Search Results

1. Netter, Amy History Instruction with a Human Rights Perspective: Exploring the Experience and Learning of High School Students through a Case Study

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2022, Curriculum and Instruction

This qualitative case study examined the implementation of a four-week instructional unit on the Civil Rights Movement taught through a human rights lens and emphasizing written discourse in the classroom. The study was conducted in a large, urban high school in the Midwest near the end of the 2022 spring semester. The instructional unit, a critical case, was taught as part of the curriculum of an American History class required for sophomores but including some juniors and seniors. Data from 32 students who met the attendance and assignment submission requirements of the study were included. The framework for the case study was the intersection of theories of history instruction, human rights education, and discourse. Data collected included student created classwork and artifacts, teacher-researcher participant observations, and curricular and instructional materials. The research questions addressed the ways students independently and collaboratively reflected on history and human rights, the ways students engaged in analysis and critical thinking, and the ways in which they reflected on their experiences through their written discourse. Data analysis showed that students often made meaningful connections between history, human rights, and current events through written discourse, but that there were specific concepts with which they struggled such as the human rights concept of correlative duties. Additionally, students engaged in collaborative discourse that gave them the opportunity to practice human rights discourse. Students' most personal connections were made in activities and discussions in which they engaged in critical thinking and analysis. The connections made by students included comparisons between events of the Civil Rights Movement and current issues such as police brutality and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Students also demonstrated the ability to effectively reflect on their personal and classroom experiences. These findings illustrated the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Susanna Hapgood (Committee Chair); Mark Templin (Committee Member); Dale Snauwaert (Committee Member); Colleen Fitzpatrick (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Curriculum Development; Education; Instructional Design; Literacy; Peace Studies; Secondary Education; Teaching

2. Roose, Tamara The Intercultural Dimensions of Reading in English as an Additional Language: A Multiple Case Study

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, EDU Teaching and Learning

Given that minimal research has looked at doctoral level reading and considered the extent to which this is an intercultural experience for second language readers, this multiple case study explored the academic reading practices and perspectives of four international doctoral students from different first language backgrounds all studying in an Education program at a large research-intensive higher education institute in the midwestern United States.

Committee: Alan Hirvela (Advisor); George Newell (Advisor); Ian Wilkinson (Committee Member); Ulla Connor (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; English As A Second Language; Higher Education; Language; Literacy; Reading Instruction

3. Joo, Hyun Jung Teacher Change in Argumentative Writing Instruction in a High-School ESL Classroom: A Longitudinal Study

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, EDU Teaching and Learning

Argumentative writing is a crucial skill in the school years and beyond, and there is an emphasis in various local, state, and national standards on argumentative writing. However, such writing is known to be a challenging and complex genre for English Learners (ELs) with limited English proficiency as well as cultural differences in terms of how argumentative thought and writing are conceptualized (Hirvela, 2013). It can be equally challenging and complex for many English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, who are often ill-equipped for writing instruction (Larsen, 2013, 2016). From a research perspective, there have been few studies exploring the abilities and needs of ESL teachers as relates to instruction in argumentation, especially in high school settings, where various learning and achievement standards are increasingly requiring a focus on argumentation despite the difficulty of teaching and learning argumentative writing regarding ELs. To address the gaps in the scholarship discussed above, this dissertation explores how a ESL teacher, Ms. Patrick, sought to develop her expertise in teaching argumentative writing in a suburban high-school ESL class for ELs over a two-year period using a classroom-based research methodology that involved ongoing observations of her class sessions, interviews with her and her students, and examination of her teaching activities and materials as well as her students' responses to her instruction. This study employed as an analytical tool the notion of expertise, particularly a distinction between what is known as routine and adaptive expertise, to examine how Ms. Patrick initiated and engaged in change as a teacher over time with respect to her understanding of argumentative writing, her curricular planning, and her instructional activities. The study's findings revealed that Ms. Patrick acquired at least a degree of Hedgcock and Lee's (2017) three types of knowledge essential for ESL teachers: (1) subject matter knowled (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Alan Hirvela (Advisor); George Newell (Committee Member) Subjects: English As A Second Language; Pedagogy; Teacher Education

