April 10, 2005 — Past and present students of the Master of Arts in Education program at the University of the Virgin Islands will present the findings of their theses research at the Division of Education conference, "Celebrating 21st Century Educational Research in the U.S.V.I." The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, in the Chase Auditorium, room B-110, on the St. Thomas campus.
Dr. Suzy Green, an education professor and conference coordinator, said that there are few published scholarly studies about education in the region; however in-depth research is being conducted.
"There are intellectually oriented, well educated people here who are very concerned about educational issues in their community and are investigating ways to address those issues," said Green.
The conference offers a look at research about educational issues in the Virgin Islands conducted by students of the M.A.E. program at UVIGreen said in a release that the "research offers practical applications to the problems in the school systems."
Students currently in the program and those who graduated within the past five years were eligible to submit their theses for consideration to be part of the conference.
"All of our M.A.E. students are engaged in research," Green said. "This conference will provide a forum in which the results of locally-based research can be shared with the community to inform best practice within school administration, policy formation, professional development, counseling and classroom instruction."
The topics selected for presentation are:
— "Common English Writing Errors Made by Freshman Level Students at the University of the Virgin Islands" by Shauna Cox of UVI
— "An Investigation into the Success of At-Risk Students Who were Enrolled in an Alternative Education Program in the U.S. Virgin Islands" by Merlene Jones of Bertha C. Boschulte Jr. High School
— "Student Aspirations in the Elementary School" by Tydell John of the Eulalie Rivera Elementary School
— "An Investigation into the Views of Parents and Teachers on the Concept of Retention" by Lisa Magras of the V.I. Department of Education
— "An Identification and Comparison of the Learning Styles of High and Low Achieving Tenth Graders" by Erma Skelton of the Charlotte Amalie High School
Guest speakers will be graduates of the UVIM.A.E. program, Gayle Dancy-Benjamin and Valerie Charles-Welsh of Charlotte Amalie High School. Teachers, school administrators, support personnel, psychologists and diagnosticians are encouraged to attend the conference.
The Educational Research-Based Conference is sponsored by a UVIMargin of Excellence grant and the UVIEducation Division. The conference is free. To register or for more information call Dr. Suzy Green at 693-1308 or e-mail sgreen@U.V.I.edu.
