UA cloudflare authentication

Browsing by Author "Johns, Kyoko"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Examining the Impact of Participation in a Collaborative Professional Learning Community with a Focus on Stem Engineering Education
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2022) McGinnis, Carol Ligon; Fowler, Melisa; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning have increasingly become a part of educational practice and pedagogy. Educators, business leaders, and policy-makers seek to get involved with funding and making decisions for STEM initiatives. Stakeholders include those looking forward to preparing students for future jobs not yet imagined. Uncertainty on the definition of STEM and how technology and engineering fit with science and mathematics may create a lack of implementation. Teachers may have formed their own ideas about STEM depending on their school and community culture, as well as prior experiences. For every fact or opinion about STEM teaching and learning, there are just as many questions.What does integrated STEM teaching and learning with a focus on engineering education look like in the primary (K-3) grades for children? How does a teacher of young children balance content in STEM teaching with the other subjects they must teach? Do the core subjects of mathematics and science take priority over technology and engineering? How does a teacher of young children view engineering in their classrooms? Finally, what barriers exist for teachers in planning engineering experiences for their students? Does collaboration through professional learning communities yield positive results in planning lessons? This research study will search for answers to these questions and provide support for teachers to plan and teach engaging lessons, with a focus on engineering design.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Primary grades teachers' teacher identities and teaching practices in the United States and Japanese mathematics classrooms
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Johns, Kyoko; Sunal, Cynthia S.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    The research supports the contentions that teachers' beliefs influence classroom practice and student achievement. Although research has been done to examine teachers' beliefs and classroom practice, limited research has investigated how one's culture and community affect teacher identity and mathematics classroom practice. The development over time of teachers' perceptions about mathematics and teacher identities has been overlooked in research that compares education in the United States and Japan. This study investigates how teachers' views on what effective teaching looks like and how their views, beliefs, and preferences (dispositions) influence the ways in which they teach mathematics, their pedagogical content knowledge in the four primary classrooms in United States and Japan. Because the process of understanding an individual's identity is complex, the language and actions the participants use within a certain context are examined to explore the socioculturally-situated identity being expressed in each case. The findings of this study may contribute to efforts that seek to understand how mathematics identity relates to how mathematics is taught.