Culminating Experience Action Research Projects, Volume 7, Fall 2005

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Teaching Experience; Student Teaching; Research Projects; Action Research; Teacher Certification; Algebra; Mathematics Education; Grammar; Case Studies; Federal Legislation; Surveys; Teacher Effectiveness; Elementary School Students; Teaching Methods; Academic Achievement; Cooperative Learning; Student Behavior; Parent Participation

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating Experience, requires the student to implement an action research plan designed through (a) the Education 500 Introduction to Inquiry course, (b) one of the two learning assessments required during student teaching, or (c) a newly-designed project not used as one of the learning assessments. With funding through a UTC Teaching, Learning, and Technology Faculty Fellows award, the Education 590 course is conducted through the use of an online, course management system (Blackboard Learning System Release 6), allowing for asynchronous discussion and use of the digital drop box feature for submitting required papers. The course syllabus for Education 590 Culminating Experience is presented in the next section, followed by action research projects from fall semester 2005. The following papers are included in this document: (1) Parental Involvement in Algebra 1 Homework and Its Effects on Gateway--Algebra Scores (Jonathan Adcock); (2) Teaching Grammar to Eighth Graders: Cooperative Learning and Direct Instruction (George Thomas Allen); (3) The Loss of Instruction Time Due to Behavior: Case Study (Larry Bullington); (4) Toward a Pedagogical Approach to Using PLATO Learning[c] in Sixth Grade Math: Determining Effectiveness between Teaching Methods (Tim Childers); (5) Using Accelerated Reading as a Motivator in the Classroom (John Franks); (6) Effects of Preschool on Student's Performance in Kindergarten (Christina Lawson); (7) Teacher-Centered Versus Student-Centered: Which Teaching Strategy Is the Most Effective in a Middle School Science Classroom? (Amy LeValley); (8) Grouping Strategy Effects on Literacy Achievement of Low Performing Elementary Students (Tamera L. Maroukis); (9) Concrete Thinkers in an Abstract Class: The Search for an Exercise to Improve Poetry Comprehension and Creation (Susan Morrison); (10) Evaluation of a Pre-Test and Post-Test for a Nocturnal Animals Unit (Melanie Oliver); (11) The Effects of Journaling on Communicating about and Understanding Visual Art (Carrie Pendegrass); (12) Athletics and Academic Achievement: How Are They Related? (Jason Scott); and (13) The Loss of Student Motivation: An Inquiry Project (Dana Wilson). (Individual papers contain references.) [Abstract modified to meet ERIC guidelines.]

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2007

ED495261