Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2014, Curriculum and Teaching

This quantitative study investigated the influence of the new Ohio social studies assessment on social studies elementary education. I wanted to understand teacher perceptions of the reinstated assessment that was modeled after the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment and see how it impacted elementary social studies curriculum, teacher instruction, resources, and instructional time. A survey was sent to twelve schools that were located across the state of Ohio. The schools had previously participated in a study by the Ohio Professors of Social Studies Education (OPSSE) (Patterson et al., unpublished) that asked principals about the removal of the social studies Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA). Elementary teachers were the participants of this study's survey that was created using the website Qualtrics. The data was collated and analyzed by coding procedures defined by Singleton & Straits (1999). The data showed mixed responses towards the new assessments that provided multiple key findings. First, a majority of teachers had a negative perception of the reinstated assessment with a majority (57%) feeling concerned about the return of an assessment. Additionally, a majority reported (54%) minor curriculum changes while others knew little about the new assessments and PARCC (64%). Some of the teachers felt more confident in their ability to teach their students than students' abilities to do well on the new assessment. Long and short-term impacts were very mixed, with more teachers being positive about testing impacts on social studies education overall (41%) than about impacts on content and skills (26%). Reported changes in teacher instruction were also very mixed. Just under 30% report that they will make changes in their teaching and just over 30% report that they will not make changes. Social studies instructional time had changed little over recent years, but there was a slight trend showing an in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Nancy Patterson Dr. (Advisor); John Fischer Dr. (Committee Member); Tracy Huziak-Clark Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Tests and Measurements; Social Studies Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Curriculum and Instruction (Education)

Teacher perceptions of fourth-grade students' readiness to learn Ohio's fourth-grade social studies standards were explored through this sequential explanatory mixed methods study. Implementation of Ohio's new reading policies in the lower elementary may have had an unintended future impact on the teaching of social studies in the upper elementary grades. The implementation of these policies in the third grade continues to increase the marginalization of social studies instruction. If Ohio's third-grade social studies teachers do not explicitly teach the readiness standards, the burden falls to the fourth-grade teachers. Initially, the research focus of this study of the marginalization of social studies in the upper elementary was its potential impact on the readiness of students to successfully pass the fourth grade state-mandated social studies test. However, after the quantitative phase of this study was completed, the Ohio legislature made the decision to eliminate the fourth-grade social studies year-end test. Nonetheless the findings emphasize the importance of strong school-wide social studies curricula across Ohio as well as inform policy makers in states that currently have both reading guarantees and social studies assessments that student readiness has a significant impact on social studies instruction at the next grade level.

Committee: Frans Doppen Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Policy; Social Studies Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, EDU Teaching and Learning

This is a descriptive study that describes the teacher educators that teach the early and middle childhood social studies methods courses in Ohio colleges and universities. The specific purpose of this study was to investigate: 1) How do we know if the teacher educators teaching the early and middle childhood social studies methods courses are grounded in the importance of social studies?, 2) What actions in the early and middle childhood social studies methods course do the early and middle childhood social studies teacher educators in the study describe as advocacy for elementary school social studies?, and 3) How do these teacher educators teach their students to respond to the marginalization of elementary school social studies? The study also focused on identifying ways teacher educators are advocating for elementary social studies in early and middle childhood social studies methods courses in an era when content disciplines are competing for pedagogical time. To collect data the researcher used a survey research design through an on-line data collection service called SurveyMonkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/). The participant list consisted of 84 teacher educators from 45 Ohio colleges and universities offering an accredited undergraduate teacher preparation program that leads to licensure to teach social studies in elementary school classrooms (grades Kindergarten through five) in the state of Ohio. The questionnaire, titled Advocating for Elementary Social Studies: Where does it Begin?, consisted of two sections: a) Participant Demographics and Background Data and b) Professional Viewpoints. The researcher used a five-step process to increase response rate; 51 responses (61%) was collected. The statistical package used to perform the data analysis in this study was the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 17 for Windows. The study includes implications for Teacher Preparation Programs and recommendations for further research of early (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cynthia Tyson (Advisor); Charles Hancock (Committee Member); Barbara Seidl (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Elementary Education; Social Studies Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Civic purpose involves both students' attitudinal and behavioral commitments to social causes and is critical for our young generation to flourish as human beings and to withhold a healthy democracy in the current social climate. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relations among elementary students' social-, moral- self-concepts, civic competencies, and civic purpose in the context of a social studies curriculum. Digital Civic Learning (DCL), where students were immersed into virtual historical/social situations and discussed civic topics collaboratively, served as a learning context for students to demonstrate their civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The sample included 149 4th and 5th graders from two school districts in central Ohio. I developed a civic competencies coding scheme to examine students' levels of civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions demonstrated in their DCL participation, including argumentative writing, collaborative discussions, and self-recordings of civic discourse. The findings showed that students' social-, moral-, self-concepts were associated with civic purpose; students' civic competencies (knowledge, skills, dispositions) during DCL did not predict civic purpose and did not mediate the relations between self-concepts and civic purpose. However, students' moral self-concept mediated the association between civic knowledge and civic purpose, as well as between civic skills and civic purpose. The findings speak to the importance of nourishing early adolescents' moral self-concept in order for their civic competencies to be manifested as a form of civic purpose.

