Browsing by Subject "Classroom community"
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Item Language, literacy practices, and identity constructions inside and outside of a fifth grade classroom community(2012-08) Burke, Amy Elizabeth; Bomer, Randy; Maloch, Beth; Schallert, Diane; Urrieta, Luis; Wetzel, MelissaThis case study investigated the ways in which its participants drew from available language and literacy practices as they constructed identities in various contexts. Data was gathered using ethnographic methods, including field notes, interviews, artifact collection, and video data. Observations took place within a fifth grade classroom and select focal participants were interviewed and collected video data on their own outside of school. The study was framed through theories of context-dependent identities, built from the semiotic resources available to people based on context and positionality. Findings suggest the participants engaged in multimodal, heteroglossic composing practices outside of school, while inside of school their composing practices were defined by accountability measures imposed on them from outside the classroom. Findings also showed how the classroom community was discursively built and maintained, at times functioning as a homogenizing force even though the discourses defining the community were those of acceptance and diversity. Participants cultivated what they viewed were acceptable identities within the classroom through the language and literacy norms and practices therein. The study suggests implications for educators in how language and literacy practices shape acceptable identities and the spaces for them, and for how the construct of community is understood and intended in classrooms versus how it functions in practice.Item Motivation in hybrid courses : the influence of self efficacy and sense of classroom community on goal orientation(2006-08) Kim, Myoungsook; Svinicki, Marilla D., 1946-This study explored changes in goal orientations throughout the semester that might be influenced by self efficacy and a sense of classroom community in hybrid courses in which course management systems (CMS) were used. A hybrid course is distinguished from a traditional face-to-face classroom in that there is an extension of the class, and students interact online in addition to face-to-face. Data were gathered from 14 hybrid courses two times during a semester, once at the beginning of the semester and once again at the end, and were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships among the variables. Overall, the results indicated that each goal orientation changed throughout the semester, dynamically interacted with one another, and had unique relationship with self efficacy and sense of classroom community. More specifically, first, a sense of classroom community acted as a significant antecedent of goal orientations and mediated the relationship between pre-mastery goal orientation and post-mastery goal orientation. Second, self efficacy, another antecedent of goal orientations, mediated the relationship between pre-performance avoidance goal orientation and post-performance avoidance goal orientation. Third, post-performance approach goal orientation was influenced by sense of classroom community but not by self efficacy whereas post-performance avoidance goal orientation was influenced by self efficacy but not by sense of classroom community. Fourth, the nature of performance approach goal orientation at the beginning of the semester seemed to change throughout the semester as students gain or lose their competence and develop sense of classroom community. The results also showed that the collaborative function of the course management system most significantly contributed to the sense of classroom community in hybrid courses among four categories of functions (information delivery, external links, course materials, and collaborative function). Lastly, the study suggests ways for instructional designers and college teachers to identify and design courses that promote motivation and a sense of classroom community using various CMS functions, thereby enhancing teachers’ teaching and student learning.Item The relationship between student perceptions of teachers and classrooms, teacher goal orientation toward teaching, and student ratings of teacher effectiveness(2010-05) Riekenberg, Janet Jester; Svinicki, Marilla D., 1946-; Dodd, Barbara G.; Eaton, Lynn J.; Moore, Leslie A.; Schallert, Diane L.The concept of teaching effectiveness is challenging for researchers to define. Hypothesized as a multidimensional construct, it encompasses content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, personality characteristics of the teacher, and classroom dynamics. No single dimension, trait, or behavior, however, fully captures what it means to be an effective teacher. Measures, such as peer observation, self-report surveys, and student evaluations, assess teacher effectiveness in higher education. Student evaluations of teachers (SETs) assess multiple areas, including: course content, objectives, organization, and the nature, difficulty, and value of a course; teacher preparation, enthusiasm, and subject knowledge; teacher goals for structuring classroom activities and engaging students in academic pursuits (Cashin, 1995; Feldman, 1996; Marsh, 1984; Midgley, 1998). SETs can be seen as expressions of students’ perceptions about an instructor, a course, and a class, but what influences those perceptions? One concept, classroom community, hypothesizes that students’ sense of community is influenced by the quality of interaction with their instructors, fellow students, and course content. Investigations of classroom community associate higher sense of community with more positive academic outcomes. Teachers’ goals for structuring class activities and engaging students is another concept hypothesized to influence students’ perceptions. Teachers’ goal orientation towards their own teaching is also a factor that appears to influence academic outcomes. Using goal orientation theory, Kucsera, Roberts, Walls, Walker & Svinicki (2009) identified three orientations that influence how teachers approach teaching. To date little research has explored how teacher goal orientation might influence students’ perceptions. This study examined whether there is a relationship between teachers’ goal orientation towards their teaching, students’ perceptions of teacher goals for classroom structure and student engagement, sense of community, and student ratings of teacher effectiveness. Undergraduate business communications faculty completed a survey about their goals for their own teaching while their students took a survey about their sense of community in the classroom, their perceptions of their teachers’ goals for engaging them in academic work and an end-of-semester course instructor survey. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data. Results generally indicated that students’ perceptions are associated with SETs outcomes while teachers’ goal orientations are not.