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Title: Prediction of national mathematics and science achievement by socioeconomic and health factors with a focus on Ghana
Contributors: Christian Appoh (author), Peter D. MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: Mathematics and Science are two disciplines considered imperative for technological advancement of any country. However, Ghana placed 47th out of 48 counties in the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Ghana placed lowest for both Mathematics and Science in the 2011 TIMSS. The purpose of this study was to examine Mathematics and Science achievements in relation to economic and health outcomes for the countries in the 2011 TIMSS report. Multiple linear regression was used as a method to predict achievement. The criterion variables were a Mathematics composite score and a Science composite score. The predictors were Under 5 Mortality Rate and Gross National Income for both Science and Mathematics. Science achievement was more strongly related (55%) to these predictors than was Mathematics achievement (47%). Ghana's results were accurately predicted based on these factors. These findings have implications for Ghanaian educators. --Leaf ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-29T17:29:22.32Z

Title: A case study of teacher collaboration at Duchess Park Secondary School
Contributors: Keith Takuya Wood (author), Andrew Kitchenham (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: The purpose of this project was to identify issues and barriers to teacher collaboration within Duchess Park Secondary School (DPSS) and offer strategies to improve practice. An assessment of the successes and failures of the current mechanisms for collaboration was conducted through a broadly-distributed, anonymous questionnaire to DPSS staff, and through a narrowly focused interview process which targeted individual members of collaboration groups in varying disciplines and demographics at DPSS. Once data was collected it was analyzed using qualitative thematic data analysis. The main barriers to successful teacher collaboration at DPSS were individual personality conflicts, a lack of leadership within collaboration groups, a lack of predetermined collaboration objectives and agenda, and in some cases isolation and teacher work load. These barriers lead to feelings of dissatisfaction with collaboration sessions, frustration, and uncertainty, which further complicated the success of collaboration teams. Successful DPSS collaboration groups were those who: Exhibited a positive team mentality enabling the group to work together, had a clear group leader to organize and mediate the discussions, and who prepared an agenda and objectives for the group prior to the collaboration session so that each group member could prepare and participate. It was recommended that groups displaying the main barriers identified in this study work at primarily resolving these in order successfully collaborate. It was noted that individuals who do not believe in true collaboration or those who do not believe that change is needed within the PLC may not have participated in the general questionnaire and therefore their opinions may not have been reflected in this study. --Leaf ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-29T17:20:24.157Z

Title: Perceptions of the 2009 impact of curriculum implementation on teaching practices of social studies 12 teachers in Northwest Alberta.
Contributors: Susan E. Mills (author), Bruce Galenza (Thesis advisor), Peter MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: Initial teacher perceptions of the impact of the new Alberta Social Studies curriculum on teaching practices were examined. Social Studies teachers in Northwest Alberta were surveyed, quantitatively and qualitatively, about the use of critical thinking skills in their teaching practices before, and after, implementation of the Grade 12 curriculum. Quantitatively, no significant differences in teaching practices were found. Neither were there any differences in teaching practices found when teachers were differentiated by the variables of sex, total teaching experience, Social Studies teaching experience and department size. However, there were increases found in workshop attendance. Qualitatively, the results aligned with the literature related to teachers' concerns of time, resources, technology, collegial support, professional development, and classroom environment only one exception related to teacher experience was found. School administrators, professional development planners, curriculum designers, and assessors of the implementation of new curricula would find this study of interest. --P. ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-30T17:07:49.231Z

