...CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the study The middle school years are a critical turning point in young peoples’ lives. At ages 11-14 years, children go through the early adolescence stage. Adolescence is an important period when a child adjusts physically, learns new cognitive abilities, forms positive social relationships, develops a positive sense of self, and forges a personal code of ethics and morality (Eccles, Midgley,1989;Jackson & Davis,2000). Schools, along with peers and families, play an important role in fostering young peoples’ healthy development through the adolescent years (Meece, 2003). Thus, ignoring the developmental needs of students in school might result in the students developing a wrong notion of school until adulthood. Students’ eagerness and motivation to go to high school may decline as they go through their first year in high school if they may still lack the interaction they need to become familiar with and to be exposed to the high school’s norms and environment (Eccles & Midgley, 1989) (Barone, Aguirre-Deandreis, & Trickett, 1991). First year students tend to become lost in the “new world” they are in (Mizelle, 1995; Phelan, Yu, & Davidson, 1994) as they are expected to be more independent in high school, with less spoon-feeding of information and more application of good study habits. The new first year students are expected to be more mature as they deal with new classroom subjects, adopt a better value system, and be...
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...THE PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTS OF A STUDY SKILLS COURSE, “DYNAMICS OF EFFECTIVE STUDY,” ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS AT A DEDICATED ACADEMIC MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Educational Leadership, Research, and Counseling by Josephine Ann Allen B.S., Nicholls State University, 1976 M.A., Southern University, 1988 M.A., Southern University, 1990 December, 2003 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ who has given me this wonderful gift and to my loving mother, Mrs. Daisy Celestin Allen, who has always believed in education and has supported me throughout my academic endeavors. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am most appreciative to my former principal, Mr. James B. Williams, Jr., who encouraged me to complete this study and East Baton Rouge Parish for allowing me to conduct this research. I am also thankful to the participants in the study - teachers, students, parents, and administrators of Baton Rouge Magnet High School - for allowing me to conduct this research. I want to acknowledge a former student of mine, Harley Becnel, for reminding me of why I started this educational journey and why I persisted to complete the process. All children deserve to be properly educated. With love for...
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...Principles of Learning and Teaching STUDENTS AS LEARNERS – 35% THEORISTS LEV VYGOTSKY http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/andersmd/VYG/ VYG.HTML JEROME BRUNER http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.ht ml JOHN DEWEY http://www.infed.org/thinkers/e t-dewey.htm Importance of CULTURE humans use of tools and symbols to learn – culture dictates what we learn and how • Higher and Lower mental functions – elementary (or lower) functions gradually transform to HMF through culture • Central ROLE OF LANGUAGE: Language is made possible because of our culture (tools and symbols). The learning of language (or signs) is brought about by social processes, and language or signs ultimately make thought possible. Three stages in the development of speech a. Social speech – speech to control the behavior of others b. Egocentric speech – three to seven year olds – talking to themselves to learn c. Inner speech – soundless speech – thinking in our head • ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT: The discrepancy between a child's mental age [indicated by the static test] and the level he reaches in solving problems with assistance is the zone of his proximal development. _________________________________ ABRAHAM MASLOW http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/m aslow.html HEIRARCY OF NEEDS • Physiological needs • Safety needs • Belonging needs • Esteem needs • Self-actualization • Principles: learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge – DISCOVERY...
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...ETT4/5 - Effective Teaching Practices: Instructional Presentation and Follow-Up Course of Study Your competence for this course of study will be assessed as you complete the 10 tasks that make up the ETT4/5 performance assessment and the EIO4/5 objective assessment. Introduction Welcome to Effective Teaching Practices. Effective teaching depends on effective planning. Teachers need to devote systematic thought to what they want students to learn and to how students will best acquire knowledge and skills. You will learn how to select, develop, and evaluate instructional materials as well as strategies to use to accomplish specific learning goals. You will plan for effective instruction, and then implement those plans. Interactive teaching includes appropriately responding to all of the details that emerge during the presentation of lessons. Teaching is a process. Teachers plan lessons and then present them. They use information about the lesson presentation to make appropriate changes to improve both student achievement and lesson presentation. Outcomes and Evaluations There are 10 competencies covered by this course of study; they are listed in the "Competencies for Effective Teaching Practices: Instructional Presentation and Follow-Up (ETT4/5)" page. The list of competencies is a good overview of precisely what you will know and be able to do at the conclusion of this course of study and demonstrate through assessment. Teaching Dispositions Statement Please review the...
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...Y METHODS IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH From Theory to Practice Marguerite G. Lodico, Dean T. Spaulding, Katherine H. Voegtle METHODS IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Y METHODS IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH From Theory to Practice Marguerite G. Lodico, Dean T. Spaulding, Katherine H. Voegtle Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this...
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