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- Creators: Arizona State University
- Creators: Blanchard, Jay
Description
Learning academic vocabulary is part of the curriculum for elementary students. Many gifted students learn new words easily but do not necessarily feel positive about studying vocabulary at school. They also do not transfer these words to their own writing. This researcher used games in her own fifth-grade classroom to teach vocabulary and measured the use of these words in the students' writing. This study also examined students' attitudes about learning vocabulary through games. This mixed-methods study used quantitative data to study the students' retention of the vocabulary words, their usage of the words in their writing, and their attitude toward playing games to learn vocabulary. The researcher also used qualitative data to measure the students' attitudes toward learning with games. Three different vocabulary games were used and one editing game was used during this 18-week study. Quantitative data from test scores and questionnaire responses were analyzed comparing pre and post responses. Writing samples and word tallies were collected throughout the study. Students learned the definitions of vocabulary words while playing games and retained the meanings after 18 weeks, achieving a mean score on the posttest of 71%. No significant usage of the relevant words in student writing samples was found. Qualitative data from questionnaires and field notes were coded and analyzed. A significant gain was shown in how students felt about studying vocabulary after playing games. This study showed positive results in all areas measured.
ContributorsRagatz, Carolyn Mae (Author) / Carlson, David L. (Thesis advisor) / Gee, Elisabeth (Committee member) / Stamm, Jill (Committee member) / Cash, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT Epilepsy is a neurological condition that sometimes pervades all domains of an affected child's life. At school, three specific threats to the wellbeing of children with epilepsy exist: (1) seizure-related injuries, (2) academic problems, and (3) stigmatization. Unfortunately, educators frequently fail to take into account educationally-relevant epilepsy information when making important decisions. One possible explanation for this is that parents are not sharing such information with teachers. This study surveyed 16 parents of children with epilepsy in order to determine the rate at which they disclosed the epilepsy diagnoses to their children's teachers, as well as the difficulty with which they made the decision to disclose or withhold such information. In addition, the relationships between such disclosure and parent-participants' perceptions of the risks of epilepsy-related injuries, academic struggles, and stigmatization at school were examined. Results indicate that all participants disclosed their children's epilepsy diagnoses to their children's teachers, and most (69%) reported that making this decision was "very easy." There were no statistically significant associations between disclosure and any of three parental perception variables (perceptions of the threats of injury, academic problems, and stigmatization at school). Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.
ContributorsBush, Vanessa (Author) / Wodrich, David L (Committee member) / Blanchard, Jay (Committee member) / Gorin, Joanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The current study analyzed existing data, collected under a previous U.S. Department of Education Reading First grant, to investigate the strength of the relationship between scores on the first- through third-grade Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills - Oral Reading Fluency (DIBELS-ORF) test and scores on a reading comprehension test (TerraNova-Reading) administered at the conclusion of second- and third-grade. Participants were sixty-five English Language Learners (ELLs) learning to read in a school district adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border. DIBELS-ORF and TerraNova-Reading scores were provided by the school district, which administers the assessments in accordance with state and federal mandates to monitor early literacy skill development. Bivariate correlation results indicate moderate-to-strong positive correlations between DIBELS-ORF scores and TerraNova-Reading performance that strengthened between grades one and three. Results suggest that the concurrent relationship between oral reading fluency scores and performance on standardized and high-stakes measures of reading comprehension may be different among ELLs as compared to non-ELLs during first- and second-grade. However, by third-grade the correlations approximate those reported in previous non-ELL studies. This study also examined whether the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), a receptive vocabulary measure, could explain any additional variance on second- and third-grade TerraNova-Reading performance beyond that explained by the DIBELS-ORF. The PPVT was individually administered by researchers collecting data under a Reading First research grant prior to the current study. Receptive vocabulary was found to be a strong predictor of reading comprehension among ELLs, and largely overshadowed the predictive ability of the DIBELS-ORF during first-grade. Results suggest that receptive vocabulary scores, used in conjunction with the DIBELS-ORF, may be useful for identifying beginning ELL readers who are at risk for third-grade reading failure as early as first-grade.
