Matching Items (13)
Description
Physical activity (PA) has been shown to increase cognitive function, with higher test scores being reported for students engaged in higher levels PA. Additionally, the integration of the Common Core content into physical education allows for more Common Core content practice while students meet physical education objectives. Integration can be defined as the teaching of two or more subject areas simultaneously to enhance students’ learning and understanding. This novel shift to integration is underpinned by Fullan’s Change Theory where students may learn content in new and meaningful ways that meet the goals of multiple realms in education. The purpose of this crossover, replication design study was to investigate first-grade students’ enjoyment levels (enjoyment exit slips), attitudes (pre- & post-surveys), step counts (accelerometers), reading and listening comprehension (Accelerated Reader testing), as well as students’ and teachers’ perceptions (interviews & field notes) when integrating children’s literature into the fitness segment of physical education. Twenty-one first-grade students, two first-grade classroom teachers, and two physical education teachers from two different schools (Private and Public) in Southwestern, US participated in this study for six weeks each (12 weeks across the two schools). At each school, one first grade class participated as both the control and intervention groups. Overall, the results from integrating children’s literature into the physical education fitness segment were positive. Students’ enjoyment levels were high, their attitudes remained positive, they maintained similar step counts throughout the intervention periods, and the students scored similarly on the Accelerated Reader assessments from content taught in the classroom versus content presented in physical education. Additionally, students’ and teachers’ perceptions were positive, underpinned by Fullan’s Change Theory and resulted in the following three themes for students: (a) Motivation and engagement, (b) learning as perceived by students, and (c) home environment, as well as the following two themes for teachers: (a) Motivation and resources, and (b) stay the course. To my knowledge, this is the first experimental investigation of the integration of children’s literature into physical education which provides necessary evidence and an invaluable start to this important line of inquiry.
ContributorsGriffo, Janelle Marie (Author) / Kulinna, Pamela H. (Thesis advisor) / Van Der Mars, Hans (Committee member) / Marttinen, Risto H.J. (Committee member) / Johnston, Kelly (Committee member) / Moses, Lindsey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This interpretive dissertation study draws upon a sociocultural framework to understand what happened when a seventh-grade teacher introduced drama-based pedagogy into her English Language Arts (ELA) classroom to aid emergent bilinguals’ participation and positioning within the classroom network of practice. The classroom teacher had little training in best practices for supporting emergent bilinguals and no training in drama-based pedagogical approaches for teaching and learning before she participated in this study. I trained the classroom teacher in these practices and provided guidance and feedback during the implementation of drama-based pedagogy. The following research question guided this investigation: What happens when drama-based pedagogy is introduced into a seventh-grade ELA class to support emergent bilinguals? Twenty-seven students from an urban middle school in the southwestern United States participated in this study. According to the state’s English language proficiency exam, three students were identified as English language learners. All three had attended schools in the United States since kindergarten. I conducted classroom observations and interviews with the student and teacher participants to gather data on how emergent bilinguals participated and were positioned during drama-based lessons. Then I analyzed the data corpus using multiple forms of coding, social network analysis, and multimodal interaction analysis. My findings describe the emergent bilinguals’ multimodal classroom interactions with their peers and the teacher during drama-based pedagogy. I present excerpts from interview, reflection meeting, and multimodal transcripts to support my analysis of participation and positioning. Based on my findings, I generated five assertions: (1) emergent bilinguals increased their access to academic resources within the peer academic network after engaging in drama-based pedagogy; (2) emergent bilinguals demonstrated moments of resistance and adaptation during drama-based pedagogy; (3) emergent bilinguals' participation during drama-based pedagogy fluctuated between moments of maintaining and becoming certain kinds of students; (4) incorporating drama-based pedagogy into the seventh-grade ELA class required the teacher to preserve time for more traditional ELA practices while also re-envisioning classroom instruction; and (5) students sometimes misinterpreted teacher facilitation as requirements which limited student agency during drama-based pedagogy. The dissertation concludes with implications for research and practice and outlines potential directions for future research.
ContributorsTroxel Deeg, Megan (Author) / Farrand, Kathleen M. (Thesis advisor) / Moses, Lindsey (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Katie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This mixed methods action research study explores the impact of a multilevel intervention on retention indicators of special education induction teachers and the leadership capacities of the special education induction coaches and coordinator. The purpose of this investigation was to understand the impact of developing and implementing an action research study on three different levels of participants the special education induction coaches, teachers and me. A theoretical framework based upon Bandura's (1977, 1982) work in Social Learning Theory, and in self and collective efficacy informs this study. The conceptual framework developed based upon the tenets of Authentic Leadership Theory and special education mentor programs inform the development of the intervention and data collection tools. Quantitative data included results collected from the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ), Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), and the Special Education Induction Teacher Questionnaire (SEITQ). The qualitative data included results collected from the SEITQ open-ended questions, Email Reflective Response (ERR), organic and structured focus groups, fieldnotes, and the Teachers' Final Letter. Findings include: a) I changed as a leader and a researcher, b) the special education induction coaches began to think and act as leaders, c) the special education induction teachers' retention indicators increased, d) by actively participating in the co-construction of the special education induction program, both the coaches and the teacher provided valuable insights as pertains to developing a program that supports special education induction teachers. Implications and next steps are discussed.
ContributorsImel, Breck (Author) / Wetzel, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Ewbank, Ann (Thesis advisor) / Davidson, Carter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012