Browsing by Subject "Curriculum"

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A Loose Canon: An Analysis of Plan II Honors and Cultural Diversity Course Curricula at the University of Texas at Austin
(2023-11) Gokhale, Pria
Over the past couple decades, controversy surrounding culturally diverse educational standards has taken centre stage of many American political debates. Diversity has come under intense scrutiny by portions of the public and lawmakers as curriculum culture-wars ensue. Professors and students have raised similar issues concerning the adequacy of academic material at the University of Texas at Austin. This thesis explores the extent to which the curriculum in CD flag courses and Plan II Honors Program courses showcases diverse perspectives. Using existing scholarship on diversifying curriculum, this thesis evaluates how the Plan II curriculum engages with Eurocentrism in academic material, and the extent to which courses offered under the Cultural Diversity flag requirement help decolonise knowledge production. My methodology includes original research in the form of syllabus analysis of eight courses which claim to offer a survey of a discipline, and interviews with four professors across a variety of departments at the University of Texas at Austin. Ultimately, this project draws attention to major themes that can be traced across departments which affect the propensity for curriculum to involve a variety of perspectives, and offers several recommendations that institutions should consider in their efforts to continue diversifying syllabus content.
An analysis of the prescribed and enacted curriculum of an engineering unit on helmet design
(2011-08) Gustafson, Katherine Alessandra; Petrosino, Anthony J. (Anthony Joseph), 1961-; Allen, David
Using grounded theory, action research and ethnographic case study methodology this research explores the contrasting ways in which a prescribed curriculum is translated into an enacted curriculum. The current study looks at a 12 week secondary engineering unit (helmet design) which was designed with significant input from a university based team including content experts, learning scientists, master teachers, classroom teachers and school district administrators as part of a grant focused on the creation of a high school engineering course. The unit was enacted in a rural/suburban school by a group of average students by a teacher with high content knowledge in engineering. Five thrusts were identified for analysis including Assessment, Activities, Apparatus, Technology and Standards. Findings indicate much alignment with Apparatus, Standards and Technology thrusts and disparity within the Assessment and Activities thrusts.
The art of manipulation : gender inequity and the picture study movement
(2012-08) Kern, Jasmin Nikol; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, Christina B
This study locates and examines the relationship between societal gendered expectations in nineteenth century United States and the content of a picture study manual published at the turn of the century: Lucy Langdon Williams Wilson’s Picture Study in Elementary Schools: A Manual for Teachers (1909). Critical analysis of the images, artists, and content of the picture study manual provides insight into the relationship between curricular materials and the social climate during which they were produced. Recognition of this connection will enable art educators and curriculum developers to produce materials and textbooks conscious of the potential bias and marginalization of students.
Classrooms and commemoration : teaching Polish/Jewish history and shaping citizens through School of Dialogue
(2022-08-18) Farrell, Nicole Elizabeth; Lichtenstein, Tatjana
This thesis examines the work of the Polish non-governmental organization Forum for Dialogue, specifically the program for students, School of Dialogue. This thesis argues that their regular programming for students, as well as educational resources centering on the 2018 documentary film Who Will Write Our History, represent a unique pedagogy and offer a counter discourse to ahistorical statements of the current Polish government. The Forum’s work represents democratic ideals currently espoused by the European Union. The first chapter provides an overview of how Polish-Jewish history has been studied and debated in society and describes the political climate in which Forum for Dialogue was founded. The second chapter explains School of Dialogue’s mission and analyzes commemoration projects created by student participants. The third chapter is a close reading of the lesson plans created to accompany Who Will Write Our History. Through this analysis, I reveal two sequences of learning evident in School of Dialogue’s work and qualitatively assess the potential impact of these programs.
Constructing a figured world of bilingual education : authoring dreamers and changers with mentor texts, supplemental mentor texts and libritos
(2022-05-09) Lewis, Brenda Ayala; Fránquiz, María E.; Salinas, Cinthia; Worthy, Mary J.; Celedón-Pattichis, Sylvia; Toribio, Jacqueline A.; Leija Lara, María G.