ContributorsMillett, Joseph Ridge (Author) / Atkinson, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Blanchard, Jay (Committee member) / Thompson, Marilyn (Committee member) / Christie, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study investigated the effects of different types of play-embedded instruction on preschoolers' vocabulary learning during a vocabulary intervention known as Say-Tell-Do-Play (STDP). The goal of this study was to determine whether or not two types of play - Story Drama and a Vocabulary Matching Game - enhanced the effectiveness of the STDP strategy. To investigate this goal, the researcher implemented the STDP instructional routine for 17 children with three different picture books and their corresponding play activities and a control condition (Drawing) in a counterbalanced order. Descriptive statistics were utilized to understand the effects of these different play activities on the children's receptive and expressive vocabulary learning. Findings showed that the STDP vocabulary instructional strategy had a much larger impact on children's receptive vocabulary than on expressive vocabulary learning. The play activities did not seem to make much difference in the learning of receptive and expressive vocabulary. The results indicated that the STDP strategy is an effective way to teach receptive vocabulary. There was a lack of evidence that the different types of play significantly affected children's vocabulary learning.
ContributorsSong, Mi-Jung (Author) / Christie, James (Thesis advisor) / Enz, Billie (Committee member) / Blanchard, Jay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This dissertation discusses the intersection of schooling, justice systems, and educational achievements of American Indians. This dissertation is divided into three parts covering six sections; American Indians in the U.S. as a political and racial group, current trends in Indian education and economic conditions with a discussion on the role of epistemological and ontological clashes between Indian ways of thinking and western education practices. Six policy eras are discussed that have shaped Indian education followed by a discussion on how and in what ways the justice system and schooling intersect with the educational achievement of American Indian students.
A qualitative case study explored the experiences of six Navajo prisoners, ages 24-35, in the Winslow State Prison in Arizona. Open-ended interviews inquired about their K-12 education, family, community, and institutional experiences with discipline. Findings revealed negative experiences with schooling had powerful impacts on participants in contrast to family, community, and other institutions. All participants reported experiences in school contributed to interfacing with the justice system. Second, teachers and principals were identified as powerful forces contributing to participants’ negative school experiences. Third, negative family impacts triggered participants’ dependency on the school for support. Findings from this study, evidence suggests that schooling plays a pivotal role influencing a Navajo man's life chances.
This type of research focusing on Indigenous prison inmate voices is needed to understand the experiences of Navajo male offenders who are within the criminal justice system and to then make policy recommendations to support healing and rehabilitation. I conclude by calling for a reimagining of schooling practices based on restorative justice that can mitigate negative disciplinary and violent schooling experiences and restore trust and success of American Indians in the education system.
Keywords: American Indian schooling, school to prison, federal boarding schools
A qualitative case study explored the experiences of six Navajo prisoners, ages 24-35, in the Winslow State Prison in Arizona. Open-ended interviews inquired about their K-12 education, family, community, and institutional experiences with discipline. Findings revealed negative experiences with schooling had powerful impacts on participants in contrast to family, community, and other institutions. All participants reported experiences in school contributed to interfacing with the justice system. Second, teachers and principals were identified as powerful forces contributing to participants’ negative school experiences. Third, negative family impacts triggered participants’ dependency on the school for support. Findings from this study, evidence suggests that schooling plays a pivotal role influencing a Navajo man's life chances.
This type of research focusing on Indigenous prison inmate voices is needed to understand the experiences of Navajo male offenders who are within the criminal justice system and to then make policy recommendations to support healing and rehabilitation. I conclude by calling for a reimagining of schooling practices based on restorative justice that can mitigate negative disciplinary and violent schooling experiences and restore trust and success of American Indians in the education system.
Keywords: American Indian schooling, school to prison, federal boarding schools
ContributorsGreyeyes, Delores (Author) / Brayboy, Bryan M.J. (Thesis advisor) / Huaman, Elizabeth S. (Thesis advisor) / Gomez, Alan E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The English language is taught all over the world and changes immensely from place to place. As such, both L1 and L2 English Language Users all utilize English as a tool for creating meaning in their existence and to also form perspectives on how the language ought to be. What is interesting about this is that the language being used to do that is one birthed from a culture that many English speakers across the globe are separated from; that is, Anglo-Saxon culture. Since learning and using language is also learning and participating in culture the question is, then how separated are American English speakers from that of the culture that created the language they speak? Does Anglo-Saxon culture impact how worldviews are formed in contemporary English speakers? I propose that the first step to finding some answers is by investigating the language ideologies that American English speakers have through the inquiry of meanings that they prescribe to English words that derive from Old English and subsequently have Germanic origins. The following work details a study examining the language attitudes of American English speakers in hopes of shedding new light on these questions.
