Requests and Opportunities for Research    The Beeghly Center for P-16 Research and Development invites proposals for support of research related to the mission and all activities of the Center. We are especially interested in research proposals related to the activities of Tri-County Partnership for Excellence in Teacher Preparation. YSU faculty members and faculty from other institutions are invited to submit proposals that examine a component of the activities involved in the grant. As with all such research, final products are expected to be scholarly written and submitted for publication and/or national conference presentation. Possible Topics for Research Related to Tri-County Partnership Activities    The following represent some areas of possible research related to the activities of the Tri-County Partnership for Excellence in Teacher Preparation. If you are interested in support for research related to the interests of the Tri-County Partnership, please contact Paul Gallagher, Ed.D., Project Director for information regarding the submission of a research proposal or prospectus. (paul.gallagher@ysu.edu)      Note-- Current and past research projects and investigators may be found HERE.

• Identify and develop assessment tools for summer workshops and camps, faculty-in-residence, and mentors, content and pedagogy.

Summer workshops/camps–Possible Areas to Examine

• What changes in conceptual understanding of pre-service and in-service teachers are evident from participation in the workshops?
• How has the ability of pre-service and in-service teachers to design and implement appropriate pedagogies in their classrooms been enhanced as a result of participation in the workshops?
• How has the ability of pre-service and in-service teachers to integrate technology into their teaching been enhanced as a result of participation in the workshops?
• In what ways are the field experiences of student teachers placed with cooperating mentor teachers who have participated in the workshops and other partnership activities different from student teachers placed with cooperating teachers who were not participants in the workshops?
• What is the effectiveness of the workshop/camp in achieving the goals of the partnership in improving teacher education programs at YSU?
• How effective were the workshops that included students from the schools as camp participants at demonstrating the efficacy of pedagogical techniques used in the workshops?
• What implications does this workshop have on pre-service education?

Faculty-in-residence–Areas to assess

• How much more are the faculty being used as a resource for the schools after serving as FIRs compared to their use prior to the grant activities?
• Are FIRs more aware of diversity concerns–meeting the challenge of teaching all students?
• What have FIRs learned about the content being taught in the partner schools?
• Do the FIRs change the content of what they teach at YSU after serving as a FIR? Is the grade relevance of the content maximized?
• Do the FIRs change the pedagogy of how they teach at YSU after serving as a FIR? Is appropriate pedagogy addressed in the content courses? Is the relevance of the pedagogy maximized?
• Is there a plan for how their observations about content and pedagogy could be reflected in the YSU curricula?
• Did each of the FIRs accomplish the specific goals that he or she set forth prior to beginning their residency? Will the results from their FIR impact the education of pre-service education students at YSU?

Mentor Teachers–Areas to assess

• As a result of participation in grant activities, do the mentor teachers make more effective use of current technology?
• As a result of participation in grant activities, do the mentor teachers make more effective use of YSU faculty as resources?
• As a result of participation in grant activities, do the mentor teachers provide more enriched clinical experiences for YSU pre-service education students?
• As a result of participation in grant activities, do the mentor teachers more effectively implement inquiry-based activities in their classrooms?

• Establish data collection and management plan for pre and post assessment of students of YSU graduates using a variety of assessments.

 

• Curriculum Changes/Improvements at YSU

• How does the curriculum reflect the content knowledge standards required by the Praxis II assessments?
• How does the curriculum reflect the pedagogical methodologies assessed under the Praxis III assessments?
• How does the curriculum prepare teachers to develop strategies needed to teach all students, including those in the high-need school districts?
• How does the content curriculum prepare teachers to teach using active learning techniques, concept-based approaches, and authentically valid forms of assessment?

     If you are interested in support for reseach related to the interests of the Tri-County Partnership, please contact Paul Gallagher, Ed.D., Project Director for information regarding the submission of a research proposal or prospectus. (paul.gallagher@ysu.edu)