This qualitative case study investigated how mentor texts can be utilized as a pedagogical approach in bilingual instruction to cultivate biliteracy development in bilingual classrooms. Bilingual scholars must heed the call to action for more qualitative studies that present bilingual teachers’ contributions in the development of biliteracy, bilingualism, and biculturalism via mentor texts as tools for recognizing and affirming biliterate identities, responding to texts by taking a stance, and the re-cognizing of social issues to create alternative figured worlds. Utilizing figured worlds and the continua of biliteracy framework, investigation findings expand upon how emergent bilinguals can draw from all points of the biliteracy continua and dispels the notion that one mentor text is sufficient in students’ making connections between protagonist’s lived experiences and their own. This study emphasizes the need to create libritos for each mentor text to support reflective written responses, and supported students authoring of self as dreamers and changers. Supplemental mentor texts were necessary for student development of voice via in-depth study to contextualize the time-period when the protagonists faced unfair situations. Mentor texts, supplemental mentor texts, and libritos were all necessary in authoring new possibilities. Implications suggest that children’s literature promote students seeing themselves represented in the text. Expanding upon the notion of Latinidad demands critical discussion, analysis, and evaluation of protagonists and lived experiences along with the examination of diverse perspectives. As mediating tools, mentor texts, can be used for planning integrated units of study to cultivate critical thinking and writing about social (in)justice. Libritos and mentor texts offer powerful tools for biliteracy development. Adding a sixth condition to Dorfman and Cappelli’s criteria for mentor texts is recommended, since writing responses add to students’ developing understandings about craft, genre, content, style, technique, modalities, etc. A study of curriculum that creates opportunities for social issues to be utilized as a springboard for bilingual student examination of socio-historical and sociocultural contexts contribute to learning more about responsible citizenry. This can begin an examination of student roles as consumers of text and challenge the dominant narratives of marginalized populations using counternarratives.
Continued fractions
(2011-08) Hannsz, Baron Kurt; Armendáriz, Efraim P.; Daniels, Mark
This report examines the theory of continued fractions and how their use enhances the secondary mathematics curriculum. The use of continued fractions to calculate best approximants of real numbers is justified geometrically, and famous irrational numbers are described as continued fractions. Periodic continued fractions and other applications of continued fractions are also discussed.
"Counter-mapping" the notion of place along the triple border in the Amazon : a participatory art research project with youth using Photovoice and critical place inquiry methodologies
(2018-05) Schoepe, Vera; Mosley Wetzel, Melissa; Nxumalo, Fikile
During this participatory Photovoice-based research project, we elicited the use of Photography and storytelling and observed the emergence of young learner-agency during moments of “unscripted” creative collaboration around the notion of place. Through the co-creation of a Photovoice workshop-experience with García, his staff, and students, I hoped to elicit youth representations of their lives in a Ticuna territory. Our goal was to research situated learning and multimodal composition, while developing an inclusive and collaborative ethnographical approach and fostering dialogue through Photography among young workshop participants. Luis García coordinates the Ayuda de Atención Integral /Arcoiris Foundation, which is an inclusive program that serves children and youth with learning differences in Leticia, at the confluence of rivers and crossroads of the triple border region that connects Peru, Brasil, and Colombia. Workshop participants used cameras as tools to map their life stories and environment.