Title: Reflecting on the value of arts intensive programing in Yukon territory 1993-1994
Contributors: Lionel Colaci (author), Andrew Kitchenham (thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia College of Arts, Social, and Health Sciences (Degree granting institution), John Sherry (committee member), Simon Blakesley (committee member)
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to look at the importance and value of teaching art in schools. While there are published academic papers that discuss the value of teaching arts at the secondary school level, there has been no study conducted on the MAD (Music, Arts, and Drama) program that was piloted in Whitehorse, Yukon in 1993 – 1994. The researcher was interested in documenting the participants’ experiences in a secondary school immersive arts program that had no set curriculum. The methods of investigation used were questionnaires and interviews with former MAD students who attended the pilot program from 1993 – 1994. The questionnaires and interviews were conducted in the summer of 2017. Out of twelve possible participants contacted via encrypted email, only six of the alumni were available to reflect on their time in the MAD pilot program. The researcher collated the results of the interviews and questionnaires and analyzed them for emergent themes. The researcher found that these six participants had a positive experience in being exposed to an intensive arts program and they felt that by being exposed to arts in a secondary school setting helped them learn, or enhance, 21st century job skills such as creative thinking, problem-solving, collaborative skills, and empathy.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2019-04-15T20:32:03.968Z

Title: The role of leadership in negotiating adolescent identity: Voices of female secondary school students in alternative education.
Contributors: Nicole M. Joron (author), Willow Brown (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: This narrative study presents a collection of personal experience stories from five young women enrolled in grades 11 and 12 of an alternative education program. The purpose of this study is twofold exploring how the participants perceive and experience leadership in their lives and how their experiences with leadership affect the participants' development of a stable sense of identity and an empowered sense of self. The collected data is presented first as whole narratives and then through themes that emerged from a content analysis. The analysis revealed helpfulness as the defining characteristic of leadership and that the participants believe they are leaders, at least some of the time. The participants demonstrated having reached a stable sense of identity but expressed a lack of confidence as a barrier to becoming fully empowered persons. Using these findings, the researcher outlines ideas for the development, recruitment, and implementation of youth leadership development programming. --P.ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-30T17:07:23.952Z

Title: Making sense of synchronicity.
Contributors: Robert Laval (author), John Sherry (Thesis advisor), Linda O'Neill (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: This research project explores the experience of synchronicity by everyday people. Synchronicity is the idea that apparently random events are related because of the meaning attributed to them. This study is qualitative in approach utilizing thematic analysis to examine in detail the transcripts of interviews with participants who were selected based on their belief in synchronicity, their interest in sharing their stories and understandings of synchronicity and where located by chance using word of mouth. The interviews appeared to be a delight for all involved. This research provides a voice to the perspectives and responses stirred up by this enigmatic phenomenon for people who otherwise would pass us by. The findings focus on seven predominant themes organized into three categories. They suggest that more than a mere crack exists in the dominant Western worldview of the nature of reality as a result of synchronistic experiences. --Leaf ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-30T17:13:15.102Z

Title: Student use of technology today: helping plan the school of tomorrow
Contributors: Michael Toews (author), Peter MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine how secondary students attending F.H. Collins Secondary School (FHC) in Whitehorse, Yukon in spring, 2011 viewed and used technology to complete their studies at school and at home. FHC is scheduled for imminent replacement and the decision about what educational technology to install in the new school must be made by the Yukon Department of Education, based on the advice of the new school's Building Advisory Committee (BAC) -- my recommendations are directed to the BAC. Over 50% of FHC students responded to a voluntary and anonymous quantitative survey conducted by FHC staff. I concluded that respondents felt powered down ... while attending FHC because the educational technology students use most often and believe to be most important when completing schoolwork was more accessible at home than at school. Of great concern is that Yukon First Nations were more likely to feel powered down [than] their Non First Nations counterparts at FHC. The greatest limitation of the project was the choice to survey students of today when trying to conceptualize the school of tomorrow. I recommend that all students at FHC have access to school-provided wireless Internet and be encouraged to take personal technological devices like laptops to school, and that the school's Internet site restriction policy be reviewed. --P. ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-04-10T22:09:03.018Z

Title: Identity drum: an indigenous framework exploring identity loss, discovery and recovery through autoethnography
Contributors: Shelly Niemi (author), Peter MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia College of Arts, Social, and Health Sciences (Degree granting institution), Tina Fraser (Committee member), Judy Thompson (Committee member)
Abstract: My thesis used an Indigenous framework to explore my Indigenous identity loss, discovery and recovery that I have experienced throughout my life. I have done this by braiding together the struggles of my own lived experiences of Indigenous identity loss, and identity recovery, with research that examines how Indigenous identity loss, and identity recovery can affect one‘s own personal identity as they grow up. The story work in my thesis explores the effects of colonization that Aboriginal children and youth may have experienced, and how historical trauma may be passed on throughout generations, affecting one‘s identity. I have done this by discussing my personal lived experiences of Indigenous identity loss from birth, and throughout my childhood. Further I examined the lack of opportunity, and the lack of concrete structures that were not in place for me to explore my Indigenous identity for who I was and from where... .
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-05-15T16:22:00.43Z

Title: Yukon First Nations women in leadership
Contributors: Rhonda Lee McIsaac (author), Andrew Kitchenham (thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia College of Arts, Social, and Health Sciences (Degree granting institution), Tina Fraser (committee member), Ross Hoffman (committee member)
Abstract: This narrative study seeks to give prominence to Indigenous women’s leadership stories, particularly Yukon First Nation women chiefs. Chiefs, who deserve to be honoured for their political leadership during the dawn of Aboriginal Self-Government in the Yukon. I collected, analyzed, and presented the leadership stories of Yukon women chiefs in a traditional Indigenous storytelling format mixed with narrative inquiry. Biographical narratives will inform the reader about how these women developed as leaders, how they have been strengthened and sustained, their roles and responsibilities, and how they perceive the impact of their gender and Self-Government on their role as leader. This research as ceremony (Wilson, 2008) parallels construction of a ziibaaska’iganagooday that signifies and celebrates the journey of women’s leadership development. This study may be of interest to Aboriginal women interested in politics, to those assisting Aboriginal youth in leadership mentorship, and to other Aboriginal scholars seeking to honour their heritage by conducting Indigenized research (Weber-Pillwax, 2001).
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2019-04-15T20:32:06.715Z

Title: Collaborative processes in teacher teams
Contributors: Joel Taylor (author), Catherine Whalen (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia College of Arts, Social, and Health Sciences (Degree granting institution), Peter MacMillan (Committee member), Deborah Koehn (Committee member)
Abstract: In this project, I explored how school leaders can support and promote collaborative processes in teacher teams. The completed project provides a comprehensive literature review on various aspects of collaboration in teacher teams and leadership process and structure behind them. This study did not create new knowledge through academic research, but rather took existing research to synthesis into a manageable Professional Development template to be used in the future to inform and support the learning of practicing professionals in the field of K-12 education. I am a practicing secondary school teacher who has witnessed the benefits of collaboration first hand. My experiences in education have led to my desire to explore various issues surrounding collaboration on the K-12 education context through this project.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-05-15T21:06:47.946Z

Title: Restitution as aboriginal worldview for elementary classrooms.
Contributors: Myla Leinweber (author), Willow Brown (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: The author of this study designed and implemented lessons integrating Restitution (Gossen, 1992) and a locally developed curriculum of Indigenous stories to employ an Aboriginal worldview to support students' positive identity and self-management. The professional inquiry method merged the practical and the critical traditions of action research to improve teaching practices in response to a specific problem and to improve life conditions for a marginalized group. The inquiry had two stages: (a) curriculum design and (b) reflective implementation of the curriculum in a grade one and two classroom. The new curriculum and the author's reflections may be helpful to teachers who wish to incorporate an Aboriginal worldview in their own classrooms but lack the knowledge, confidence, or resources to do so. The author illustrated teachers' journeys from an emphasis on controlling students to supporting their self-management and toward finding confidence as an ally for Aboriginal people. --Leaf ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-04-11T21:12:10.93Z

