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The Davis & Elkins College students who presented their research at the 14th Annual Kump Education Research Seminar at Kump Education Center Thursday demonstrated their sincere desire to help all students learn basic skills and seek truth using digital sources of information. It is my hope that these future teachers will help their students become better informed citizens.
A Poster Presentation by Hannah Phillips, Hattie Pilcher, and Kelsey Mahanes explained the skills that students need to develop while learning to read. Using the Sonday System from Winsor Learning and the Heggerty System, these D&E students described their experience with teaching the five elements of teaching reading: phonics and phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The Sonday System is targeted for students receiving intense reading interventions and helps students with Dyslexia.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Memory was the topic of a second poster presentation by Anna Kate Okraski and Marshall Mounts. They explored intricate relationships between ADHD and working memory and delved into how ADHD affects various components of working memory such as storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information.
The experience of working with an Autistic student was the topic of a poster presentation by Haley Shaffer. She collected data through observations and used testing information to write a "present level" report for her student, then she worked with the student to set goals for better behavior. The student had struggled with social and behavioral skills, but after identifying goals and closing gaps this student is closer to being in a general education environment full time.
Graduating senior Daimere Wilson-Turner presented his capstone project "4th Grade Factors, Divisibility and Multiples." Students were able to identify multiples up to twelve and know prime and composite numbers up to 50. Learning activities included step-by-step methods, practice problems, and critical thinking questions to advance thinking. By the end of the unit, students showed a significant amount of growth and most of them reached their learning goals.
D&E students in Dr. Scott Biola's "Teaching Social Studies" (EDUC 312) made a presentation on evaluating digital sources. Using Google Slides Kelsey Mahanes, Marshall Mounts, Anna Kate Okraski, Hannah Phillips, Hattie Pilcher, Haden Wamsley, and Tori Webster discussed criteria for selecting reliable information online. This collaborative slide production supported valid reasons for seeking various points of view and using primary sources written at the time of historical events.
Dr. Scott Biola also provided a brief overview of his Ed. D. capstone inquiry entitled: "Integration Skills and Digital Competencies within an Educator Preparation Program." Dr. Biola conducted this research with a sample of 10 candidates currently enrolled in Davis & Elkins College's EPP.