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Title: The importance of an interdisciplinary education.
Creator: Jean-Vertus, Walter, Leech, Anna, Montgomery, Samantha, Reiling, Jarred, Florida Atlantic University
Date Issued: 2005-03
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11531
Subject Headings: Interdisciplinary approach in education, Education, Education, Humanistic, Foreign study
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Everglades education: analysis of the” everglades on you program”.
Creator: Scarafia, Rachel, Meltzer, Carol, Graduate College
Date Issued: 2011-04-08
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3164689
Subject Headings: Everglades (Fla.), Interdisciplinary approach in education, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Impact of a Museum-Based Science Methods Course on Early Childhood/Elementary Pre-Service Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Ability to Develop Curriculum Using a Constructivist Approach.
Creator: Templeton, Chelneca Kegley, Burnaford, Gail, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: The focus of this study was to discover what impact a museum-based science methods course would have on 14 early childhood/elementary pre-service teachers' selfefficacy and ability to develop curriculum using a constructivist approach. Data were gathered using the STEBI-B, modified by Bleicher (2004). A paired-samples t test indicated there was significant change in the pre-service teachers ' self-efficacy pre-and post-museum course participation. The investigation also analyzed student...
Show moreThe focus of this study was to discover what impact a museum-based science methods course would have on 14 early childhood/elementary pre-service teachers' selfefficacy and ability to develop curriculum using a constructivist approach. Data were gathered using the STEBI-B, modified by Bleicher (2004). A paired-samples t test indicated there was significant change in the pre-service teachers ' self-efficacy pre-and post-museum course participation. The investigation also analyzed student-created learning centers intended for use in the students' future classrooms. Students created two learning centers, one before interaction with exhibits in the museum and one at the end of the course. At the conclusion of the semester, both sets of learning centers were analyzed using the Framework for Assessing Excellence instrument (Serrell, 2006). A paired-samples t test showed increased ability to create constructivist-based materials. The third area of study involved a focus group comprised of the pre-service teachers. Researcher-designed questions focused on the change in self-efficacy beliefs of the pre-service teachers, from pre-to post-museum experience. Questions were designed to add depth to information gained from the quantitative data gained from the STEBI-B and the Framework for Assessing Excellence. Qualitative procedures were conducted to determine common themes and beliefs derived from written reflections and audiotaped focus group discussion. Students reported the museum context did increase their confidence, excitement, and ability to develop and use resources for science instruction.
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000713
Subject Headings: Constructivism (Education), Educational innovations, Teachers--Training of, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: An investigation of the teaching practices of music teaching artists participating in four selected elementary school arts integration projects.
Creator: Vazquez, Olga M., Burnaford, Gail, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
Abstract/Description: This mixed methodology study investigated the arts integration practices of music teaching artists participating in four selected elementary school arts integration projects in the United States. This study also explored the possibility that music teaching artists’ formal education, arts integration training and professional development, and their own attitudes as well as different stakeholders’ attitudes about arts integration and music education impacted their arts integration practices....
Show moreThis mixed methodology study investigated the arts integration practices of music teaching artists participating in four selected elementary school arts integration projects in the United States. This study also explored the possibility that music teaching artists’ formal education, arts integration training and professional development, and their own attitudes as well as different stakeholders’ attitudes about arts integration and music education impacted their arts integration practices. The explanatory two-phase design of this study began with the collection and analysis of quantitative data and was followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data, thus connecting the results from the former to those from the latter. The quantitative data provided information for purposefully selecting the interview participants who provided the qualitative data collection in phase two. The data gathered in this study indicate that the music teaching artists shared similar beliefs about arts integration but that they believed their school leaders’ goals and objectives differed from their own. The data also provided evidence for concluding that the music teaching artists believe that the most successful arts integration projects are those that are collaborative partnerships between an arts specialist or classroom teacher and a teaching artist. A unexpected finding in this study was the teaching and exploration of sound in arts integration projects team taught between a sound teaching artist,–some without musical backgrounds or formal training–a music teaching artist, and a classroom teacher. The statistical analysis in this study regarding the degree to which formal education, arts integration professional development and training, music teaching artists’ attitudes about arts integration, and the beliefs held by music teaching artists regarding school leaders’ and their arts organization’s administrators’ attitudes about arts integration were predictors of the arts integration practices as self-reported by music teaching artists produced results that were non-significant. The content analysis of curriculum documents and student products submitted by the study participants revealed information to support the findings from the interview and survey data
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004230, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004230
Subject Headings: Artists as teachers, Interdisciplinary approach in education, Music -- Instruction and study, Project method in teaching
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: comparative study of current practices of selected university-based children’s chorus directors in relation to arts integration.
Creator: Brown, Sally C., Fleitas, Patricia P., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: There is limited research available focusing on arts integration at the secondary school level and even less on a children’s chorus curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the application of arts integration in a university-based children’s chorus based on historical research, rehearsal observations, and interviews of practicing children’s chorus directors. The pedagogical practices and philosophies of three prominent children’s chorus directors, Robyn Lana,...
Show moreThere is limited research available focusing on arts integration at the secondary school level and even less on a children’s chorus curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the application of arts integration in a university-based children’s chorus based on historical research, rehearsal observations, and interviews of practicing children’s chorus directors. The pedagogical practices and philosophies of three prominent children’s chorus directors, Robyn Lana, Henry Leck, and Ann Small were conducted to understand the relationship between arts integration theory and practice in their respective children’s choruses. The criteria used to select the participants of this study is based upon their tenure in the field of choral music education, national and international recognition, their publications on music education for children, and their expertise on the child and adolescent singing voice. One of the principal objectives of this study is to discover if the participants are currently implementing arts integration in their respective children’s choruses and, if not, would they be amenable to implementing this type of pedagogy? The study’s research criteria focuses on two possible factors: 1) the expectations of a high level of artistic performance that could affect time availability presenting obstacles to implementing arts integration, and 2) identifying the philosophy and practice towards arts integration amongst the selected children’s chorus directors. The study suggests that a choral curriculum based on arts integration does not appear to diminish or interfere with the rehearsal process in preparation for the choral performance but rather, enhance the total learning and performance outcomes. Research data also suggests the need for materials and resources to assist with the application of an arts integrated curriculum. The three participants acknowledge the value of this type of pedagogy as well as the significance of future research to aid in applying this methodology. Sample lesson plans and choral literature representative of repertoire conducive to creating lesson plans based on arts integration strategies are found in the appendices. However, additional qualitative and quantitative studies are needed to promote arts integration at the secondary choral level.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA0004009
Subject Headings: Aesthetics -- Psychological aspects, Arts -- Study and teaching, Interdisciplinary approach in education, Oral interpretation of music
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Outcomes of student participation in college freshman learning communities.
Creator: Koerner, Jodie Jae., College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
Abstract/Description: Growing out of the college retention research of Alexander Astin (1993) and Vincent Tinto (1975), this study examined differences in academic achievement and persistence of first-semester college freshmen who participated in Freshman Learning Communities (FLC), including a Living-Learning Community (LLC), and students who did not participate in a university-sponsored learning community. This study also explored variables that may moderate the relationship of learning community participation...
Show moreGrowing out of the college retention research of Alexander Astin (1993) and Vincent Tinto (1975), this study examined differences in academic achievement and persistence of first-semester college freshmen who participated in Freshman Learning Communities (FLC), including a Living-Learning Community (LLC), and students who did not participate in a university-sponsored learning community. This study also explored variables that may moderate the relationship of learning community participation with academic achievement and persistence. Variables explored included: entry-level readiness for self-directed learning, gender, ethnicity, high school GPA, and SAT or equivalent ACT scores. Data was collected from 544 students at XYZ University using a pre/post university-developed instrument, the College Assessment of Readiness for Entering Students Intended (CARES-I), College Assessment of Readiness for Entering Students- Actual (CARES-A) and the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale/Learning Preference Assessment. Demographic and academic data were collected through the institution's Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analysis. There was a statistically significant difference in academic achievement for students enrolled in either a Freshman Learning Community or a Living Learning Community (df = 424, t = 2.32, p < .05) as compared to students not part of a freshman learning community. The learning community students had higher end-of-semester grades. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore the moderating variables that may influence the learning community effect on academic achievement. Only the pre-academic characteristic of students' entering high school GPA moderated the relationship of learning community participation and academic achievement (p < .05)., Chi-square analysis showed there was no relationship between participation in a learning community and enrollment in the second semester (p > .05).Logistic regression of variable relations determined that the variables of high school GPA and ethnicity were significant. In addition, there was an association between the variables of SDLRS scores, high school GPA, and end-of-semester GPA for students not part of a learning community. Finally, results from a paired samples t-test determined that there was a difference in the intended and actual social involvement for students enrolled in a learning community.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165674
Subject Headings: Group work in education, Interdisciplinary approach in education, College environment, Experiential learning, Educational change
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Florida career and technology education: a comparative analysis of CTE program participants as a percentage of total high school population for the State of Florida.
Creator: Serra, Francis., College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
Abstract/Description: This quantitative study was designed to analyze the percentage of students pursuing selected Career and Technical Education (CTE) vocational courses in schools throughout the State of Florida and to determine if there is a relationship to school district size during school year 2008-2009. The study sought to determine if smaller districts are more likely to have a higher percentage of students enrolled in selected CTE programs that will provide entry into the work force in a skilled,...
Show moreThis quantitative study was designed to analyze the percentage of students pursuing selected Career and Technical Education (CTE) vocational courses in schools throughout the State of Florida and to determine if there is a relationship to school district size during school year 2008-2009. The study sought to determine if smaller districts are more likely to have a higher percentage of students enrolled in selected CTE programs that will provide entry into the work force in a skilled, preferably licensed occupation than larger districts. The study also sought to determine the relationship of the number of students enrolled in the CTE courses to school level student attendance rate, drop-out rate, graduation rate, percentage of Black students, percentage of Hispanic students, percentage of White students, and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price meals.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362572
Subject Headings: Vocational education, Career education, Industry and education, Education and globalization, High schools, Curricula, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: La polâitica de la identidad y la universidad: el ejemplo de la literatura Hispâanica.
Creator: Currie, Caitlin., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: This project examines politicization of the university. Critics have long charged that politics, and specifically identity politics, has infiltrated the classroom via radical professors. Scholars who lament the decline of the western canon claim that a massive wave of new untested works - largely written by women and people of color - have replaced the works of dead white men leaving our students ill-prepared. While most of the scholarship in this area has been written in the area of English...
Show moreThis project examines politicization of the university. Critics have long charged that politics, and specifically identity politics, has infiltrated the classroom via radical professors. Scholars who lament the decline of the western canon claim that a massive wave of new untested works - largely written by women and people of color - have replaced the works of dead white men leaving our students ill-prepared. While most of the scholarship in this area has been written in the area of English literature departments, this project focuses on the field of Hispanic Literature. If identity politics has challenged the canon in the university, it is expected that within identity-based disciplines the infiltration of politics should be substantial. To test the politicization of the university, I examined 38 Hispanic Literature survey courses from a variety of American universities. I found a high degree of consistency among these syllabi and concluded that critics of the university have at best overstated their case.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165334
Subject Headings: Spanish literature, History and criticism, Ethnic groups in literature, Multiculturalism in literature, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Identity politics and the university: the Hispanic literature example.
Creator: Currie, Caitlin., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: This project examines politicization of the university. Critics have long charged that politics, and specifically identity politics, has infiltrated the classroom via radical professors. Scholars who lament the decline of the western canon claim that a massive wave of new untested works - largely written by women and people of color - have replaced the works of dead white men leaving our students ill-prepared. While most of the scholarship in this area has been written in the area of English...
Show moreThis project examines politicization of the university. Critics have long charged that politics, and specifically identity politics, has infiltrated the classroom via radical professors. Scholars who lament the decline of the western canon claim that a massive wave of new untested works - largely written by women and people of color - have replaced the works of dead white men leaving our students ill-prepared. While most of the scholarship in this area has been written in the area of English literature departments, this project focuses on the field of Hispanic Literature. If identity politics has challenged the canon in the university, it is expected that within identity-based disciplines the infiltration of politics should be substantial. To test the politicization of the university, I examined 38 Hispanic Literature survey courses from a variety of American universities. I found a high degree of consistency among these syllabi and concluded that critics of the university have in many cases overstated their case. However, the results to suggest that changes are taking place in regards to the inclusion of more diverse authors in the curriculum, though not a complete take over as suggest numerous critics.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165335
Subject Headings: Spanish literature, History and criticism, Ethnic groups in literature, Multiculturalism in literature, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Teaching civic and political engagement: fostering collegiate civic education through activism.
