2018 Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11274/13276
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Browsing 2018 Theses and Dissertations by Author "Anderson, Nancy L., Ph. D."
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Item Developing adaptive practice in preservice teachers during a student teaching practicum(8/13/2018) The, Cheryl; Anderson, Nancy L., Ph. D.The purpose of this study was to understand how an instructional intervention with preservice teachers promoted adaptive teaching practices during a student teaching practicum. The study focused on teaching interactions during literacy instruction. The theoretical framework for this study included the following theoretical perspectives: Cultural-Historical Theory (Vygotsky, 1978), Reflective Practice (Dewey, 1933, 1939; Schon, 1983, 1987; Zeichner and Liston, 1996), and Adaptive Expertise and Adaptive Practice (Hatano & Inagaki, 1986; Hatano & Oura, 2003; Parsons, 2012). The participants were preservice teachers in their final semester of an undergraduate teacher preparation program. This qualitative study was designed as a formative experiment for the purpose of developing adaptive practice through the interactions of an instructional intervention designed to accomplish pedagogical goals (Reinking & Bradley, 2008). The six participants of the study were completing a fourteen-week student teaching practicum during the instructional intervention. The instructional intervention had multiple components including self- and peer-analysis of videotaped teaching episodes of each participant, participation in cohort sessions that included discussions and debriefing, observations by the researcher, debriefings with the researcher, written reflections, and participation in an exit interview and Google survey at the conclusion of the study. The findings from this study showed increased knowledge of reflective and adaptive practice as reported by the participants. They identified times when they made adaptations to their teaching, either before, during or after a teaching episode. The descriptions of teaching adaptations ranged in quality from minimally thoughtful to considerably thoughtful. Participants reported an increased use of reflective practice and attributed deeper thinking about their teaching to the written reflections, debriefings with the researcher and cohort session discussions. The participants demonstrated different levels of adaptive practice; however, all participants reported an increase in their ability to be reflective and adaptive in their thinking and their ability to analyze their teaching.Item Taking action: Reciprocity in reading and writing within early intervention(8/30/2018) Hight, Clarene Pelger; Anderson, Nancy L., Ph. D.In 2004, the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, in direct alignment with No Child Left Behind, allowed schools to allocate 15% of their special education funds to improve instruction and provide increasingly expert reading instruction to students at-risk for reading difficulties. Response to Intervention was implemented within schools across the country, and researchers began to study implementation and intervention practices. Researchers have studied a variety of interventions that differ in complexity, however most research tends to evaluate extremely focused interventions aimed at a particular skill or specific task (Pressley, Graham, & Harris, 2006). The current study moves beyond a simplified, isolated perspective and investigated a more complex view of literacy learning. The purpose of the current study was to describe how reciprocity in reading and writing supports early literacy learning during a comprehensive approach to intervention instruction. Specifically, the study sought to understand the potential power of reciprocity through the careful and direct observation of reading and writing behaviors of children during intervention instruction. The study utilized a descriptive, micro-analysis approach within the context of intervention instruction to analyze the participants’ actions during a variety of literacy events. Findings are presented and discussed as themes of reciprocity with relevant examples from the data. This study hopes to enhance the theory and research base related to literacy intervention instruction, inform teachers and administrators about intervention instructional practices, and enrich how the field understands the relationship between reading and writing.Item Writing teacher professional development: A photo elicitation of teacher change(12/17/2018) Leininger, Katrena; Anderson, Nancy L., Ph. D.Writing development is a complex and continuous process that is acquired within social environments. Process-oriented writing instruction allows for complex writer-directed work, however studies that examine how teachers talk about the change to process-oriented writing instruction are sparse. In this study, the researcher examined how teachers made changes to their writing instruction and their expectations of their students’ writing development. The backdrop of the study was an in-depth, sustained, and collaborative professional development on literacy learning and teaching. The teachers’ descriptions of learning and change were examined through autodriven photo elicitation interviews. The photo elicitation interview data revealed the transformation in the teachers’ writing instruction practices from teacher-directed, product-oriented to more writer-directed, process-oriented which resulted in the teachers noticing more development in their young writers. Moreover, the teachers’ interview data revealed the aspects of the professional development that influenced changes in their writing instruction. This study adds to the research on teacher change and teacher professional development. The teachers’ voices provide the teacher education community with understanding of what elements of professional development foster teacher change.