assessment, and differentiation into lesson plans. The impact of internship length and undergraduate vs. graduate program structures must be investigated further. Finally, this study indicates that planning for edTPA was educative for interns. This, along with other findings, suggests that more formal planning can improve intern learning and program coherence.Item Teacher Interns' Written Reflection in College Assignments(2013) Wilson, Robin Black; Hyler, Maria E; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This exploratory study investigates preservice teacher written reflection during the full-time internship semester and trends across assignments, topics, and interns that may have a relationship with dialogic or critical reflection. Sociocultural theory serves as the theoretical underpinning of the study. The study applies Hatton and Smith's (1995) types of writing: descriptive writing, descriptive reflection, dialogic reflection, and critical reflection. Case study and content analysis methodologies are simultaneously used to address the research questions. This study reveals that interns engage in written reflection within all three categories (descriptive reflection, dialogic reflection, and critical reflection) (Dinkelman, 2000; Hatton & Smith, 1995), however, the overwhelming majority of reflection is descriptive reflection (95.8%), followed by dialogic reflection (4.1%) and critical reflection (0.1%). This study did not find a single condition, topic, or assignment that guarantees written dialogic or critical reflection. Instead, this study found that intern written dialogic and critical reflection appears to be an outgrowth of a combination of factors including, but not limited to, intern understanding of reflection, internship semester responsibilities, assignment design, and the role of the college supervisor.Item BECOMING LAOSHI IN US HIGH SCHOOLS: CASE STUDIES OF THREE FOREIGN-BORN CHINESE LANGUAGE TEACHER CANDIDATES(2012) Liu, Xiao; Hughes, Sherick; Wang, Shuhan; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The foreign-born Chinese speakers that currently make up the largest component of those training to become Chinese language teachers encounter challenges during their internship that differ significantly from those experienced by interns who are more familiar with U.S. culture and institutions. Qualitative case studies of three Chinese language teacher candidates (CLTCs) follow their journeys to becoming Chinese language teachers in order to 1) identify the key influences that shape their experiences in their internship; 2) understand in what ways these influences have created resonances and contradictions for them; and 3) explore strategies CLTCs have adopted in order to navigate through the US education system during their internship. Based on themes that emerged from in-depth interviews, document reviews, and observations, consistencies as well as variations in their experiences are presented in forms of single case and cross-case analysis. A sociocultural conceptual framework which incorporates elements from Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Legitimate Peripheral Participation was created to analyze three cases. The framework highlights three domains of influences, namely "Key Stakeholders" "Culture and Institution", and "Pedagogical Tools and Resources". The interactions that CLTCs had with the three domains of influences were explored. The three CLTCs were hired by three high schools that were vastly different in terms of social economic status of student population. Findings revealed that "Key Stakeholders" (such as mentors, administrators, other staff and faculty, and students) was the most prominent influence that shaped their experiences. Key stakeholders' support created the most resonances for their experiences as well. CLTCs experienced most contradictions in interpreting the US education framework and managing their classes. To navigate through their internship, CLTCs used a variety of strategies to strengthen classroom management and develop their teaching styles. Promoting Chinese language programs in the community was also found to be an important part of their job. The results suggested that all stakeholders (teachers, teacher educators, and policy-makers) should work synergistically to help CLTCs harvest the most from the cross-cultural teaching experience. Specific suggestions are made on how to better prepare CLTCs.Item When The Shoe Is On The Other Foot: A Qualitative Study of Intern-Level Trainees' Perceived Learning From Clients(2007-07-10) Stahl, Jessica Vogel; Hill, Clara E.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although research on therapist development indicates that therapists attribute the majority of their learning about therapy to their clients (e.g., Orlinsky, Botermans & Ronnestad, 2001), learning from clients has only been explicitly addressed in anecdotal accounts (Bugental, 1991; Crawford, 1987; Freeman & Hayes, 2002; Kahn & Fromm, 2002). The closest researchers have come to empirically investigating learning from clients is by studying the impact of clients on their therapists (e.g., Farber, 1985; Myers 2002). However, this literature is still in its infancy and warrants further exploration. The purpose of this study was to extend the literature on therapist development and the impact of clients on their therapists to the study of learning from clients. To this end, 12 trainees (5 male; 7 female) who had recently completed pre-doctoral internships at university counseling centers were interviewed about what they learn from clients. In addition, participants were asked how they realized what they learned from clients, what they do with what they learn from clients and what variables contribute to how much they learn from clients. The data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, Knox, Thompson, Williams, Hess, & Ladany, 2005; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Participants reported learning things about doing therapy, themselves, client dynamics, human nature, the therapy relationship, and the usefulness of supervision; these lessons were reflective or participants' level of development as they primarily reported learning higher-order skills (e.g., Cummings, Slemon & Hallberg, 1993; Sakai & Naasserbakht, 1997). In addition, participants highlighted the importance of consultation and self-reflection in order to recognize learning; this is consistent with literature on experiential learning (Abbey, Hunt & Weiser, 1985). In discussing what they do with what they learn from clients, participants indicated they have or will apply what was learned to future clinical work; in addition they indicated that their lessons from clients fostered some kind of personal growth. Finally, participants indicated that a number of variables influenced the amount they learned from their clients: therapist, client, and therapy relationship characteristics, time, a new or remarkable therapy process, and new supervisors or settings. Implications for practice and research are discussed.