The purposes of this study were to determine the effects of using character education lessons to (a) decrease negative behaviors and (b) increase positive behaviors. Three character education lessons were taught over the period of one school week. Students completed reading, writing, and listening activities both collaboratively and independently. The focuses of these lessons were: listening to others, understanding point of view, and controlling anger. The informants for this study included the whole class (14 students) as well as three focus students who often exhibited bullying behavior. Observations were recorded and surveys were completed both prior to the lessons and following the lessons. Interviews were additionally used for the focus group. Data was analyzed through the use of coding in which five codes emerged: aggressive behavior, refusal to cooperate, name-calling, social isolation, and helping others. The frequencies of these behaviors in the three sources of data were compared from before the implementation of the lessons to after. The results of this study have shown that the use of character education lessons in a classroom during a one week period can decrease negative behavior and increase positive behavior.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purposes of this study were to determine the effects of using character education lessons to (a) decrease negative behaviors and (b) increase positive behaviors. Three character education lessons were taught over the period of one school week. Students completed reading, writing, and listening activities both collaboratively and independently. The focuses of these lessons were: listening to others, understanding point of view, and controlling anger. The informants for this study included the whole class (14 students) as well as three focus students who often exhibited bullying behavior. Observations were recorded and surveys were completed both prior to the lessons and following the lessons. Interviews were additionally used for the focus group. Data was analyzed through the use of coding in which five codes emerged: aggressive behavior, refusal to cooperate, name-calling, social isolation, and helping others. The frequencies of these behaviors in the three sources of data were compared from before the implementation of the lessons to after. The results of this study have shown that the use of character education lessons in a classroom during a one week period can decrease negative behavior and increase positive behavior.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Oxenberg, Lisa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S. in Teaching","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["McBee, Robin Haskell"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-06-19T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-06-19T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:40Z","subjects":["Fifth grade (Education); Moral education (Elementary)","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/705","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["McBee, Robin Haskell"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Oxenberg, Lisa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-03-22T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S. in Teaching"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fifth grade (Education); Moral education (Elementary)","Elementary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/705"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purposes of this study were to determine the effects of using character education lessons to (a) decrease negative behaviors and (b) increase positive behaviors. Three character education lessons were taught over the period of one school week. Students completed reading, writing, and listening activities both collaboratively and independently. The focuses of these lessons were: listening to others, understanding point of view, and controlling anger. The informants for this study included the whole class (14 students) as well as three focus students who often exhibited bullying behavior. Observations were recorded and surveys were completed both prior to the lessons and following the lessons. Interviews were additionally used for the focus group. Data was analyzed through the use of coding in which five codes emerged: aggressive behavior, refusal to cooperate, name-calling, social isolation, and helping others. The frequencies of these behaviors in the three sources of data were compared from before the implementation of the lessons to after. The results of this study have shown that the use of character education lessons in a classroom during a one week period can decrease negative behavior and increase positive behavior.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effects of character education on the behavior of 5th grade students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["McBee, Robin Haskell"],"dc:creator":["Oxenberg, Lisa"],"dc:date.available":["2016-03-22T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purposes of this study were to determine the effects of using character education lessons to (a) decrease negative behaviors and (b) increase positive behaviors. Three character education lessons were taught over the period of one school week. Students completed reading, writing, and listening activities both collaboratively and independently. The focuses of these lessons were: listening to others, understanding point of view, and controlling anger. The informants for this study included the whole class (14 students) as well as three focus students who often exhibited bullying behavior. Observations were recorded and surveys were completed both prior to the lessons and following the lessons. Interviews were additionally used for the focus group. Data was analyzed through the use of coding in which five codes emerged: aggressive behavior, refusal to cooperate, name-calling, social isolation, and helping others. The frequencies of these behaviors in the three sources of data were compared from before the implementation of the lessons to after. The results of this study have shown that the use of character education lessons in a classroom during a one week period can decrease negative behavior and increase positive behavior.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/705"],"dc:subject":["Fifth grade (Education); Moral education (Elementary)","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["The effects of character education on the behavior of 5th grade students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S. in Teaching"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:40Z"}