Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Developing self-efficacy toward writing research methods and classroom practices through awareness of writing experiences for high school students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2020) Frieling, Nicole Pamela; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sarah PenningtonSelf-efficacy research of students' participation with the writing process considers the factors of ideation, convention, and self-management, or rather, the research depends on the skills and techniques of the student writer. While there is much research dedicated to exploring variables of experience within these factors, such as gender, age, demographics, etc., there is very little research which considers the factor of experience as a whole dimension of each unique students' writing process. This study investigated the writing self-efficacy beliefs held by junior and senior high school students in relation to their associations with writing conception, and how writing experiences might contribute to how self-efficacy and conception are established. Scores of self-efficacy and ratios of writing conception were gathered using surveys. Then, using an ANOVA hypothesis test for significance, self-efficacy scores were analyzed based on conception of writing. Further, open-ended questions were also administered through the survey gathering responses to understand student writing experiences. In conjunction with these responses, student participants created storyboards of their lifelong writing experiences. These artifacts were coded using Krippendorff (2013) coding techniques. The results show a relationship between how students' self-efficacy scores differ based on their conception of writing. Further, the results of this study imply there is a relationship between writing experiences, conception, and self-efficacy. In particular, this sample revealed themes associated with collaboration in writing. However, the results of this particular sample are not the end goal or purpose of this study. Rather, it is to demonstrate the necessity for considering students' experiences with writing in each unique sample of self-efficacy toward writing research. Educational implications and further research are discussed.Item Exploring the conceptual framework and knowledge base of nature-based experiential education(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2020) Meyer, Joshua Joseph; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert CarsonThis study examined the current status of Nature Based Experiential Education (NBEE) with respect to its underlying knowledge base and conceptual framework. Compared to other professions, including K-12 education, these formalized attributes have appeared to be fairly minimal. Anecdotally, NBEE draws upon an eclectic array of sources for inspiration and knowledge, while practitioners rely extensively on their own acquired base of personal experience for guidance. If this is true, then there is a certain element of rugged individualism to be admired. The tradeoff, though, would be a commensurate inability to form a cohesive discourse community, to identify and codify best practice, to establish a coherent research agenda to advance the state of the art, and to support either professional development or the establishment of standards in any kind of systematic and meaningful manner. Assuming that these are desirable goals, the initial challenge was to determine what sources of knowledge are most prominent among its practitioners. This study addressed that problem by using a qualitative mixed methods approach. The researcher employed three separate but complementary methods - by critically reviewing NBEE-related literature, by interviewing individuals with expertise in NBEE, and by surveying NBEE practitioners. The results of this study tend to support the anecdotal view that practitioner knowledge is eclectic, diverse, and largely dependent upon the experiences of individual practitioners, a kind of folk craft which is nevertheless shared among members of the field. It also revealed a small but robust inventory of inspirational and informative publications, some widely known. The project itself was met with interest, as practitioners and experts generally agreed that the profession would benefit from a more systematic and contemporary foundation of canonical knowledge and guiding principles. The study concludes by making several recommendations on how these goals can be served.