Graduate Student Work
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Item PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE CLASSROOM(2011-01-27T14:19:23Z) Hanni, Dana M.; Phippen, HeatherParental involvement has been shown to be an important part of a student’s life. In our study and research, we found that the amount of participation that parent’s [sic] give can drastically improve a child’s social and psychomotor skills, creating a positive effect on student’s academic and social success. By connecting both the school and home, students receive the message that their parents are concerned about their education, resulting in continued motivation and self-confidence. Establishing a positive relationship between parent and teacher is important to ensure that the best interests of the students are being met. On the other hand, educators do realize that there are obstacles that prevent parents from being more involved in their children’s education, such as time and lack of education. However, there are ways to get around these issues and strategies that may be used more today than in the past. These strategies that we acquired were obtained by research and by personal experience.Item THE EFFECT OF MEDIA ON THE LEARNING BEHAVIORS OF STUDENTS(2010-09-22T17:23:26Z) Keese, Aubree; Kubinski, Carrie; Rowe, Deborah; Sykes, Pamela; Todd, JustinThe media impacts many students in today’s world. A common theme across literature is that the media makes a significant impression upon children. Children make associations from the media, sometimes correct, and sometimes incorrect. All forms of media affect student learning in some way. Students bring a variety of impressions, generated by the media, with them when they come to school. This can hinder the education process by leading to behavior issues, self-confidence problems, health issues, or misinformation that needs to be overcome. Participants in this study were administrators and teachers from area North Country schools K-12. Participants ages ranged from 23-65 and were employed at the following school districts: St. Regis Falls, Indian River, Beaver River, and Lyme Central Schools. Data was gathered using an internet based survey. Literature shows the media has significant negative impact on children, it also shows teachers are incorporating instructional methods to turn the negatives into positives. However, the statistics from this study show that teachers are not proactive in teaching positive media usage, and teachers and administrators see the negative impacts of media occurring in North Country school systems.Item THE EFFECTS OF BACKGROUND MUSIC ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE(2009-08-17T15:13:58Z) Pawananon, Sarah; Burris, Ron; Holland, Maya; Johnson, Ashley; Whitmore, Colter; Baist, RheaAlong with the No Child Left Behind legislation, the role of an educator in public schools was encouraged to be mindful of the various learning styles and ways in which to motivate students of all achievement levels. Background music can be used as a tool for motivating and focusing students. It is imperative that teachers find effective and creative ways for assisting students with their ability to focus for periods of time. In this study, the subjects who listened to the background music while writing, stayed on task and were motivated to complete the assignment. Once the activity was competed, the students were asked to fill out a survey on the writing activity. The result was positive and demonstrated that our hypothesis was correct.Item EFFECTIVENESS OF HOMEWORK(2009-08-13T17:56:47Z) Carr, Shannon; Rocker, MariaThe purpose of this study was to determine which approaches to homework are most effective and least effective for increasing student performance on various methods of assessments and test. Fourteen parents and fourteen students filled out questionnaires regarding homework. The questionnaires were aimed at finding out the types of homework assigned, the amount of time spent on homework, and whether or not the homework that the children complete helps or hinders their classroom performance. The results showed that students spend, on average, one hour, completing homework, and that homework is assigned, on average, four days a week. The results also showed that not all of the students are able to complete homework independently. In addition, the majority of students stated that homework only helps them earn good grades some of the time. Parents also indicated that even though most of their homework seems to be helpful, that there are some assignments that their children bring home that appear to be “busy work,” with no purpose. This study proposes that effective homework approaches are those that involve homework that is directly related to in-class work, and can be completed independently by the student.Item CLASSROOM SONGS: AIDING IN THE RETENTION AND RECALL OF TEST MATERIAL WITH FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS(2008-05-12T15:21:13Z) Powhida, TimothyAs New York State continues to weigh heavily upon the scores achieved by students on standardized testing. Teachers are in search of methods of teaching their students that will be more successful in helping the students to retain the material taught and then to be able to later recall that material when it is time to take a test. This study concentrates on the possibility that songs rewritten to include test material are a substantial means in which teachers could cover material in their classes. Within the review of the literature, Cohen (2005) believed that music would have such a profound affect on student’s ability to later recall material that he included music into every lecture. Cohen’s lectures were often accompanied by songs written by notable members of a particular time period in American history. That auditory link then would aid student in recalling that material easier when asked to. This study utilized that same belief but instead of college students in a large lecture hall, this study dealt with fourth grade students in their general music class. The students were offered the opportunity participate on a voluntary basis. Once on board with the study the students were asked to take a series of tests on the Pilgrims and the Civil War. Each topic had a pre-test, test after a power point presentation and then a final test after songs were taught including material from both topics. The data gathered was plotted on graphs and charts so that the researcher could gain insight the overall outcome of the study. On the graphs was plotted the grade each student achieve, and it became evident very quickly that there was overwhelming evidence that music aided in the students success on the final test. The majority of students who had done poorly on the pre-test and made a moderate increase in their score after the power point lesson, scored an eighty or higher on the final test. The line graphs show the improvement from test to test and the clear rise in score after music was incorporated into the lesson. The action research model used in this study made it fun for both the researcher and the students involved. All parties involved in the study got to see the progress made throughout the study and it was clear in the end that music, when used in the form of a song to cover material, can be very powerful in reaching every student in the class. This study dealt with students with many learning abilities and even included students from one a education classroom. The outcome for the special education students was staggering in comparison to the general education students. Once the music was introduced with the special education students, their grades improved dramatically. Special education students often need a great deal more attention than their general education counterparts. However, throughout this study the researcher gave them the same attention as the rest of the class and they performed wonderfully by their own accord. It is the hopes of the researcher that this study is utilized by many to advocate the power that music can have when used in this way.