Committee: Tzu-Jung Lin (Advisor); Michael Glassman (Committee Member); Eric Anderman (Committee Member); John Gibbs (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Psychology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2015, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

Sustainability education (SE) is a pathway for creating a more socially, economically, and environmentally just and sustainable world. SE involves the incorporation of sustainability concepts into curricula using innovate teaching methods (i.e. place-based education, outdoor education, experiential education, nature-based education). This thesis explores the space for SE in Grade 5 science and social studies classrooms. Using the case study methodology, this study looked to practicing teachers for insights on how SE could be integrated into the public education system. This study investigated teachers' understanding of sustainability and practice of SE by analyzing their perceptions of sustainability, examples of SE lessons, and their sources of knowledge about sustainability. The results indicated that teachers' understanding of sustainability is largely focused on environmental aspects and that teachers' practice of SE also has an environmental focus. This study evaluated the feasibility of teaching SE in the classroom by outlining the challenges and opportunities for SE presented by teachers. While there are some factors that limit teachers' ability to teach SE (i.e. teachers' limited knowledge about sustainability, lack of training in SE, and institutional demands), with guidance and support from education institutions and community partnerships current and future teachers can provide SE for their students.

Committee: Nancy Manring PhD (Advisor); Danielle Dani PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Scanlan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Sociology; Elementary Education; Environmental Education; Science Education; Social Studies Education; Sustainability; Teacher Education; Teaching

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Curriculum and Instruction

Using critical exploration method (Duckworth, 2006) and constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2003), this in-depth qualitative research explores older Ethiopian elementary school children's conceptualization of their national identity. Twelve children between the ages eight and fourteen were recruited from one private and one public elementary school in Ethiopia. They were interviewed on their knowledge, beliefs, and attitude towards their country and their national in-group. Their responses were analyzed in light of the age-old tension between utopianism and anti-utopianism—a tension that translates to the Tewahedo (Oneness, Unity) versus Dualism debate that became more visible in the 5th century separation of Roman Catholic and Oriental Christologies. The analysis showed that six children gravitated towards the anti-utopian (dualistic) cognitive orientation where as the other six showed a more utopian outlook of their society and their national identity. The two groups had deep differences in their perspective on twelve major areas. These were: on the value of money, on how they see being “human” and in relation to being “Ethiopian,” on the purpose of work and the public sector, on the what and why of technology, on what counts as valuable knowledge, on the cause and implications of inequality, on what counts as excellence, success, and victory, on nature/environment, on the balance between masculine and feminine principles in the social and natural world, on women and motherhood, on a sense of national continuity and the meaning of change, and on the nature and function of government. The children in the anti-utopian group saw these areas mainly from masculine, militaristic, and dualistic perspective on themselves, their society, their environment, and societal institutions. The findings from the children's interview were further triangulated by analysis of grades three to five environmental science and social studies textbook contents an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Linda Plevyak Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vanessa Allen-Brown Ph.D. (Committee Member); Marcus Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Terry Kershaw Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2011, Educational Leadership

This multiple case study examined corporate involvement in Japanese public elementary schools through 3 corporate programs. In 2005 the Basic Law of Food Education, Shokuiku Kihon Ho was enacted. This law promotes food education as a national movement and encourages food makers to become actively involved with the public sector to provide food education programs. Major food makers approached public elementary schools as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Purposeful sampling was selected, and programs from 3 companies were identified as cases. This researcher conducted email interviews with 35 elementary school teachers and 3 company spokespersons to examine their motivations, implementations, advantages and disadvantages of the programs, benefits to the company, and changes in teachers' perceptions of the companies, if any. The findings first include sources, including governmental, from which teachers initially learned about the programs. Second, the primary reason for program use was food education. Third, the 3 corporate programs studied appeared to be very successful in obtaining publicity in the schools. Two out of 3 companies had their products present in the classroom and also gave their products as gifts. Fourth, teachers were satisfied with corporate programs because they gained professional knowledge, rich materials, and experience-based activities for children. Fifth, the major disadvantage was scheduling. Few teachers recognized that corporate programs effectively influenced the knowledge of teachers and children. Sixth, teachers' perceptions of the companies were positively changed after experiencing the programs. Teachers were impressed with professional knowledge and they tolerated corporate promotions. This study included implications: School policies and professional development are needed to address commercial activity and insure that the children's knowledge would be balanced.

Committee: Joseph Watras PhD (Committee Chair); C. Daniel Raisch PhD (Committee Member); Carolyn S. Ridenour EdD (Committee Member); Dean B. McFarlin PhD (Committee Member); Deron R. Boyles PhD (Advisor); Victor Kobayashi PhD (Advisor); Takao Kamibeppu PhD (Other); Kenta Nakamura PhD (Other) Subjects: Asian Studies; Business Community; Comparative; Educational Leadership; Elementary Education; Public Health

Master of Education (M.Ed.), Cedarville University, 2004, Education Department

How are first grade classrooms using technology? How are children using technology at home? Does the use of technology really improve academic achievement? An experiment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of using technology to teach a unit in Social Studies to first grade students. The study occurred in a Christian school in Lancaster, Ohio using thirty-seven first grade students. One class comprised the control group with Social Studies instruction taught in a traditional manner. The other class was the experimental group, which used technology such as the Internet, PowerPoint Presentations, and video and audio recordings to provide the instruction. One Social Studies unit was used in the six-week study with an assessment taken each week. Independent-Samples T-Tests were done on the six assessments. Only one of the assessments showed a significant difference in scores in favor of the experimental group. The other five assessments did not show a significant difference. Due to the experimental group having one of the assessments showing a statistically significant difference, and to the fact that the means were higher on four of the other tests, although not significantly, the researcher is encouraged that technology does provide a difference in student achievement. When combined with the increase in interest and enjoyment of the students using technology, technology appears to be a positive motivation for student achievement.

Committee: Stephen Gruber (Advisor) Subjects: