A Mixed Methods Study to Investigate Student Attitudes and the Effect of Person-Centered Videos Intervention on Students’ Attitudes towards individuals with Disabilities

Primary Author: Amira Albagshi

Faculty Sponsor: Susan Banks

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Negative attitudes towards individuals with disabilities in inclusive education affect the success of inclusion (Werner, Peretz, & Roth, 2015). Students’ negative attitudes lead to decreases in students’ with disabilities academic performance and social outcomes and increase teachers’ frustration in teaching and managing their classrooms. The Mere Exposure Effects (Zajonc, 1968) and Parasocial Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1954) have been combined in this study by using the person-centered video intervention. The intervention provided 3rd-8th grade students an indirect exposure by showing examples of individuals with disabilities in doing daily activities.

Mixed methods design was conducted by using the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes toward Children with Handicaps (CATCH) scale and by conducting a focus group interview with students. ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the pre and post-survey to measure all three attitude components (affective, behavioral, and cognitive). Results showed that the intervention had different impacts on each attitude component in terms of gender and grade level.

Results showed that viewing person-centered videos helped some of the typically developing students to recognize the strengths and positive aspects of individuals with disabilities instead of focusing on their challenges.

The findings would support the idea of teaching a disability curriculum for students to understand some challenges that affect students with special needs. Showing students videos of individuals with disabilities in their daily life activities can change the negative notion about people with disabilities as being needy and hopeless. Disability curriculum will help in creating more positive and supportive learning environments to all students in inclusive classrooms.

Identifying and Exploring Learners’ Prior Knowledge about Technical Legal Vocabulary

Primary Author: Sandra Bancroft-Billings

Faculty Sponsor: Tom Salsbury

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Principal topic

Technical vocabulary is specific to a “particular topic, field or discipline” (Nation, 2001, p. 198). In U.S. law schools, technical legal vocabulary is a significant portion of the new language, legal English, that initiates must learn. Increasingly, those initiates are internationally-trained attorneys, enrolling in U.S. law schools because English has become the lingua franca of international commerce (Breeze, 2015). This study identifies and describes technical legal vocabulary used in a law school course and assesses students’ prior knowledge about that vocabulary. Principals of second-language acquisition (SLA) are used as a theoretical framework.

Method

In part one, transcripts of a contracts course were analyzed by comparing those transcripts to transcripts from an academic corpus that did not contain law courses. Additionally, transcripts were qualitatively coded to quantify and describe classroom discussions about legal vocabulary.

In part two, law school initiates who speak English as an additional language were tested on a 40-item sample of the vocabulary identified in part one. Participants’ self-reported vocabulary knowledge, and evidence of that knowledge were collected.

Results/implications

Keywords identified by comparing transcripts were found to more effectively identify useful vocabulary than did compiling a list of terms explicitly defined in class discussions. Further, keywords’ meanings as used in class tended to connect to core meanings of those terms. Ongoing analysis of initiates’ prior vocabulary knowledge indicates that they could benefit from exposure to specific vocabulary, particularly vocabulary that occurs with lower frequency in typical spoken English, before beginning U.S. law school courses.

Examining Preservice Mathematics Teacher Learning About Equity

Primary Author: Melissa Graham

Faculty Sponsor: Roth McDuffie

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Principal Topic:

Prior to student teaching and field experiences, many preservice teachers (PSTs) lack opportunities to experience the challenges they will face in their future classrooms (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Most PSTs are White and female, which may not be representative of many in the population they will go on to teach, and many do not leave their teacher education programs prepared to teach diverse populations (Aguirre et al., 2012). My theoretical framework for this study lies at the intersection of situated learning theory and sociocultural theory, and I view teaching and learning as cultural practices. I researched how situating PST learning in the act of teaching through lesson study influences that learning.

Method:

In this study, I examined PST learning related to equity while in an experimental, practice-based mathematics methods course. In this course, the instructor used specific research-based activities (Roth McDuffie et al., 2014; Murata, 2011) to support PSTs in developing teaching practices that support diverse learners. I used qualitative methods to study how PSTs conceptions of equity in teaching and learning changed throughout the course. Data sources included interviews, student assignments, PST lesson plans, field notes, and videos of the lessons taught by PSTs.

Results/Implications:

My findings suggest that PSTs conceptions of equity changed substantially, and that specific course activities contributed to this change. This study has implications for mathematics teacher educators, a trajectory for PST learning, and the design of teacher education programs.

“Enrichment” Curriculum Plan: Creative Thought in Education Policy

Primary Author: Kiersten Guetlein

Faculty Sponsor: AG Rud

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Principle Topic:

This project is a cursory curriculum plan for a hypothetical “enrichment” class designated for students at the 6-12 grade levels. The purpose of this project is to think creatively about ways to address multiple education policy concerns through new curriculum development in a practical, applicable manner. Projects such as this are necessary to push scholarly work into policy reform by presenting practical methods that can produce long-term change and be adopted into the current school systems.

Method:

This project begins with a brief overview of current concerns in education policy. In order to address these concerns, a curriculum plan for an “enrichment” course is proposed. The course aims to address policy concerns in a manner that pushes boundaries while still operating within the current school structure. This is accomplished through a changing semester curriculum designed by local school officials according to the following five units: economy, environment, history in perspective, current events, and community.

Results/Implications:

This project addresses several concerns in education policy, including ability tracking, standardized testing, limited control in curriculum for local districts and teachers, and lack of diversity within curriculum. The required guidelines foster diversity in thought, critical thinking, and holistic education, helping to bridge gaps in the current curriculum. This project offers creative solutions to the field of education policy and has considerable potential; it not only addresses several concerns simultaneously but can also be implemented into existing schools’ structures.

Technology-assisted vocabulary learning for EFL learners: A meta-analysis

Primary Author: Tao Hao

Faculty Sponsor: Yuliya Ardasheva

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

PRINCIPAL TOPIC

As an important constituting component of L2 acquisition, vocabulary learning has been significantly impacted by the emergence of new technologies. The current meta-analysis extended on previous work by synthesizing the EFL technology-assisted vocabulary learning research conducted between 2012 and 2018 to reconcile inconsistencies and to examine the effectiveness of more current technological tools on both vocabulary learning and retention.

METHOD

Two primary research questions guided this meta-analysis: 1) What are the effects of technologies on vocabulary learning in comparison with traditional pedagogies? 2) What are the moderator variables that have significant influences on the technology-assisted L2 vocabulary learning? A thorough and systematic literature search was conducted and a total of 33 research reports yielding 45 studies met the inclusion criterion. Studies were coded by two independent raters using a pre-established coding protocol for quality review.

RESULTS/IMPLICATIONS

The overall effect of technology-assisted L2 vocabulary learning was large (d = 0.845), suggesting that technology-assisted L2 vocabulary learning was more beneficial than non-technology-assisted instruction. Importantly, within-study comparison results indicated that technology could enhance learners’ long-term vocabulary retention.  Moderator analysis results also highlighted several variables—namely, device type, game condition, setting, test format, and reported reliability—affecting the effectiveness of vocabulary learning. These variables should be considered when planning instruction in technology-assisted L2 vocabulary learning. Specifically, advantages were found for mobile devices and on-the-move learning, suggesting that L2 vocabulary learning may be most efficient when students use mobile phones and are not restricted by classroom settings

Feedback in Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Meta-Analysis

Primary Author: Adnan Mohamed

Faculty Sponsor: Joy Egbert

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Feedback is a well-known advantage for language learning. Research on feedback in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) demonstrates that feedback has a significant effect on student language learning. However, a comprehensive review (e.g., Azevedo & Bernard, 1995; Kang & Han 2015; Li, 2010) revealed that there has never been a meta-analysis synthesizing the effectiveness of feedback in CALL studies and the moderators moderating the effectiveness of feedback in CALL. With the aim of summarizing years of research on feedback in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) studies and identifying the moderators of feedback in CALL, a meta-analysis was conducted. By establishing rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria, the investigator located 21 primary studies that met clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings indicated under the Random Effect (RE) model that feedback in CALL has a significant medium effect size on student language learning outcomes (g = 0.56). However, the effectiveness of feedback in CALL is moderated by a host of variables, including learners’ proficiency, measures of proficiency, and so on.

Effects of Videocases on Teacher Learning and Classroom Practice: A Meta-Analysis

Primary Author: Samuel Aina

Faculty Sponsor: Olusola Adesope

Primary College/Unit: College of Education

Category: Arts and Education Sciences

Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Teachers need opportunity to learn and grow professionally to be effective and help students learn. Studies have shown that videocase analysis, the process of having teachers record, watch and analyze their own teaching, is a powerful approach to developing teacher quality This approach fosters teachers’ critical thinking, self-reflection, professional vision and practice, with the goal of improving learning opportunities for students. Many studies have reported positive research findings that support videocase analysis as an effective teacher development tool. However little is known about how contextual factors affect the effectiveness of videocases. Do teachers learn better when they watch their own video or a professionally shot video of other teachers? Should they watch their video alone or with other colleagues? How do these and other contextual factors help teachers learn better from videocases? This meta-analysis examined the aggregate effects of videocases on teachers’ learning and practice. Results from 27 studies included in the meta-analysis showed that videocases are more beneficial for teacher learning and practice than other comparison conditions (g = 0.65, p <.001). Findings show how the mean effect sizes were moderated by contextual variables such as video source, video recording type, participant characteristics, study setting and methodological features of the studies. The study concludes with the implications of the meta-analysis for scientific inquiry, classroom practice and education policy.