Impact of formal instruction and teaching context on students' selection of teaching strategies /
This investigation analyzed the impact of a special crofilm Inc. mentor/tutorial program in a language arts methods course on preserving teachers' selection of writing and reading instructional strategies. Participants in the study included fifty-six preset-vice teachers enrolled in a specific...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1998.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=733035321&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | This investigation analyzed the impact of a special crofilm Inc. mentor/tutorial program in a language arts methods course on preserving teachers' selection of writing and reading instructional strategies. Participants in the study included fifty-six preset-vice teachers enrolled in a specific undergraduate language arts course, 161 third and fifth grade elementary pupils, 14 classroom teachers, a building principal, and a university professor. The participants were part of a writing buddy program designed specifically to give preset-vice teachers opportunity to link reading and writing theories in the context of the classroom and to provide tutorial help in writing skills to students in the school. Questionnaires, interviews, dialogue journals, lesson plans, pupil writing samples, and pre-post Composition Profile Writing assessments were the artifacts used in the study. Since the study was highly contextual, a naturalistic paradigm was used. The triangular research approach applied in this study was used to elicit the multiple constructions of reality that existed within the context of the study. Some documents in the study were examined and interpreted using a quantitative approach for interpretation and analysis. These data were applied to the descriptive analysis of the study. A relationship was found to exist in applying writing theory to practical classroom situations. This relationship was credited to the triangulation of mentor roles among participating preset-vice teachers, classroom teachers and a university professor. A significant relationship was also found between application of reading and writing theories in the context of the classroom and participating preserving teachers' selections of instructional approaches. As a result of the special mentor/tutorial program, a relationship was found between pupils' pre and post writing composition assessments', however, there was no relationship found between pupil state reading scores and pupil achievement. This suggested that writing buddy program participants in the school as well as those enrolled in the methods course benefited from the school-university partnership experience. Strategies and methods covered in the methods course were found to be used and applied in classrooms of three beginning teachers who took part in the study. All three teachers credited the special mentor/tutorial program experience for their confidence in teaching reading and writing theories in their own classrooms. End of program questionnaires completed by 52 of the 56 preset-vice teachers in the study revealed similar reflections about the content and applicability of the course. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction". |
| Physical Description: | x, 167 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-140). |