Culminating Experience Action Research Projects, Volume 17, Fall 2010

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 5900 Culminating Experience, requires the student to implement an action research plan designed through (a) the Education 5000 Introduction to Inquiry course or the Education 5010 Methods of Educational Research course, (b) one of the two learning assessments required during student teaching, or (c) a newly-designed project not used as one of the learning assessments. With funding through a UTC Teaching, Learning, and Technology Faculty Fellows award, the Education 5900 course is conducted through the use of an online, course management system (Blackboard), allowing for asynchronous discussion and use of the digital drop box feature for submitting required papers. The action research projects from, fall semester 2010, are presented below. Papers include: (1) Student Perceptions of Layered Curriculum[R] vs. Traditional Coursework on Class Grades for 11th-12th Grade Economics and Government Students (Heidi Beckham); (2) What Motivates Young Readers to Read? (Sarah Bolton); (3) Just Story Time? An Evaluation of the Effects of Reading Aloud to Secondary-aged Students (Keeton Christian); (4) Using a Behavioral Management Reward System to Decrease the Behavioral Problems in a High School Setting (Amber Collins); (5) Ready for Middle School Math? (Dorothy L. Finch); (6) Improving Vocabulary Acquisition and Grammar Comprehension in The Second Language through Five Minutes of In-class Reading Time (Veronica V. Herrera); (7) Technology and Mathematics: Classroom Companions for the Future (April J. Huddleston); (8) Perceptions of Fourth-Grade Math Students on Computer-Based Homework (Amanda I. H. Legge); (9) Do Students Retain More Information through Real Life Images or through Clip Art Cartoon Images? (Courtney Sloane Phillips); (10) The Visual Aspect of Vocabulary: Increasing Comprehension and Retention (Nicole Pinkerton); (11) Increasing Grammar Accuracy in the TPRS Classroom (Erin Segroves); (12) Effective Differentiated Instructional Strategies of Middle Grades' Mathematics Instructors (Elizabeth W. Stewart); (13) Vocational Education: Is It Meeting the Needs of the Community? (Stephen Tompkins); (14) The Effect of Daily Quizzes on Student Scores and Class Participation: A Study on High School Economic Students (Elizabeth Warren); and (15) Math-ercise...Could It Fatten Up Scores? (Wendi Worley). (Individual papers contain references, figures, and appendices.) [For "Culminating Experience Action Research Projects, Volume 16, Spring 2010," see ED518906. Abstract modified to meet ERIC guidelines.]