This collection includes Capstone Theses and Dissertations submitted by Hamline School of Education and Leadership master’s and doctoral students, respectively. Capstones are the culminating degree work and include research that draws from the student’s formal study as well as professional and personal development.
This is an online listing of the scholarly works of HSEL graduate program students. Works prior to 2015 are available in print in the Bush Memorial Library. Full text, online, prior to 2015, may be restricted to current Hamline students, faculty and staff.
See also: School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Browse Theses and Dissertations by Degree:Theses/Dissertations from 2011
How grammatical language objectives affect language development in English language learners: a curriculum design project, Jaime S. Nymann
Reaching every writer: writer's workshop and differentiation in a writing curriculum, Ian O'Brien
Playing their way to new language: a curriculum for teaching social language in a Spanish immersion first grade classroom, Anne E. Olson-Reiners
A framework for service coordination within an infant and toddler intervention program, Janelle Sue Ortiz
Developing strategies for struggling readers during reading workshop, Tamra J. Paquin
The key components of an effective early childhood autism program, Sarah R. Pedersen
Implementing writers workshop: an attempt to increase grammar skills and motivation among middle school English learners, Jessica Perez
The effects of massage intervention on the relationship between parents and their infant or toddler with special needs, Ginger L. Perkins
The effectiveness of instructional coaching and professional learning communities in an alternative setting, Emily Crews. Peterson
Reverse chronology and inquiry-based instruction in secondary history classes, Joshua J. Petitt
You have the power to make it happen: using professional development to improve out of school time programming, Lynn Mong Pham
How can I use a multicultural framework to deliver the reading curriculum?, Amy Lynn Phung
How to create foreign language curriculum that fosters communicative competence and performance, Lesley Joan Nygaard Quintero
Evaluating the effectiveness of teacher education programs for prospective teachers, Jeffrey Robert Rahman
Social justice education in elementary schools, Caitlin P. Reid
Language objectives: clear as mud helping intermediate language learners meet and exceed grade level standards, Alicia Reyes Johnson
Analyzing the effectiveness of expository writing instruction with South Korean middle school students: a bounded case study approach, James J Riley
Does playing high school sports build character, William D. Rooney
Oral language instruction in Spanish: a study of first-grade Spanish speakers in a dual immersion program, Gloria Adriana Rosso White
How can purposeful movement in the classroom affect focus, attention span and behaviors in eighth grade students?, Sara C. Rowan
Reducing math anxiety in fourth grade students, Diane J. Rude
Reflection on practice: teaching higher-order questions during guided reading, Ryan G. Running
Advocacy or apathy?: American Indian parent involvement in an off-reservation middle school, Wendy Lee Sanderson
Strategies middle school choir directors can use to promote and educate students about vocal health during the male voice change, Samuel A. Sather
Hmong popular music in Minneapolis and St. Paul: a middle-school music curriculum, Edward David Schneider
Students' initial perceptions of the Noble Street discipline system as implemented in an urban high school, Kevin L. Schuttinger
Teaching elementary social studies: views of a multiple perspectives approach, Debra L. Sheffer
What are effective peer review strategies to use in a middle school communication arts classroom?, Patricia M. Shields
How can service-learning be integrated into an advanced placement curriculum, Kimberly S. Shoe-Corrigan
Adapting Jan Richardson's guided reading curriculum for emergent and early readers in kindergarten and first grade, Stacy Lyn Showalter
How teaching classroom procedures affects students' time on task, Kristina Sickman
How do families maintain or develop a healthy family structure when living with a child with apraxia?, Ashley J. Simons
Creating and evaluating learning centers to support guided reading in a second grade classroom, Janet L. Smith
Increasing accessibility to technology for students and use by teachers, Richard D. Smith
Developing an honors level African-American history curriculum, Scott Stadem
Implementing and utilizing blogs in an upper-elementary classroom to support 21st century learning and motivate writers, Maria Stalsberg
How can self-selected reading motivate first graders to read ultimately increasing their reading levels, Jennifer Louise Stefan
Service learning: a progressive model for teachers, Katie Stennes
Increasing engagement through discussion in world history, Andrew T. Stephenson
How can valid real-world examples be used to improve knowledge of algebraic and probability concepts for urban learners?, Brian J. Strand
How do Two Wheel View international bicycling programs impact youth resiliency?, Renee Swanson
How elementary students describe civic engagement after participating in a service learning project, Melissa Taleb
How can early childhood education aim to close the achievement gap, Hana Tesfaye-Berhanu
