Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: curriculum development
- Creators: Marsh, Josephine
Description
Many educators believe that the path to a better future is a college education. Initiatives that promote college-going cultures are quite commonplace in many public high schools with some offering elective college-prep support programs like Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). Yet, certain groups of students are not taking advantage of these opportunities. In the initial AVID sections at a metropolitan high school in the American Southwest, the girls out-numbered the boys 2:1, and the Hispanic girls outnumbered the Hispanic boys by almost 3:1. The purpose of this study was to uncover some of the factors that influenced five Hispanic males' participation, or lack thereof, in AVID, and the ways in which those factors connected to their masculine identities. What the participants say about what influenced them to be involved, or not, in the program is reported. Some themes revealed in the interviews include how the participants' scholar identity is connected to their masculine identity, how they balance their "coolness" quotient with their desires to achieve academic success, how they depend on personal relationships and collaboration, and how their families and communities have influenced them. This information may lead to the development of strategies that will increase future representation of Hispanic males in similar programs.
ContributorsGlenn, Kathleen (Kathleen Denise) (Author) / Marsh, Josephine (Thesis advisor) / Barone, Thomas (Committee member) / Cohn, Sanford (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The purpose of this action research study was to examine how membership within a virtual community of practice impacted individual professional development, knowledge exchange practices, and self-efficacy. The G-3/5/7 virtual community of practice (VCoP) website was created to provide members with access to a wide range of career-related content, while also bestowing them with the level of volition needed to be completely in control of when and how they consume content. Feedback from early cycles of research suggested the pilot version of the VCoP wasn’t perceived as user-friendly and didn’t provide a broad range of professional development-related content. Thus, the layout of the VCoP was completely redesigned, and content offerings in the content repository and on website pages were broadened. This action research study is grounded in social cognitive theory, social cognitive career theory, and the community of practice framework. Reviewed literature includes studies pertaining to mutual engagement within social learning environments, facilitating professional development, sustaining communities of practice, and implementing virtual communities of practice. Participants in this study included a combination of Department of the Army civilian and military employees. Over the course of 14 weeks, these employees were invited to voluntarily join the G-3/5/7 VCoP and freely access and use the site for any reason they deemed necessary. At the end of the 14-week period, participants completed a questionnaire and participated in semi-structured interviews. The result of the study revealed members generally found the G-3/5/7 VCoP website to be user-friendly. They also believed the website could help them accomplish professional development goals, exchange knowledge with peers, and produce higher quality work more efficiently. The analysis of results includes discussion on the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data and connects results to the literature that influenced this study. Also, lessons learned, study limitations, implications for practice, and recommendations for future action research are discussed.
ContributorsRoy, Brennan M. (Author) / Marsh, Josephine (Thesis advisor) / Bankus, Tammy (Committee member) / Clausen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This teacher research study examined the effects of utilizing an intervention of Science Writing Heuristics (SWH) as a tool to increase learning during laboratory activities. Five of my eighth grade general science classes participated in this study. Two classes utilized SWH during their laboratory activities (the treatment group) and three classes performed and wrote up their labs in the more traditional, teacher-directed approach (the control group). The assessment scores of the students in the treatment group were compared to the assessment scores of the students in the control group. The post-assessments were analyzed utilizing a t-test. I was teacher in this study and the teacher of all five classes. Data from 41 students were analyzed in this study. A pre-assessment, six laboratory activities, instruction, and a post-assessment occurred within three weeks. The assessments were generated by myself and I performed a t-test using a two-sample analysis, assuming unequal variances (n=16 for treatment group, n=25 for control group) to compare the post-assessments from each group. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between the post-assessment scores of the treatment group with the post-assessment scores of control group (p=0.25). However, the t-test results revealed that when the pre- and post-assessments were compared, there was a significant difference (p=<0.05 for treatment group, p=<0.05 for control group). Each group showed considerable cognitive improvement between pre-assessment (mean scores: 52%-treatment group and 53%-control group) and the post-assessment (mean scores: 72%-treatment group and 80%-control group). This suggests that the presentation of the curriculum lacked a clear distinction between the treatment group and the control group yet benefited most students. Due to circumstances described in the limitations, further research is warranted.
ContributorsDrobitsky, Tamara (Author) / Luft, Julie (Thesis advisor) / Marsh, Josephine (Committee member) / Baker, Dale (Committee member) / Lyon, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015