CRP was-is-will be here : sustaining an academic service-learning approach to planning instruction
(2006-12) Tirpak, Mark Andrew; Oden, Michael
The Community and Regional Planning program of the University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture (UTSOA-CRP) has made course-integrated community-based project work (CCPW) a key - if not a requisite, component of its classroom-based teaching and planning instruction. Often referred to as academic service-learning, the pedagogy of incorporating community-based project work with classroom instruction is recognized to have significant benefits for college students, faculty members, institutions, and communities. More specifically, this teaching approach is understood to have substantial advantages in planning instruction. This professional report attempts to offer recommendations towards addressing the question of how a CCPW, or academic service-learning, approach to planning instruction can best be sustained and/or enhanced by the UTSOA-CRP program. Ideally, this report will add to the growing body of literature and research related to academic service-learning in planning instruction, while offering the CRP program useful tools and resources to consider in program design, implementation, evaluation, and planning.
Egypt: A Land of Firsts (Elementary Lessons on Egypt)
(2005-10) Brodigan, Judy
Curriculum unit of five lessons about Egypt for grades K-5. (1: Egypt: Where is it and What is is Like? 2: How long have the communities of Egypt and the United States existed? 3: Using Artifacts to uncover culture. 4: Earning a Living: Farming and Tourism in Egypt. 5: Children in Egypt and the United States: What do we share?) Ties into educational standards dealing with families and communities.
Factors superintendents consider when making the decision between commercially developed curriculum or locally developed curriculum
(2011-05) Veazey, Lana Kay; Olivárez, Rubén; Sharpe, Edwin; Keating, Xiaofen; Ott, Bobby; Siler, Jill
This study examined the factors superintendents consider when making the decision between commercially developed curriculum or locally developed curriculum. This study was guided by three research questions: (a) What factors does the superintendent consider in selecting a curriculum? (b) How do these factors impact the decision to use a commercially developed curriculum or to use a locally developed curriculum? and (c) How does the decision-making process regarding curriculum selection correlate with other functions of the superintendent and the school district? This qualitative multiple-case study intended to describe the experiences of six school superintendents who have served in this capacity for ample time to have developed a perspective in relation to curriculum choice for their respective districts. During semi-structured interviews, questions posed to the participants were organized around the following themes: (a) importance of curriculum along with time devoted to overseeing curriculum and how this relates to other responsibilities of the superintendent; (b) the factors considered when deciding curriculum choice; (c) the pros and cons of commercially developed curriculum and locally developed curriculum; and (d) the challenges associated with curriculum. This questioning along with the review of documents relating to curriculum guided the development of the findings and provided structure for the reporting of data and analysis. The data collected through the interviews and document reviews were coded according to first-level coding and pattern coding. This research study revealed that overseeing and maintaining a guaranteed and viable curriculum is very time and cost intensive, but the essential piece for student achievement. In addition, in regards to deciding between commercially developed or locally developed curriculum, the superintendents in this study were adamant advocates for their curriculum choice and had justifiable reasons for their choice. The final finding disclosed in this study was that with the role of the superintendent being very taxing, the function of Curriculum and Instruction does not always take priority. In conclusion, with such emphasis placed on having a guaranteed and viable curriculum, as the chief instructional leader, superintendents must put forth a concentrated effort to select a curriculum that will promote and support student learning and success.
