Papers by Lori Ann Falcon
Handbook of Research on Blended Learning Pedagogies and Professional Development in Higher Education
This chapter discusses two case studies that examined tenure/tenure track faculty who participate... more This chapter discusses two case studies that examined tenure/tenure track faculty who participated in a consultative support model of professional development at one private university in South Texas. The professional development was faculty driven and focused on improving faculty technology skills and classroom use of technology tools. This pilot study was the result of a unique situation where two faculty members were given the opportunity to work with a technology consultant on an individual and weekly basis. Influences such as lack of time, faculty load, student skill level, and rapid changes in technology all contributed in shaping the roles and practices of higher education faculty's use of technology. However, utilizing participatory action research both professors surmised that the consultative approach allowed for all participants to engage as learners, which assisted higher education faculty's development in the use of technology.
Children's Literature in Education, 2016
While scholars have recognized the meaning making potential offered by the peritext of pictureboo... more While scholars have recognized the meaning making potential offered by the peritext of picturebooks, there has previously been only limited research on the nature of peritextual features. This content analysis focused on the ways in which various peritextual features (dust jackets, beginning endpapers, illustrations before title page, title pages, half title pages, dedication/copyright pages, final endpapers, and notes) contribute to the development of narratives in Caldecott award winning books published between 1938 and 2013. We found that in these quality picturebooks, peritextual features (particularly those appearing before the text of the story) contain rich character and setting information, as well as clues that often point to the genre of a story. In more recently published books especially, important plot elements may unfold only in the peritext. This analysis suggests that peritextual features frequently offer critical information that readers can use to build a framework for stepping into story worlds. Educators attuned to the potentially abundant information in the peritext may guide young readers in exploring these features, and thus foster in their students a richer understanding and fuller engagement with the narrative.
This article examines how elementary public school teachers in South Texas are implementing a bal... more This article examines how elementary public school teachers in South Texas are implementing a balanced literacy approach in light of the expectations of accountability for student performance. For more than three decades, Texas schools have felt, and continue to feel, the pressure of accountability. Therefore, it becomes essential to investigate the ways in which teachers have responded to this expectation while implementing a balanced literacy approach in English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) classes. This research study reveals the results of more than 500 teacher responses to a survey concerning the implementation of this approach and the instructional practices that the teachers use to address accountability. The findings show that most teachers did read-aloud and independent reading components every day, and that shared and interactive writing components were implemented the least. On a related note, teachers expressed the need for more training in writing instruction. This ...
Reading Horizons, 2014
This qualitative research study explored second graders' use of visual information to understand ... more This qualitative research study explored second graders' use of visual information to understand characters in picturebooks. Students participated in whole class read-alouds of three picturebooks. Immediately following each read-aloud, students were individually interviewed and invited to talk about the visual text in pre-selected illustrations. Findings revealed that the children used pictorial information, including character actions, body posture, and facial expressions, to support their inferences about characters. They also attended to color and line in justifying their insights. However, the children did not tend to some critical pictorial information in interpreting character including pictorial symbols, the position and size of characters in illustrations, and the pictorial device of breaking the frame.
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Papers by Lori Ann Falcon