This experimental study reviewed the efficacy of a new classroom tool known as the Showcase Assignment. This assignment reduces public speaking anxiety in the public speaking classroom. This assignment asked students to pick a talent (poetry reading, singing, etc.) that is important to them in some way, give a brief description of what their…

Many scholars have researched reading-to-writing relations, some of which found reading to be an effective enhancer of writing (Al-Jarf, 2004; Asencior, 2006; Lee, 1986a; Lee & Riley, 1990; Perez-Sotelo & Gonzalez-Bueno, 2003; Shang, 2007). Similar beginner college student samples were used previously by Asencior (2006), Perez-Sotelo and…

This dissertation looks at the effects of the flipped classroom model on foreign language learners at the introductory level. Specifically, the project examined students' learning outcomes in reading, writing, speaking, and listening when exposed to the flipped classroom format for one or two semesters of introductory German classes at the college…

The practice of grading student writing often seems arbitrary and unfair to students. It is important to students and educators that writing is fairly and accurately assessed in order to facilitate demonstrable improvement in their composition. This research addressed a specific writing rubric as a method to mitigate implicit or subconscious…

An 18-week experimental intervention tested the effect of the WAC strategy known as microthemes on math achievement of secondary students. The sample population included 231 students, with 106 in the experimental group and 125 in the control group, enrolled in six different math courses from basic to advanced, ninth to twelfth grade. Students in…

Effective communication skills are a vital component of student academic achievement and success, yet students often struggle with them. This study utilized an organizational writing graphic organizer based on a critical thinking model to determine the impact of its use on the persuasive writing scores of 9th-grade students. A sample of…

This study evaluated the effects of a short-term professional development session. Forty volunteer high school biology teachers were randomly assigned to one of two professional development conditions: (a) developing deep content knowledge (i.e., control condition) or (b) evaluating student errors and understanding in writing samples (i.e.,…

This quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group study compared the impact of Ennis's (1989) mixed instructional methodology to the immersion methodology on the development of critical thinking in a multicultural, undergraduate senior-year learning community. A convenience sample of students (n =171) were selected from four sections of a…

Methods and procedures for successfully solving math word problems have been, and continue to be a mystery to many U.S. high school students. Previous studies suggest that the contextual and mathematical understanding of a word problem, along with the development of schemas and their related external representations, positively contribute to…

This study sought to determine if participation in a home education learning program would impact the perceived levels of parental self-efficacy of parents/caregivers who participate in the completion of home-learning assignments and increase their levels of home-learning involvement practices. Also, the study examined the relationship between the…