4. Butler, Whitney It's More Than Just About the Words: A Self-Study of Multifaceted Vocabulary Instruction in a High School Classroom

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

Although decades of research attest to the importance of vocabulary teaching and learning, and recent research points to principles of effective vocabulary instruction, the small number of studies on actual classroom practice suggest that teachers continue to use the least effective approaches, often focusing on memorization of definitions. Research suggests that high-quality vocabulary instruction is multifaceted, including four components as described by Graves (2016): 1) providing rich and varied language experiences; 2) teaching individual words; 3) teaching word-learning strategies; and 4) fostering word consciousness. This dissertation research explored multifaceted vocabulary instruction in one 10th grade English classroom. Using a self-study design and action research methodology, qualitative data were collected over 14 weeks in an effort to shed light on the instructional change process. Findings were analyzed using Graves' four components as well as three theoretical lenses: 1) the metalinguistic complexity of word learning; 2) situated-sociocultural theory; and 3) culturally relevant pedagogy. Themes related to multifaceted vocabulary instruction include: word consciousness as a frame for word learning, academic vocabulary as the focus of individual word learning, fostering student agency to build vocabulary, and my paradigm shift. Additional themes related to the instructional change process focus on teacher knowledge, beliefs, and practice. Implications for teaching practice, teacher professional development, teacher preparation, policy, and future research are discussed.

Committee: Susan Watts-Taffe Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Stephen Kroeger Ed.D. (Committee Member); Holly Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Teaching

5. Kageyama, Risa Grammar Instruction of the Connective Shi in Japanese

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, East Asian Languages and Literatures

The connective shi in Japanese makes a connection between reasons or between reasons and a conclusion. English-speaking learners of Japanese learn the connective shi through a variety of simple grammar instructions with a few examples, and they are often said to use it erroneously. Previous studies have explained how Japanese speakers use the connective shi, but few have compared the connective shi used by native speakers of Japanese and English-speaking learners of Japanese based on large-size conversation data. I used the International Corpus of Japanese as a Second Language (I-JAS) (Sakoda et al., 2020) to examine how native speakers and learners use the connective shi in the interview task about the same topics in the same amount of time. I found that both native speakers and learners used the connective shi equally well, providing reasons first and then giving a conclusion. However, when giving a conclusion first and then providing reasons, learners could not add reasons accurately with the connective shi compared to native speakers. I analyzed learners' errors and found that they made these errors due to coming up with more than one conclusion or providing wrong reasons for a conclusion. I propose that we can understand what learners are doing in those errors if we use Schiffrin's (1987) idea structure, which divides a paragraph into a position and supports. A position is the speaker's commitment to his opinion, and supports are the explanations of his commitment. I also propose that we can assist learners in explicit instruction. The instructor can explicitly present different patterns of the connective shi in the basic grammar rules with examples. After learners can use the explicitly presented information to identify a conclusion and reasons at the sentence level, they can organize the idea structure with the connective shi and other connectives at the paragraph level. They can express their opinions about debatable topics in the idea structure.

Committee: Etsuyo Yuasa (Advisor); Mineharu Nakayama (Committee Member) Subjects: Pedagogy