Creator: Zompetti, Joseph, Jack Miller Forum, Department of Political Science, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Date Issued: 2009-01-30
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/FADT186462p
Subject Headings: Interdisciplinary approach in education -- United States, Service learning -- United States, Student service -- United States, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Format: Set of related objects

Title: The role of other-regulation in second language learners of beginning Spanish.
Creator: Seiden, Carolina M., Florida Atlantic University, DuBravac, Stayc
Abstract/Description: This qualitative study analyzes speech data from learner's interaction in small group and paired activities in the classroom. The analysis is framed in Vygotsky's theory of language. The findings suggest that peer-peer interaction alone does not increase the opportunities for students to understand, practice and incorporate new concepts into their developing second language. Other-regulation---collaborative dialogue---and scaffolding---the task preparation so the student is compelled to...
Show moreThis qualitative study analyzes speech data from learner's interaction in small group and paired activities in the classroom. The analysis is framed in Vygotsky's theory of language. The findings suggest that peer-peer interaction alone does not increase the opportunities for students to understand, practice and incorporate new concepts into their developing second language. Other-regulation---collaborative dialogue---and scaffolding---the task preparation so the student is compelled to perform a task that appears to be within his/her reach---are compromised when the task lacks context and personal significance for the students.
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Date Issued: 2004
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13120
Subject Headings: Second language acquisition, Interdisciplinary approach in education, Spanish language--Study and teaching, Language and languages--Study and teaching
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Quality children's literature that supports fifth-grade state standards in United States history: A content analysis of historical fiction, biography, and informational tradebooks.
Creator: Baxley, Traci P., Florida Atlantic University, Matanzo, Jane Brady
Abstract/Description: This study sought to investigate the benefits of using children's literature in fifth grade classrooms in order to promote greater student interest, engagement, and understanding of key grade level history standards. Instruments were created by the researcher to examine the criteria expected for both standards and literary quality in history-related historical fiction, biography, and informational tradebooks. Children's literature was selected based on expert's recommendations and award...
Show moreThis study sought to investigate the benefits of using children's literature in fifth grade classrooms in order to promote greater student interest, engagement, and understanding of key grade level history standards. Instruments were created by the researcher to examine the criteria expected for both standards and literary quality in history-related historical fiction, biography, and informational tradebooks. Children's literature was selected based on expert's recommendations and award winning and honor books from 1970 to present. Four sets of content-analyzed Historical Literary Triads, one historical fiction, one biography, and one informational tradebook, for three United States Historical Eras most frequently addressed by 48 states and the District of Columbia's fifth grade standards were analyzed. Using a content analysis approach, data concerning the representation of fifth grade United States history state standards in select children's books were compiled. The literature was analyzed for the frequency with which the United States history standards were met and for its ability to support and/or reinforce the standards. Data concerning the presence of criteria designated for quality in children's literature were compiled. The degree of the presence of both quality and standards criteria was calculated both within an Era and among the three Historical Eras. The researcher then compared the comments and examples of individual genres with degrees of standards presented in the completed Historical Literary Triads used within a Historical Era. A discussion of content comparisons, reinforcements, and extensions presented or not presented by the Historical Literary Triads was discussed. These analyses assisted the researcher in determining the degree of quality and supportive content that was contained in the recommended and/or award winning books and the degree to which the Historical Literacy Triads created complemented United States history state standards. The content analysis concluded that while each children's literature book had some merit in terms of literary quality and/or addressing United States history standards, the Historical Literary Triads was overwhelmingly more inclusive, assuring breadth and depth of the materials needed for fostering historical learning and historical inquiry.
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Date Issued: 2005
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12140
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: An analysis of integrated science and language arts themes in software at the elementary school level.
Creator: Libidinsky, Lisa Jill., Florida Atlantic University, Kumar, David D.