Inclusive learning with assistant chatbot in massive open online courses : examining students’ perceptions, utilizations, and expectations
(2024-05) Han, Songhee; Liu, Min, Ed. D.; Min Kyung Lee; Grace MyHyun Kim; Xiaofen Hamilton
This study examines students’ learning experiences with an assistant chatbot in professional development MOOCs designed for journalists. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, it focuses on the students’ learning experience’s sub-domains, such as social presence, teaching and cognitive presence, self-regulation, ease of use, and behavioral intention. Employing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study first assesses the impact of demographics like age, gender, region, and native language on these learning experiences. The study revealed that age and gender had no significant influence on learning experiences, while geo-cultural regions showed variations, particularly in social presence and, teaching and cognitive presence. Socioeconomic regions demonstrated more notable differences, especially between lower-middle and high-income areas. However, the native language did not significantly influence learning experiences. Second, structural equation modeling (SEM) validated several hypothesized relationships, highlighting the positive impact of self-regulation on various other learning domains. Interestingly, teaching and cognitive presence did not significantly influence behavioral intention, nor was there a significant relationship between behavioral intention and use time. Age and socioeconomic region factors were identified as full moderators, while gender was a partial moderator from multigroup SEM results. Third, an extensive analysis of student interactions with the chatbot was conducted using various data sources. This analysis revealed eight key topics of chatbot interactions and showed predominantly neutral sentiments in the chatbot text logs. However, survey and interview data indicated a generally positive perception of the chatbot, especially noting its operational effectiveness and ease of use. Sentiments varied across socioeconomic regions, with more positive feedback from lower-income regions, while those from higher-income regions had higher expectations. The study also observed differences in navigational patterns between chatbot users and non-users in the course. Chatbot users exhibited more diverse navigations, indicating deeper engagement with course materials and a higher completion rate. In contrast, non-users followed a more structured progression, mainly relying on the predefined course path. Finally, the study highlighted students’ expectations for the chatbot, emphasizing the need for improvements in response accuracy, diversity, and additional capabilities like multi-language support. The findings emphasize the role of demographic variables in shaping student interactions with chatbots in MOOCs and suggest that modifying chatbot responses for inclusiveness could be key in meeting diverse student needs. The implications include that adhering to Universal Design for Learning principles, empowered by current advancements in AI-based chatbot technology, and informed by the CoI and TAM, could better address the diverse needs in MOOCs, especially in chatbot-enhanced learning environments.
Interdisciplinary curriculum and media literacy education in Global Action Project
(2021-05-08) Gold, Valarie R.; Straubhaar, Joseph D.
Global Action Project (GAP) is a nonprofit organization in New York City founded in 1991 with the goal of providing media arts programming for youth from low income, new immigrant, and LBGQT+ communities. This paper will focus on GAP’s Youth Breaking Borders (YBB) program, an education and leadership program for new immigrant and refugee youth within the theoretical context of critical media literacy. GAP’s educational approach is self-referred to as “Transformative Media Organizing”, focusing on social justice media production by youth. In 2007, Stephen Charbonneau analyzed a GAP documentary production created within the YBB program. Charbonneau shows criticism of GAP’s approach to auto-ethnography by immigrant youth, arguing that GAP embraces American globalism, a single global youth identity, and a universality of the immigrant youth experience (Charbonneau, 2007). GAP continued its Youth Breaking Borders program up until December of 2020, when they announced the organizations closure. By an analysis of GAP’s more recent short films produced through their Youth Breaking Borders program, this paper gives insight on how GAP’s approach to auto-ethnographic expression may have changed or stayed consistent over the course of the organization’s existence. Their social justice and cosmopolitan framework will be used as a foundation to analyze the effectiveness of their approach- determining whether the final film productions by youth participants meet the organizations “Transformative Media Organizing” curriculum goals. This paper aims to determine how GAP approaches multiple pedagogy within the curriculum and whether the organization’s mission over the years may reflect opportunities to effectively empower or support youth in developing a cosmopolitan, global citizen self-identity.
Introduction to Migration PowerPoint
(2011-12) Arsenault, Natalie; Rose, Christopher; Phillips, Jennifer Jordan; Azulay, Allegra; Meyer, Rachel; Giles, Terry
Download a ready-to-use PowerPoint presentation that explains the causes and effects of human migration. Descriptions and full explanations, along with historical examples, can be found in the notes pages.
"It's not because I wanted it-- I knew I wasn't ready" : young mothering teens in the borderlands speak out about the pressures of sex, love and relationships
(2010-05) Reyes, Ganiva; González-López, Gloria, 1960-; Heinzelman, Susan S.