6. Bensaid, Mohsine Transformative Teaching: A Self-Study of 3S Understanding from Theory to Practice

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this self-study was to examine my enactment of 3S Understanding, a holistic, democratic and inquiry-based curriculum theory, in a university-based, English-to-speakers-of-other-languages (ESOL) writing course grounded in Subject Learning, Self Learning, and Social Learning. Through disciplined reflective inquiry and collaboration with critical friends, this study set out to unpack the complexities of course planning and teaching. Data collection and analysis involved a structured, five-stage approach to identify themes, compare relationships, and interpret findings within the 3S framework. The Subject Learning findings stressed identifying the “wiggle room” for teaching artistry to address students' learning challenges and advocated for a multimodal approach to accommodate diverse learning needs. These findings also highlighted the significance of reflective inquiry in improving pedagogical practices. The findings on Self Learning emphasized fostering self-awareness and autonomy among students through reflective practices and empowering activities. They also highlighted the value of incorporating personal stories into teaching to strengthen teacher-student connections. The Social Learning findings foregrounded the importance of a collaborative, authentic, and critical thinking-focused educational environment to deepen learning and prepare students for societal participation. This study emphasizes a holistic ESOL pedagogical shift, urging teachers to integrate comprehensive, reflective, and collaborative approaches. It recommends inquiry-based, reflective practices for teacher educators, and supportive, diverse teaching environments by administrators. Learners are encouraged towards active, self-reflective engagement, connecting learning to real-world relevance. Such an approach aims to enhance language proficiency and democratic participation, fostering a deeper understanding and engagement in ESOL education across various educational roles.

Committee: William Bintz (Committee Chair); Lori Wilfong (Committee Member); Alicia Crowe (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Composition; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Theory; Language; Multicultural Education

7. Valerio, Meghan Negotiations, Enactments, and Cultural Constructs During Guided Reading: A Case Study of a Third Grade Classroom Community

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The Science of Reading era has (re)ignited conversations about equitable literacy instruction. Conflicting literacy research and literacy media reports complicate matters further. Guided reading, a ubiquitous form of small group instruction designed to meet readers' needs through individualized conferring and independent reading with instructional-leveled texts, has been under scrutiny and needs more research. This case study investigated guided reading in a third-grade classroom and explored how the classroom community co-constructed reading and the reading process. Theoretically framed by social constructivism, psycholinguistics, socio-psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics, this ethnographic-informed case study of n=1 third-grade teacher and n=17 students revealed adherences to and deviations from recommended guided reading instruction. The teacher's guided reading enactment was influenced by imperfect professional development and past reading experiences. This led to enacted adherences (schema building before reading, independent reading during reading, text discussions after reading) and deviations (round-robin reading and absence of conferring). These findings suggest value in identifying nonnegotiables of guided reading and possible negotiable elements in deference to teacher agency. Additionally, an examination of reading and the reading process as cultural constructions yielded a set of norms, such as “reading is about the words” and “reading is not an attention sustaining act” that revealed discrepancies between stated values and co-constructed culture. Implications for practice include shifting from expecting a teacher to be a master of reading to instead embracing a reading-in-process stance; and offering professional development that encourages the interrogation of literacy ideologies. Implications for researchers include the need for observational data to report nuanced (mis)understandings and illuminate the complexities of enacting guided r (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Timothy Rasinski (Committee Co-Chair); William Bintz (Committee Co-Chair); Xenia Hadjioannou (Committee Member); Janice Kroeger (Committee Member); Chase Young (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Education; Elementary Education; Literacy

8. Hrubik, Jessica READING LIKE A WRITER: AN INVESTIGATION INTO EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS' INTENTIONAL WRITING DECISIONS

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

To develop as writers, students require regular practice writing and examples of quality texts that can serve as guides for their own writing. Reading like a writer (RLW) is a specific way of reading that can benefit student writers. The purpose of this basic interpretive qualitative study was to examine the writing decisions of 19 eighth grade students in Northeast, Ohio over the course of approximately four months. The study focused on students' intentional decisions in their writing resulting from RLW across two units of study. Multiple sources of data were collected, including two finished annotated pieces of writing and two written reflections per student along with class charts and students' writer's notebooks. Findings indicate students each made multiple intentional decisions in their writing resulting from RLW, categorized into five overarching types of decisions. Most commonly, students reported decisions related to ideas and craft moves. Less frequent, but used across units, students turned to mentor texts to make decisions regarding structure, revision and/or editing, and problem-solving. The implications of this research highlight RLW as an approach supporting what is known about effective writing instruction, that is applicable at all stages of the writing process. The learning is generative, offering students a tool for approaching learning about writing which they can apply independently as reader-writers and carry with them and continue to employ in the future.

Committee: Denise N. Morgan (Committee Chair) Subjects: Education; Middle School Education; Reading Instruction