Matching Items (6)
Description
How hard should the books be in elementary small-group reading? This study explored text difficulty for bilingual students reading below grade level in third grade. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, I used qualitative methods to analyze students’ engagement and discussion during small groups and single case design to evaluate students’ fluency and reading comprehension after reading and discussing texts in small groups.
Six Spanish-English bilingual students, split into two groups of three, participated in twelve, 30-minute, small-group reading sessions. Students in Group 1 read approximately one year below grade level, and students in Group 2 read approximately a year and a half below grade level. In six of the twelve sessions, students read and discussed texts matched to their reading levels, and in the other six they read and discussed texts one year ahead of their reading levels. I assigned matched and difficult texts across the twelve days by blocked randomization.
I analyzed video transcripts of each session to understand students’ engagement (focus of engagement, strategies, and interaction) and discussion (inferential vs. literal responses, instances of verbal participation). At the end of each session, students reread and retold the book the group had read and discussed that day to produce a fluency (words correct per minute) and comprehension (ideas correctly retold) score.
Findings were complex and revealed that different levels of texts have both advantages and drawbacks. Key findings included: For fluency, half of the students benefited from matched texts. The other half read difficult texts with similar fluency to matched texts. For comprehension, text difficulty did not matter for anyone except one student, and for him it only had an effect on 3 of 12 days. Group 2 engaged much more with texts and ideas in difficult books and with pictures in matched books. Group 1 had more inferential/interpretive responses with matched texts, and Group 2 had more inferential and interpretive responses with difficult texts. Most students participated evenly regardless of the difficulty of the text under discussion. However, two students talked more when discussing matched texts.
Six Spanish-English bilingual students, split into two groups of three, participated in twelve, 30-minute, small-group reading sessions. Students in Group 1 read approximately one year below grade level, and students in Group 2 read approximately a year and a half below grade level. In six of the twelve sessions, students read and discussed texts matched to their reading levels, and in the other six they read and discussed texts one year ahead of their reading levels. I assigned matched and difficult texts across the twelve days by blocked randomization.
I analyzed video transcripts of each session to understand students’ engagement (focus of engagement, strategies, and interaction) and discussion (inferential vs. literal responses, instances of verbal participation). At the end of each session, students reread and retold the book the group had read and discussed that day to produce a fluency (words correct per minute) and comprehension (ideas correctly retold) score.
Findings were complex and revealed that different levels of texts have both advantages and drawbacks. Key findings included: For fluency, half of the students benefited from matched texts. The other half read difficult texts with similar fluency to matched texts. For comprehension, text difficulty did not matter for anyone except one student, and for him it only had an effect on 3 of 12 days. Group 2 engaged much more with texts and ideas in difficult books and with pictures in matched books. Group 1 had more inferential/interpretive responses with matched texts, and Group 2 had more inferential and interpretive responses with difficult texts. Most students participated evenly regardless of the difficulty of the text under discussion. However, two students talked more when discussing matched texts.
ContributorsKelly, Laura Beth (Author) / Jimenez-Silva, Margarita (Thesis advisor) / Moses, Lindsey (Thesis advisor) / Restrepo, Laida (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
ABSTRACT
It is critical for students to be provided with opportunities to learn in settings that foster their academic growth. It is equally important that schools endeavor to be a place where students’ social and emotional needs are met as well. However, due to lack of funding, over-testing, inappropriate evaluation measures, and other persistent policy pressures, our public schools have often resorted to a focus on raising standardized test scores through direct instruction with an increasingly narrowed curriculum. As a result, schools have often become places in which students, rather than being seen as valued future members of a productive society, are part of the bleak statistics that shine a spotlight on how our schools have failed to motivate and connect with the students of today. Consequently, many educators have come to believe they are not influential enough to make a significant difference, and have resigned themselves to accepting their current situation. The problem with this thinking is that it minimizes the purpose of the job we promised to do – to educate.
The innovation I implemented and describe in my dissertation can be characterized with one word – dialogue. Dialogue that occurs for the purpose of understanding and learning more about that which we do not know. In this innovation, I endeavored to demonstrate how social learning by way of dialogic discussion could not only support students’ academic growth, but their social and emotional growth as well. Results from the data collected and analyzed in this study suggest social learning had a highly positive impact both on how students learned and how they viewed themselves as learners.
Education is one of the cornerstones of our country. Educational opportunities that help meet the academic and social-emotional needs of students should not be seen as a privilege but rather as a fundamental right for all students. Equally, the right to express one’s thoughts, opinions and ideas is a foundational element in our democratic society. Failing to connect with our students and teach them how to exercise these rights in our classrooms is to fail ourselves as educators.
It is critical for students to be provided with opportunities to learn in settings that foster their academic growth. It is equally important that schools endeavor to be a place where students’ social and emotional needs are met as well. However, due to lack of funding, over-testing, inappropriate evaluation measures, and other persistent policy pressures, our public schools have often resorted to a focus on raising standardized test scores through direct instruction with an increasingly narrowed curriculum. As a result, schools have often become places in which students, rather than being seen as valued future members of a productive society, are part of the bleak statistics that shine a spotlight on how our schools have failed to motivate and connect with the students of today. Consequently, many educators have come to believe they are not influential enough to make a significant difference, and have resigned themselves to accepting their current situation. The problem with this thinking is that it minimizes the purpose of the job we promised to do – to educate.