Abstract/Description: There are many demands on the elementary classroom teacher today, such that teachers often do not have the time and resources to instruct in a meaningful manner that would produce effective, real instruction. Subjects are often disjointed and not significant. When teachers instruct using an integrated approach, students learn more efficiently as they see connections in the subjects. Science and language arts, when combined to produce an integrated approach, show positive associations that can...
Show moreThere are many demands on the elementary classroom teacher today, such that teachers often do not have the time and resources to instruct in a meaningful manner that would produce effective, real instruction. Subjects are often disjointed and not significant. When teachers instruct using an integrated approach, students learn more efficiently as they see connections in the subjects. Science and language arts, when combined to produce an integrated approach, show positive associations that can enable students to learn real-life connections. In addition, with the onset of technology and the increased usage of technological programs in the schools, teachers can use technology to support an integrated curriculum. When teachers use a combined instructional focus of science, language arts, and technology to produce lessons, students are able to gain knowledge of concepts and skills necessary for appropriate academic growth and development. Given that there are many software programs available to teachers for classroom use, it is imperative that quality software is used for instruction. Using criteria based upon an intensive literature review of integrated instruction in the areas of science and language arts, this study examines science and language arts software programs to determine whether there are science and language arts integrated themes in the software analyzed. Also, this study examines whether more science and language arts integrated themes are present in science or language arts software programs. Overall, this study finds a significant difference between language arts software and science software when looking at integrated themes. This study shows that science software shows integrated themes with language arts more often than does language arts software with science. The findings in this study can serve as a reference point for educators when selecting software that is meaningful and effective in the elementary classroom. Based on this study, it is apparent that there is a need to evaluate software for appropriate use in the classroom in order to promote effective education.
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Date Issued: 2002
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11985
Subject Headings: Education, Elementary--Computer-assisted instruction, Language arts (Elementary)--Juvenile software, Science--Study and teaching (Elementary)--Juvenile software, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: VEINS OF OPPRESSION IN UNDER THE FEET OF JESUS.
Creator: Wedding, Cynthia, Balkan, Stacey, Florida Atlantic University, Department of English, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description: “Veins of Oppression” takes an interdisciplinary approach towards unearthing the layers of subjugation piled on Chicano/a/x migrant farm workers in the fields of California, visible in Helena Maria Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus. While critics such as Christa Grewe-Volpp, Anne Shea, and Sarah Wald have produced progressive work about this text that adds to their respective disciplinary fields, unique to this collection, the interdisciplinary framework visible in “Veins of Oppression”...
Show more“Veins of Oppression” takes an interdisciplinary approach towards unearthing the layers of subjugation piled on Chicano/a/x migrant farm workers in the fields of California, visible in Helena Maria Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus. While critics such as Christa Grewe-Volpp, Anne Shea, and Sarah Wald have produced progressive work about this text that adds to their respective disciplinary fields, unique to this collection, the interdisciplinary framework visible in “Veins of Oppression” forces readers to bear witness to the many ways Chicano/a/x migrant farm workers are kept from accessing the privileges implicit in U.S. citizenship through longstanding and current agricultural practices. Drawing on the work of Stacy Alaimo, Donna Haraway, Lisa Lowe, Jason Moore, Mai Ngai, Rob Nixon, Sylvia Wynter, and more, “Veins of Oppression” explores the ways humanist scholarship can be intentionally written as interdisciplinary to be more clearly positioned to function as a more kinetic base for actual change.
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Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013427
Subject Headings: Humanism, Migrant farm workers, Mexican American migrant agricultural laborers, Viramontes, Helena María, 1954---Criticism and interpretation, Chicanos, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Creativity in an arts integrated third space: a case study of elementary school students in an international collaboration.
Creator: Hyatt, Susan, Burnaford, Gail, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
Abstract/Description: This qualitative case study examined the impact of an arts integrated international collaboration on elementary school students’ creativity when the students were communicating and creating exclusively through a technological third space. Two organizations, one in the U.S. and one in Mexico, served as the sites for the case study. Five findings emerged from the study relating to the nature of creativity and two findings related to the impact on students’ creativity when engaged in arts...
