Date of Award
1-1-1991
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
William W. Anderson
Keywords
Research, Peer Writing, Planning Facilitator, Media Cognizant, Project Ownership, Revising, Editing, Completing, Submitting.
Abstract
The situation needing improvement was that 85% of tenth grade students did not complete the research paper required by the Unified Curriculum. This practicum’s three main objectives were: (1) encouraging students to work in teams and utilize peer evaluation techniques to encourage, support, guide, and assist one another in pre-reading, sharing resources, and gleaning information, (2) achieving the goal of positive and successful completion of the research paper requirement for tenth grade in clients with specific curricular standards, and the students own calendar, design, and (3) increasing the percentage of students who successfully complete research paper. Additional aims were to improve students' grades on their completed research papers to apply acquired research skills to other academic disciplines. All three objectives were reached successfully, and, in some areas, went beyond expectations. The data from practicum strongly demonstrated the following: (a) an increased number of students took responsibility for their own work, and submitted a large project on the date due, (b) students gained sense of independence and confidence in their own abilities, relying on each other, rather than the teacher, and (c) students were encouraged to become familiar with research as a positive interdisciplinary tool to be utilized across the curriculum. In addition, there was an unexpected gain of increased student motivation and pride in work submitted, which resulted in significantly improved grades for a majority of students. Subsequently, the practicum provided foundation for the development of tenth grade, research, paper, manual that promotes consistency and standardization of the research process for both the teacher and students. The writer devoted an entire nine-week grading period to the instruction of the research paper. A manual was developed by the writer that allows step-by-step instruction and guidance. Students were allowed to work on the manual in groups and interact in an active learning experience.