Article Information
Publication date (electronic): 30 June 2016
DOI: 10.emerg/10.17357.fa6ec4e6ef0c66be07c001a2a0d474c0
Complexity, conceptual models, and teacher decision-making research
Bio:
I am an Assistant Professor at Utah State University in the Department of Teacher Education and Leadership in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services as of August, 2016. I have also worked at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas. My PhD is from Texas Woman's University in Reading with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction.
Abstract
Informed by complexity research and models for analyzing conditions in complex adaptive systems such as schools, I describe findings from a descriptive case study of influences on teacher decision-making about writing instruction in a high-stakes writing assessment grade. I highlight how the use of complexity as a theoretical framework for research provides a unique look at education systems, particularly looking at one teachers decisions across a school semester. I focus specifically on two conceptual models from the field of human systems dynamics (HSD), one used as a conceptual framework for complex adaptive systems, and the other used as a retrospective analysis tool in describing and explaining underlying conditions at work at a particular time for a particular decision.
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