Senior Showcase

Thomas College

What a treat to visit Thomas College recently for their senior showcase. The somewhat nervous dressed up seniors were gathered at the Center for Innovation in Education to share research they had each conducted as part of their semester.

In the words of Dr. Katie Rybakova, assistant professor of education at Thomas:

“On April 26th at 4:00 pm, our senior pre-service teachers gathered together in a research conference poster presentation format to showcase their unit plans and data analysis. Over the course of the semester, our pre-service teachers created a research-driven unit that they then taught in their student teaching placement. They utilized pre and post test data collection to show their student learning gains, learning in the process about how to collect and assess data to help them become more effective teachers! During our senior showcase, they presented a snapshot of their units using research posters and we could not have been prouder of this group of teachers.”

Shauna Gordon

Each student was articulate and poised while sharing information and answering questions about their research. The connections with the arts was evident in several of the research projects. Shauna Gordon worked with grade 3 students and provided a lesson called “Just A Bill” where students listened to a School House Rock song called “I’m Just a Bill” that told the steps of turning a bill into a law. Shauna shared how much the students connected with the song and the direct impact of learning the song. Because of the lesson 91% of the students correctly answered the question about the bills and laws.

You can learn more about the education program at Thomas College at THIS LINK.