The innovation I implemented and describe in my dissertation can be characterized with one word – dialogue. Dialogue that occurs for the purpose of understanding and learning more about that which we do not know. In this innovation, I endeavored to demonstrate how social learning by way of dialogic discussion could not only support students’ academic growth, but their social and emotional growth as well. Results from the data collected and analyzed in this study suggest social learning had a highly positive impact both on how students learned and how they viewed themselves as learners.
Education is one of the cornerstones of our country. Educational opportunities that help meet the academic and social-emotional needs of students should not be seen as a privilege but rather as a fundamental right for all students. Equally, the right to express one’s thoughts, opinions and ideas is a foundational element in our democratic society. Failing to connect with our students and teach them how to exercise these rights in our classrooms is to fail ourselves as educators.
ContributorsOhanian, Jennifer Lyn (Author) / Hermanns, Carl (Thesis advisor) / Jordan, Michelle (Committee member) / Durden, Felicia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The purpose of this study is to determine the types of classroom instructional activities commonly used in teaching literature. Data were collected at ASU Preparatory High School. The study determined that literature-based lessons and activities fall under three categories: reading, writing, and discussion. Classroom observations revealed that reading, writing, and discursive activities were designed to promote higher-ordering thinking. These activities included silent reading, annotating text, reading aloud, keeping reading response journals, practicing essay writing, and participating in Socratic discussion. The teachers at ASU Prep used the listed activities with the intent to challenge their English students to engage in active learning, to improve reading, writing, and discursive skills, and promote critical thinking skills.
ContributorsSarik, Vivian Roathany (Author) / Blasingame, James (Thesis director) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Less than a full year ago, Cronkite News at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School launched ‘Cronkite News to Go’ (CN2GO). An innovative new way to deliver news content to those in Arizona, and across the country. This Barrett, Creative Project, focuses on the Best Practices for how to build a CN2GO Flash Briefing from start to finish. The booklet inclusion incorporates a number of step-by-step checklists for creating audio content, with the hope that it's something any Cronkite News reporter would be able to pick-up and learn from. This booklet also addresses the importance of CN2GO. It describes how these audio briefings are a great example of innovation, as well as a fantastic learning tool for future audio reporters.
This project also discusses possible solutions for how to maintain CN2GO long into the future. As old students graduate, and new ones join the team, this project will need to be sustained. The presentation portion of this Creative Project describes a number of potential improvements that could possibly be made to CN2GO, in order to better the entire process. These improvements are suggestions compiled from the personal experiences of student journalists tasked with creating CN2GO’s weekly. The presentation also includes a section devoted to how Cronkite News’ Flash Briefings can be continued over breaks in the school year. Spring breaks, Winter breaks, holidays, for example. These suggestions were made drawing from experimentation that was done with the CN2GO format in collaboration with this project.
The central purpose for this project was to take an existing idea and see how it can be prolonged and sustained far into the future. It can be used as an evolving learning tool for many iterations of Cronkite News reporters and producers to come.
This project also discusses possible solutions for how to maintain CN2GO long into the future. As old students graduate, and new ones join the team, this project will need to be sustained. The presentation portion of this Creative Project describes a number of potential improvements that could possibly be made to CN2GO, in order to better the entire process. These improvements are suggestions compiled from the personal experiences of student journalists tasked with creating CN2GO’s weekly. The presentation also includes a section devoted to how Cronkite News’ Flash Briefings can be continued over breaks in the school year. Spring breaks, Winter breaks, holidays, for example. These suggestions were made drawing from experimentation that was done with the CN2GO format in collaboration with this project.
The central purpose for this project was to take an existing idea and see how it can be prolonged and sustained far into the future. It can be used as an evolving learning tool for many iterations of Cronkite News reporters and producers to come.
ContributorsHrkal, Jonathan Jonah (Author) / Babits, Sadie (Thesis director) / Alam, Adnan (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Academic debates are a core sense-making mechanism of scientific and democratic societies that serve the purpose of educating the public and helping society to achieve further clarity on debated topics. This research seeks to understand why manifestations of the shadow may occur in academic debates on YouTube and how the shadow plays a role in making these debates less productive while breeding divisiveness. The scholarly debate genre on YouTube is an extension of the recognized television genre of televised debate and a description is given about the ways that the YouTube medium may influence the performance of and the viewing of academic debates. An analysis of ten videos that reflect the scholarly debate YouTube genre is done and explained through the dimensions of aggression, dismissiveness, avoiding, and logical fallacies. Shadow manifestations stand in the way of productive debates by distracting the debaters and the audience from the pursuit of the truth, confusing viewers with the use of logical fallacies, and promoting divisiveness that stands in the way of achieving consensus.
ContributorsPires, Louis (Author) / Mack, Robert (Thesis director) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Jack Grant and Sam Truman, two seniors at Arizona State University, discuss the latest in major sports, current events, and various other topics. Within their informal discussions, Jack and Sam "just say" whatever comes to mind and never shy away from a hot take. Most episodes include only Jack and Sam, but some entertain numerous guests and differing formats. The podcast is supported by a multimedia website, including written articles and interactive features. All components were further marketed through social media outreach and engagement. The Just Saying Podcast thesis paper analyzes podcast history and what has made them such a popular media outlet. Further, the paper discusses what makes The Just Saying Podcast a unique product. Our deliverable, The Just Saying Podcast, can be found at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-just-saying-podcast/id1585891858 All components can be accessed through: https://www.justsayingpod.com/ https://twitter.com/JustSayingP
ContributorsTruman, Sam (Author) / Grant, Jack (Co-author) / Baker, Aaron (Thesis director) / Bonfiglio, Thomas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor)
Created2022-05