Why are so many girls becoming pregnant in Brownsville, Texas? I encountered this question as a result of my field work. Teachers, school administrators, community officials, parents, and even students pose this question as part of a local concern over the high birth rate among Brownsville youth. As a response to this concern, I engage with this overarching research question by exploring the sex lives and romantic experiences of young mothering teens in Brownsville, through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. However, as part of a larger mission of problematizing common misconceptions and misunderstanding regarding Mexican-origin youth and their sex lives, this thesis offers a Chicana feminist/borderlands analysis of what the young women shared concerning their sexual experiences. Through their stories, I situate teen pregnancy as a symptom of a complex web of discourses, practices, social institutions, and ideologies regarding sex, thereby elucidating the socio-cultural factors that make young Mexicanas vulnerable to unprotected sex, and consequently unintended pregnancy in Brownsville, Texas. Throughout this thesis I focus on three social and personal venues that stood out as the most influential sources from which my informants learned and talked about sex: peers, mothers, and boyfriends. Contrary to the culture of silence presumed by the literature, the mothers and peers of the young respondents are quite vocal about sex; in fact, there is strong peer pressure for young women to have sex. However, they are expected to so within the context of a committed, heterosexual relationship in which young women give into male desire. This set of social expectations compels young women to have unprotected sex, but also to engage in unwanted sex. In the final chapter, I suggest how sex education can be improved and tailored to the particular needs of Brownsville youth—that is both women and men.
Mars north polar ice stratigraphy project : a curriculum module for 5th grade
(2011-08) Chavez, Augustine Faustino; Holt, John W., Ph.D.; Wilson, Clark R.
This report is explores the need for a curriculum module for late elementary school students by looking at what drives student interests and motivations in pursuing careers in the sciences. The curriculum module created is composed of visual aids, including video animations, a 3-D scale model, and a hands-on, guided classroom activity. Exploring the stratigraphy on Mars Planum Boreum northern polar ice cap using radargrams from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and modeling sublimation of Carbon Dioxide with a dry ice experiment, the curriculum module will be tested and improved upon over the next academic year in a 5th grade classroom with intent for submission to NASA for funding and eventual dissemination to the general public. The goal of the project is to add new, engaging dimensions to space science activities and to understanding of fundamental geologic principles, using real-time applications to foster interest and motivate students to enter the fields of the geosciences in the future.
The meanings behind the screens : a qualitative study of the Screen It! program
(2013-08) Gleixner, Alison Marie; Bain, Christina
This case study examined the Screen It! Program and focused on how this program benefitted the students. This study focused on students’ perceptions and in order to have a holistic understanding of the phenomenon, it was important to understand the viewpoint of museum educators, teachers, and students. In these types of museum-school partnerships, students’ voices are rarely heard and considered when creating curricula. Therefore, consideration of students’ voices may help museum educators craft these partnership programs in the future. Three themes emerged emphasizing the importance of expectations and program goals, curricular relevancy to student life and community, and meaningful learning outcomes. Along with utilizing relevant learning theories during classroom instruction, by actively responding to the voices and needs of the students in these areas, museum educators can provide more meaningful learning experiences for students.
Mexican immigrant newcomer students in central Texas : a study of immigrant adaptation
(2012-08) Rubio, Brenda 1984-; Valenzuela, Angela; De Lissovoy, Noah
The purpose of the study was to identify the sociocultural and sociopolitical supports and practices that foster or hinder the successful integration of the Mexican immigrant student. The study was centered on the student perspective of their newcomer school in Central Texas. New school models have emerged in an attempt meet the educational needs of immigrant children by providing targeted instruction and concentrated resources to facilitate their successful integration into their new school system and academic success. In order to identify promising practices that positively impact the academic incorporation of newcomer students in Texas, attention was paid to the school discourse, organizational structures, institutional policies and practices, supports through social resources and services, supports through adult-student relationships, school opportunities, and high-expectations. Unfortunately, the Mexican immigrant student was a forgotten majority and found themselves not receiving the adequate support.