Title: Exploring parental engagement at a Yukon high school
Contributors: Tyler Bradford (author), Peter MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: This study employed a mixed methods research design to investigate parental engagement at a Yukon high school. The purpose of this study was to explore what strategies this Yukon high school was employing to ensure parental involvement in their children's high school education what current strategies parents found most effective and what strategies parents would like to see to help them become more involved in their children's high school education. Parents were first invited to complete a survey and had the opportunity to opt-in to the interview portion of the study. Following the analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data the combined results of the study were used to prepare recommendations for the Yukon Department of Education and High School principals across the territory containing recommendations to assist schools to involve parents in a meaningful way, thus implementing Article 18 of the Education Act. --Leaf ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-29T17:22:02.116Z

Title: Developing standard-based formative assessment
Contributors: Yayu Jiang (author), Catherine Whalen (thesis advisor), Christine Ho Younghusband (thesis advisor), Deborah Koehn (committee member)
Abstract: Assessment reform has drawn educators’ attention to standard-based and performance-oriented assessment. By the end of the 1990s, many education systems around the world had developed mandatory learning standards for curriculum (O’Connor, 2018). The assessment reform has drawn educators’ insights in effective formative assessment to enhance student learning. However, early year teachers have experienced difficulties in implementing effective formative assessment due to a lack of practical guidelines in relation to grade-level learning standards. The purpose of this project is was construct a practical handbook about standard-based formative assessment for British Columbia (BC) Grade 2 teachers. This project sifts through the existing literature and examines the five formative assessment approaches which were most reflected: teacher observation, self-assessment, oral questioning, teacher-student conferences, and performance assessment. A qualitative research approach was employed in this project to analyze text data.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2019-08-19T21:12:24.933Z

Title: The beginning steps to creating culturally responsive teaching in an Aboriginal choice school model
Contributors: Melanie Bennett (author), Andrew Kitchenham (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: Yukon is comprised of intricately connected rural and urban First Nation communities. New educators to Yukon are challenged to develop relationships across cultural borders and establish connections to First Nation communities that benefit the students learning. In this research project, a handbook for educators in Yukon is proposed as a positive support for educators returning and entering Yukon's public school system. The handbook will provide educators with a concise resource of what they would need to know in order to work effectively with First Nations students in an Aboriginal choice public school environment. The four directions of spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical of the Medicine Wheel are used to divide the chapters and focus the concepts of learning into a universally-understood and '"accepted indigenous framework. --P. ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-04-10T22:06:32.202Z

Title: The importance of teacher social and emotional competence to the development of prosocial classrooms: the role of teacher preparation
Contributors: Gordon Cogan (author), Andrew kitchenham (thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia College of Arts, Social, and Health Sciences (Degree granting institution), Tina Fraser (committee member), Lynn Maksymchak (committee member)
Abstract: The alarming statistic that 40% to 50% of new teachers leave the profession within five years makes pre-service training of teachers even more crucial to get right. Failing to address the mental health needs and holistic wellbeing of teachers and not providing them with the tools necessary to break the cycle of likely burnout cascade is incredulously negligent, and threatens to make educating our children unsustainable in the future. In this project, through a content analysis approach, I will draw upon a wide range of scholarly research literature to form both the guiding principles and core components of a course to promote and develop social and emotional competencies (SEC) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) in pre-service teachers. The course content and training I propose, however, needs to be not only an ongoing dialogue involving the education community, particularly teachers, but also administrators, families, students, parents, and wellness professionals, and should continue beyond the ...
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-05-15T21:06:52.41Z

Title: Leading professional inquiry to develop students' research skills.
Contributors: Jodie M. Kennedy Baker (author), Willow Brown (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: This study describes my leadership of a professional inquiry, with two secondary teachers, to implement a new strategy for teaching student research skills. Our Teacher Learning Team used Mill's (2004) action research process to implement Brown, Klein, and Lapadat's (2009) student research platform with cycles of action, observation, and collaborative reflection to support further action. Secondary students were introduced to the process of gathering information in a carefully controlled way, so that their progress could be monitored and instruction could be differentiated to help them gain independence. I report the challenges and successes that led to teacher and leadership learning. My analysis revealed that persistent use of this strategy enabled these teachers to shift from a product to process orientation that led to enhanced engagement in learning for students. With carefully sequenced skill instruction, problems with plagiarism were no longer evident and students gained a sense of discovery that increased their interest in course content. --P. ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-03-30T17:10:32.787Z