Show moreThis qualitative case study examined the impact of an arts integrated international collaboration on elementary school students’ creativity when the students were communicating and creating exclusively through a technological third space. Two organizations, one in the U.S. and one in Mexico, served as the sites for the case study. Five findings emerged from the study relating to the nature of creativity and two findings related to the impact on students’ creativity when engaged in arts-integrated international collaboration. The findings for the first question were: 1. Students and teaching artists view creativity as a process that is reflexive and engaging, 2. When reflecting on their work, students and teaching artists see creativity as an interplay of ideas and are open to and capable of modifying their ideas to achieve creative results, 3. Creative work is relative to the individual and is directly correlated to both originality and effort, 4. Students and teaching artists value creativity as a means for both self-expression and communication, 5. A collaborative environment sets the stage for creative behavior in terms of inviting feedback, providing constructive criticism, and sharing ideas. For the second question relating to impact, the two findings were: 1. Teaching and learning in the third space becomes a recursive process, and 2. Students work in new modes of communication in order to bridge cultures.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004293, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004293
Subject Headings: Arts -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Case studies, Creative thinking in children -- Case studies, Curriculum planning -- Case studies, Group work in education -- Case studies, Interdisciplinary approach in education -- Case studies, Space perception -- Case studies, Virtual reality -- Case studies
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The effects of reciprocal teaching on the science literacy of intermediate elementary students in inclusive science classes.
Creator: DiLorenzo, Kim E., College of Education, Department of Exceptional Student Education
Abstract/Description: Intermediate elementary students (grades 4 and 5) frequently struggle to become scientifically literate in their general education classrooms. Scientific literacy includes knowing how to access and use information found in science texts. Unfortunately, many students struggle to read and understand science texts (Michalsky, Mevarech, & Haibi, 2009, p. 363). Fortunately, elementary students have shown improvement in reading comprehension when explicitly instructed in cognitive and metacognitive...
Show moreIntermediate elementary students (grades 4 and 5) frequently struggle to become scientifically literate in their general education classrooms. Scientific literacy includes knowing how to access and use information found in science texts. Unfortunately, many students struggle to read and understand science texts (Michalsky, Mevarech, & Haibi, 2009, p. 363). Fortunately, elementary students have shown improvement in reading comprehension when explicitly instructed in cognitive and metacognitive strategies to comprehend expository text in settings that support collaboration and flexible application of comprehension strategies, and have meaningful opportunities for reading and writing (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2004; Palincsar & Klenk, 1992). A method that includes these components is reciprocal teaching (RT; National Reading Panel, 2000). RT has been used during content area instruction to increase reading comprehension skills of intermediate elementary students without disabilities in general education classrooms (King & Johnson, 1999; Lederer, 2000; Lubliner, 2004). These reading comprehension gains have been maintained by students on follow-up tests after the RT intervention has been withdrawn (Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Westera & Moore, 1995). This study examined the effects of RT on the science literacy of intermediate elementary students (grades 4-5) participating in inclusive science classes. Students with learning disabilities (SWLD), students at-risk (AR), and students in general education (GE) participated in this study. General education teachers used RT with science texts to improve science literacy. Pre/post science quizzes were used to assess the effects of the RT intervention, and post/follow-up tests assessed potential maintenance of the RT. s, Analyses of the data showed that the RT intervention resulted in improved science comprehension overall, and for each student group. In addition, the results showed that the gains were maintained for the individual student grouping after the RT intervention was removed, although these gains were not found overall.The study demonstrated that the use of RT during science instruction in inclusive, intermediate elementary classes assisted students who are AR, SWLD, and students in GE to attain science knowledge using standard science texts and materials. These results extend the experimental literature on science literacy and reciprocal teaching, particularly among intermediate elementary students.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2975244
Subject Headings: Science, Study and teaching (Elementary), Thought and thinking, Study and teaching (Elementary), Language arts (Elementary), Correlation with content subjects, Inquiry-based learning, Cognitive learning, Academic achievement, Interdisciplinary approach in education
Format: Document (PDF)

FAU Theses and Dissertations (11)	+ -
FAU College Collections (2)	+ -
Honors Student Theses (2)	+ -
FAU Graduate Student Research (1)	+ -

Interdisciplinary approach in education (13)	+ -
Ethnic groups in literature (2)	+ -
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Spanish literature (2)	+ -

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