The relationship between teacher pedagogical content knowledge and student understanding of integer operations
(2010-12) Harris, Sarah Jane, 1969-; Martin, Taylor, 1970-; Berland, Leema; Barufaldi, James; Marshall, Jill; Pituch, Keenan
The purpose of this study was to determine whether a professional development (PD) for teachers focused on improving teacher pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) related to operations with integers would improve teacher PCK and if there was a relationship between their level of PCK and the change in the understanding of their students as measured by pre- and posttest of teacher and student knowledge. The study was conducted summer 2010 in a large urban school district on two campuses providing a district funded annual summer intervention, called Jumpstart. This program was for grade 8 students who did not pass the state assessment (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills), but would be promoted to high school in the Fall 2010 due to a decision made by the Grade Placement Committee. The Jumpstart program involved 22 teachers and 341 students. For purposes of this study, changes were made to the PD and typical curriculum for a unit on integer operations to promote teacher and student conceptual understanding through a process of mathematical discussion called argumentation. The teachers and students explored a comprehensive representation for integer operations called a vector number line model using the Texas Instruments TI-73 calculator Numln application. During PD, teachers engaged in argumentation to make claims about strategies to use to understand integer operations and to explain their understanding of how different representations are connected. The results showed statistically significant growth in teacher PCK following the professional development and statistically significant growth in student understanding from pre- to posttest compared to the students who participated in the program the previous year. The findings also showed that there was a statistically significant association between teacher posttest PCK and student improvement in understanding even when controlling for years of teaching experience, teacher pretest knowledge, and student pretest score. This adds to the research base additional evidence that professional development focused on teacher pedagogical content knowledge can have a positive effect on student achievement, even with just a short period of PD (6 hours in this case).
Science and curriculum : early science and scientism in John Dewey’s educational theory and practice (1882-1916)
(2010-05) Lee, Seung Eun, 1969-; Field, Sherry L.; Davis, Jr., O.L.; Cary, Lisa; Harrison, Louis; Richardson, Frank
This dissertation explores the early influence of science on Dewey's educational theory and practice. Science was, unquestionably, a dominant ideal, concept, subject, and/or method during the late nineteenth century when Dewey entered his academic career. Realizing the significance of science in education, Dewey sought an answer to the questions of why we teach, what we teach, and how we teach, based on science. Dewey's effort to find a scientific basis of education was frequently misunderstood as “scientism,” which means unjustified or excessive reliance on positivistic science. Unlike the supporters of positivistic science in education such as Thorndike, however, Dewey sought a non-scientistic approach in pursuing the theory of educational purposes, substance and practices. Exploring the development of Dewey’s view on science in education, this study provides a detailed explanation on the transformation of his ideas in five stages: formative, developmental, preparation, experimental, and post-experimental. To provide an overview of issues involved in the problem of scientism, Chapter II deals with a conceptual geography of scientism and its influence on early twentieth century American education. The development of Dewey’s view on the science of education is provided in chronological order in Chapters III, IV, and V. Chapter III explores Dewey’s separation from the Neo-Hegelian tradition, an encounter with new science, and re-interpretation of scientific ethics. Chapter IV elaborates Dewey’s conception of scientific curriculum, a preparation for experiment in the Laboratory School, and science subject-matter and scientific method in the school. Chapter V provides a detailed exposition on the role of subject-matter and method in Dewey’s scientific curriculum and a brief explanation on his thought about subject-matter and method after he left the Laboratory School. Conclusions and reflections are offered in Chapter VI.
STEM integration : an analysis of an integrated unit
(2012-08) Kendrick, Kyle Mason; Petrosino, Anthony J. (Anthony Joseph), 1961-; Marshal, Jill A.
In most high school curriculum Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) classes are taught separately but there is increased attention and funding for STEM integration. This paper examines the history of why high schools teach STEM courses separately, how classrooms and curriculum can be integrated, and the benefits and challenges associated with STEM integration. A tool for evaluating integrated units is included with the analysis of a current integrated high school project used in a Precalculus and Scientific Research and Design course taught at a high school.