Listening for many voices: a unit of study for fourth grade readers, Rebecca Oberton Theisen
Impact of service learning on staff members, Cori Beecham Thompson
An investigation of the effects of brain gym balances on the self-reported test anxiety scores of urban high school students, Jamie Alison Thompson
Evidence-based strategies to address disruptive student behaviors: a special education teacher's perspective, Susan M. Thompson
Personal Narrative: from story to science, Dena Thorson
Who does she think she is: how can a multiracial female teacher build positive relationships with African American female students in order to increase their academic achievement?, Ashleigh Cole Francesca Tillman
Technology, engagement and deep thinking: the intersection in an urban 9th grade geography classroom, Natalie Tourtelotte
Effective writing conferences in a fourth grade writer's workshop, Jennifer Marie Tousignant
In search of the lost wax, Larry Underkoffler
Does the use of dialogue journals affect the writing fluency of low-literacy adult Somali students?, Marlese Alden VanderMolen
How can I effectively raise the level of student achievement through the use of differentiated instruction and formative assessment?, Benjamin Jorgen Vennes
Private music teachers descriptions of successful private-practice teaching, Kelly G. Weeks
How perceived parent involvement affects day-to-day participation in the middle school classroom, Melissa L. Wenck
Classroom management techniques that improve on-task behaviors in high school world language classrooms, Monica Dee Hansmann Wenzel
What strategies are best to use when teaching students vocabulary skills with weak working memories?, Mary Davyn Wilfahrt
How does white privilege and misconceptions about the black male identity affect the engagement and academic achievement of black male students?, Melissa Wilson
In what ways do kindergarten teachers support students with autism spectrum disorders in an inclusive kindergarten classroom?, Melissa J. Wilson
How does reader's theater affect English language learners' reading fluency and reading comprehension, Kirsten S Winter
Knowledge and decision-making: two older women's stories, Patricia Ann Wollmering
Identity meets pedagogy: cultivating introspective awareness to positively influence the professional practice of pre-service teachers, Brenda M. Wright
Theses/Dissertations from 2010
Online learning motivation, Kim L. Aarsvold
The value of the read-aloud, Mark L. Aarsvold
How does participation in science fair affect student performance in the science classroom?, Gary E. Alexander
What are research supported strategies to effectively engage early emergent kindergarten readers?, Amber Anderson
Music in education, Debra J. Anderson
Deepening the comprehension of elementary gifted readers during guided reading, Lindsey K. Anderson
Adult learners and faculty preferences for teaching methods: a comparative case study, Patricia L. Angulo
The effect of active vocabulary development in the second grade classroom, Rebecca Ann Archer
How participation in a school music program impacts overall student achievement, Chad Thomas Armbruster
How the visual arts impact learning, Erica Gilbert Austerman
Culturally responsive teaching of black and white students in kindergarten, Erin T. Bartlett
Increased time spent in a natural setting related to an increase in pro-environmental behaviors and pro-environmental attitudes in adolescents, Mary Patricia Beck
Exploring language attitudes of fourth-grade learners toward accented voices, Michelle Beck
Exploring understanding by design for planning a chemistry unit in a public classical school, Jason G. Belter
How to use brain-based learning in single-gender classrooms in the public elementary school system, Stacey L. Benz
Enhancing vocabulary instruction using the smart board, Rebecca L. Bies
The role of cultural awareness on L2 comprehension and retention of culture-specific idioms, Kathleen Bjornson
Strategies for working with Hmong families of children with autism: a community-based organization approach, Alicia Monet Bloch
Evaluating word problems using Polya's problem-solving strategy: determining its effects on an English language learner's written and oral communication, Erin McCarthy Bowman
Motivating the unmotivated reader, Amanda Brett
Motivational attitude: a study of the effects of motivational principles on students' attitudes towards mathematics, Jessica Davis Bro
What are effective strategies of dialogic reading, applied to specific texts, and its impact on young children's social and emotional development, Laura N. Browers
Understanding the role of the K-12 school district superintendent in facilitating technological change, Karl Bender Brown
An equal opportunity to learn: a sixth grade study of students with learning disabilities, Timothy L. Budrow
Creating culturally competent lessons into a seventh grade core knowledge unit on World War II, Catherine Marie Burke
Increasing diversity and success in advanced courses, Lynn Burley
Incorporating the concept of classroom community within a curriculum for pre-kindergarten learners, Charlene K. Cage
Project learning in a geography classroom, Charles J. Carr
Reading strategies that help struggling first grade readers, Mariana Castanon
Efficacy of inner city charter high school attendance policies, Natalie J. Champa