Title: Goals and hope in adolescent at-risk high school students.
Contributors: Patience S. Cox (author), Peter MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: This study utilizes Snyder et al.'s (1991) hope theory as a tool in cooperation with Feldman, Rand, Kahle-Wrobleski (2009) goal-specific hope scale to look at how hope theory, as defined by Snyder, can play a role in improving and supporting students to achieve their goals. Twenty-two students in a senior Alternative Education program in northern British Columbia participated in the study from September 2012 to January 2013. Students participated in a three month study where they completed Snyder's Adult Hope Scale (AHS) and Feldman's Goal Specific Hope Scale (GSHS), which required them to set a specific academic goal at the beginning of the process. They participate in five structured goal and motivation individual sessions during the study. They were monitored and completed the AHS after each session. At the end of the study, each student also returned to the GSHS and measured their level of hope specific to the goal they had set at the beginning of the study. Although there were no statistically significant changes in individuals' overall hope scale, there were significant changes in hope as it related to the specific goal students had set for themselves.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-04-11T21:12:20.132Z

Title: Courage strength wisdom - A first nations community's post-secondary experience.
Contributors: Kenneth Federick LePage (author), Paul Madak (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: This thesis is about a number of First Nations community members that pursued a post-secondary education. The purpose of the research was to investigate their post-secondary educational experience including motivating factors and importance of the process in their lives and the community they represent. The researcher used a qualitative methodology for the study in the form of focus groups. A traditional talking circle method was used to collect data. Three talking circles took place on-reserve and two questions were asked. Sixteen community members that attended post-secondary education participated. They received emotional support and encouragement from a visionary Sister, peers, family and community members. All the participants spoke of how difficult it was to pursue post-secondary and their fulfilling experience. The participants have found meaningful employment on and off-reserve impacting their community culturally and academically. All of them are playing a vital role encouraging others in their communities to further their education. --Leaf 3.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-04-11T21:12:21.382Z

Title: Experiencing amphibians: Instruction for biophilia, ecoliteracy, and sustainability.
Contributors: Mark Thompson (author), Willow Brown (Thesis advisor), Peter MacMillan (Thesis advisor), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
Abstract: The current crisis in ecology, identified as a sixth mass extinction, may be addressed by providing children with opportunities to experience nature. Without these experiences, biophilia, or affinity for nature, may lie dormant. This study was designed by a conservation biologist who delivered and evaluated a community-education curriculum based on local amphibians. Fifteen youth were divided into three treatment groups: rural parkland, urban parkland, and indoor to alter educational experience. A pre-post study design was used to study potential treatment effects on biophilia and ecoliteracy. A Modular Ecoliteracy Instrument (MEI) was used to collect item scores on various ecological concepts. The piloted study design was partly limited by a small sample size and an ineffective control group. After reviewing the general outcomes of the study, the author advocates for further development of the MEI and hypothesizes that niche construction in the learning environment presents new opportunities for biophilia and ecoliteracy. --Leaf ii.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2017-04-11T21:12:27.179Z

Title: Introductory business communication course for post-secondary students
Contributors: Maria Trujillo (author), Catherine Whalen (thesis advisor), Christine Ho Younghusband (thesis advisor), Deborah Koehn (committee member), Anne Sommerfeld (committee member)
Abstract: The intent of this research project is to inform educators about the development and implementation of an Introductory Business Communications course at the post-secondary institution level. This course has evolved over the past two years of implementation. The information provided in this project is divided into the following sections: researcher’s personal location, project purpose, project significance, project literature review, and a concluding chapter that presents project lessons, project recommendations, future implications and concluding statements. The appendices section of this project includes the newly revised course package that has resulted from the lessons learned in the past two years of teaching an Introductory Business Communications course at a post-secondary institution.
Discipline: Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership
Date added: 2019-08-19T21:12:26.789Z

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