ContributorsHickman, Paris Weslyn (Author) / Bjork, Robert E (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen L (Committee member) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This study examines the skills, strategies, and routines used by National Board Certified Teachers in order to teach vocabulary to kindergarten students. The research focused, specifically, on the strategies teachers used during shared reading activities to help children gain a better understanding of vocabulary, while also ensuring that students were meeting the academic standards. All of the participants were National Board Certified and taught in kindergarten classrooms around the Phoenix, AZ area and three of the teachers taught in Title I schools. They participated in two formal interviews that were voice recorded, as well as one week of classroom observations. During the interviews the teachers shared their experiences related to National Board Certification, their beliefs about teaching and more specifically about teaching vocabulary, and the best methods for teaching students vocabulary. They also discussed ways they use the academic standards from Common Core in their classroom, and shared if they think the standards are aligned with the National Board Professional Teaching Standards. Upon examination of the interviews and observation field notes, several themes emerged. 1) The process of National Board Certification impacted their teaching practice and increased self-reflection. 2) Vocabulary is taught throughout the school day, across all content areas, using both direct and indirect instruction. 3) All of the teachers use shared reading activities as one method of teaching vocabulary words to their students. 4) Teachers find value in academic standards and National Board Professional Teaching Standards; however, they do not all agree that the two types of standards support one another.
ContributorsNichols, Laura Cary (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Enz, Billie (Committee member) / Surbeck, Elaine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The present research study investigated the effects of 8 versions of a computer-based vocabulary learning program on receptive and productive knowledge levels of college students. The participants were 106 male and 103 female Korean EFL students from Kyungsung University and Kwandong University in Korea. Students who participated in versions of the vocabulary learning program with target-word based sentences as well as definitions tended to perform better on receptive and productive vocabulary assessments than those who participated in versions of the program with definitions of words only. Furthermore, results indicated that the difference in receptive scores from immediately after the program to one week later showed a higher drop-rate than the difference in productive scores. In addition, female learners performed receptively better than male learners in post and one-week delayed tests, but significant gender difference failed to occur for the productivity measure. Overall, these results emphasized the importance of productive vocabulary knowledge for better retention of English vocabulary words.
ContributorsKim, Scott Sungki (Author) / Nelson, Brian C (Thesis advisor) / Green, Samuel B (Committee member) / Bitter, Gary G. (Committee member) / James, Mark A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
An investigation of academic achievement and achievement motivation in children with cystic fibrosis
Description
Cystic Fibrosis, one of the most severe childhood life-shortening illnesses, places demands on a child's life conceivably interfering with his or her academic success. It is possible that the medically related activities in which individuals with CF partake interfere with academic activities and the motivation, specifically beliefs, expectancies, and values held, toward those activities. These issues encouraged the investigation of academic achievement and achievement motivation in children with CF through exploration of three research questions. Question one concerns differences in academic achievement between children with CF and a healthy comparison group for 1) reading and 2) math. Question two explored differences in aspects of motivation including ability beliefs, outcome expectancies, and task values between the groups for the two academic subjects. Finally, question three examined the relationship between motivational components and academic achievement. Evidence is provided for differences in math achievement between the two groups. Differences in motivation between children with CF and healthy children remain unsubstantiated.
ContributorsHall, Morgan (Author) / Gorin, Joanna (Thesis advisor) / Wodrich, David (Committee member) / Husman, Jenefer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
This study examines the effect of the translation of traditional scientific vocabulary into plain English, a process referred to as Anglicization, on student learning in the context of introductory microbiology instruction. Data from Anglicized and Classical-vocabulary lab sections were collected. Data included exam scores as well as pre and post-course surveys on reasoning skills, impressions of biology, science and the course, and microbiology knowledge. Students subjected to Anglicized instruction performed significantly better on exams that assessed their abilities to apply and analyze knowledge from the course, and gained similar amounts of knowledge during the course when compared to peers instructed with standard vocabulary. Their performance in upper-level courses was also better than that of their traditionally educated peers. Hypotheses related to the effect are presented and evaluated; implications for instruction are discussed.
ContributorsRichter, Emily (Author) / Lawson, Anton (Thesis advisor) / Stout, Valerie (Committee member) / Haydel, Shelley (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011