Opening doors: a collective case study of integrating technology in the preschool through 3rd grade classroom in a developmentally appropriate way

Children today are growing up in a technology-saturated world and yet early childhood teachers do not typically include technology in their classrooms, or if they do, they include it inappropriately. The literature states that integrating technology in early education can yield many benefits, but many teachers of young children avoid using technology because they do not know how to incorporate it appropriately. This dissertation is an exploratory observational study of early childhood teachers (preschool through third grade) who integrate technology in their programs in developmentally appropriate ways. This study involved three classroom teachers who were identified as model teachers at integrating technology in their classrooms: a preschool teacher and two kindergarten teachers. The study was guided by the recommendations from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children\u27s Media at Saint Vincent College (2012) position statement for early childhood teachers in the appropriate use of technology and digital media in the early childhood classroom. In this exploratory collective case study, visits to the classrooms were conducted several times and observations were performed. Checklists and field notes were used to record the findings. The teachers were interviewed before and after the observations to create a clearer picture of the classroom practices. This resulted in three cases that can serve as examples for teachers on how to integrate technology in the early childhood classroom in a developmentally appropriately way for young children. This study also provides recommendations for teachers who want to provide children with digital learning tools that can extend, enrich, and scaffold their learning. This study contributes four conclusions and five recommendations to guide teachers in integrating technology in a developmentally appropriate way for young children

Teacher Preparation and Language Policy Appropriation: A Qualitative Investigation of Teach for America Teacher in Arizona

In this qualitative study, we examined teachers’ language policy appropriation in the English-only state of Arizona. Specifically, we investigated teachers who received their professional placement and preparation through the Teach For America organization. We conducted the research in 2010 and 2011, a period when Arizona state language policy required that English learners be placed in English language development classrooms, separated from mainstream classrooms, to receive four hours of daily skill-based language instruction in language-specific content only, including grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and conversation. Through analysis of interview data from seven current corps members and eight alumni teachers, we investigated whether and how professional preparation shaped teachers’ identity and agency to implement prescriptive linguistic and instructional mandates in the classroom

Attainment and transition experiences of students progressing from an evening access programme to undergraduate study

The under-representation of particular sections of society in Higher Education (HE) is a driver for the current widening participation agenda. The Scottish Government has an ambition that ‘by 2030 students from the 20 per cent most deprived backgrounds should represent 20 per cent of entrants to higher education’ (COWA, 2016). However, there is recognition that in order to achieve this target there may need to be a range of entry routes and contextual offers available. According to Scottish government figures, Abertay is one of Scotland’sleading HE centres for wider access (SFC, 2016). The university has offered a free part-time evening access course (Access to Higher Education Abertay Dundee (AHEAD) for a number of years but it underwent significant restructuring in 2012. This study considers the progression, attainment and experiences of students transitioning from the revised access route to their chosen undergraduate degree programme and through subsequent stages of study

Teacher Preparation and Language Policy Appropriation: A Qualitative Investigation of Teach For America Teachers in Arizona

In this qualitative study, we examined teachers’ language policy appropriation in the English-only state of Arizona. Specifically, we investigated teachers who received their professional placement and preparation through the Teach For America organization. We conducted the research in 2010 and 2011, a period when Arizona state language policy required that English learners be placed in English language development classrooms, separated from mainstream classrooms, to receive four hours of daily skill-based language instruction in language-specific content only, including grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and conversation. Through analysis of interview data from seven current corps members and eight alumni teachers, we investigated whether and how professional preparation shaped teachers’ identity and agency to implement prescriptive linguistic and instructional mandates in the classroom.

Chytrid fungus infection in alpine tree frogs is associated with individual heterozygosity and population isolation but not population-genetic diversity

Chytridiomycosis, a disease caused by the emerging fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has been implicated in the decline of over 500 amphibian species. Population declines could have important genetic consequences, including reduced genetic diversity. We contrasted genetic diversity among both long-Bd-exposed and unexposed populations of the south-east Australian alpine tree frog (Litoria verreauxii alpina) across its range. At the population level, we found no significant differences in genetic diversity between Bd-exposed and unexposed populations. Encouragingly, even Bd-infected remnant populations that are now highly isolated maintain genetic diversity comparable to populations in which Bd is absent. Spatial genetic structure among populations followed an isolation-by-distance pattern, suggesting restricted movement among remnant populations. At the individual level, greater heterozygosity was associated with reduced probability of infection. Loss of genetic diversity in remnant populations that survived chytridiomycosis epidemics does not appear to be a threat to L. v. alpina. We suggest several factors underpinning maintenance of genetic diversity: (1) remnant populations have remained large enough to avoid losses of genetic diversity; (2) many individuals in the population are able to breed once before succumbing to disease; and (3) juveniles in the terrestrial environment have low exposure to Bd, providing an annual ‘reservoir’ of genetic diversity. The association between individual heterozygosity and infection status suggests that, while other work has shown all breeding adults are typically killed by Bd, males with greater heterozygosity may survive longer and obtain fitness benefits through extended breeding opportunities. Our results highlight the critical role of life history in mitigating the impacts of Bd infection for some amphibian species, but we infer that increased isolation as a result of disease-induced population extirpations will enhance population differentiation and thus biogeographic structure

Tristability in viscoelastic flow past side-by-side microcylinders

Viscoelastic flows through microscale porous arrays exhibit complex path-selection and switching phenomena. However, understanding this process is limited by a lack of studies linking between a single object and large arrays. Here, we report experiments on viscoelastic flow past side-by-side microcylinders with variable intercylinder gap. With increasing flow rate, a sequence of two imperfect symmetry-breaking bifurcations forces selection of either one or two of the three possible flow paths around the cylinders. Tuning the gap length through the value where the first bifurcation becomes perfect reveals regions of bi and tristability in a dimensionless flow rate-gap length `phase' diagram.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure