Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Emphasis On Test Scores In Education, Lindsay Olson

Empowering Research for Educators

This article discusses how too much emphasis on standardized testing can affect student learning as well as teaching in the classroom. It includes a personal interview with a high school teacher as well as an article from the Washington Post regarding a study that was completed involving testing students.

Parents’ Perspective On Diversifying The Stem Education To Career Pipeline: Motivating Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Gifted/Talented Students To Engage In Stem, Adrienne Coleman

Adrienne Coleman

According to the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), there is a lack of diversity in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and careers. The 2013 U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Blacks and Latinos are underrepresented in STEM, with each group making up less than 7% of the STEM workforce; while Whites are overrepresented, making up 70% of the workforce (2013). However, the 2016 Illinois STEM report card suggests that 24% of Black and 28% of Hispanic high school students are interested in STEM. The Research Consortium on STEM Career Pathways further indicates that 21% of ...

Formative Assessment To Support Students’ Competences In Inquiry-Based Science Education, Regula Grob, Monika Holmeier, Peter Labudde

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Inquiry-based education has been part of innovative science teaching for the last few decades. With the competence orientation now underlying many national curricula, one of the emerging questions is how the development of student competences can be fostered in the context of inquiry-based science education. One approach to supporting students in their learning is formative assessment, which is, however, not frequently used in a structured way in daily teaching practice. The aim of this study therefore is to explore what kinds of measures might support science teachers in implementing formative assessment activities in their inquiry-based education. For this, firstly, we ...

Imagining Tomorrow's University In An Era Of Open Science, Adina Howe, Michael D. Howe, Amy L. Kaleita, D. Raj Raman

Michael Howe

As part of a recent workshop entitled "Imagining Tomorrow's University”, we were asked to visualize the future of universities as research becomes increasingly data- and computation-driven and identify a set of principles characterizing pertinent opportunities and obstacles presented by this shift. In order to establish a holistic view, we take a multilevel approach and examine the impact of open science on individual scholars as well as the university as a whole. At the university level, open science presents a double-edged sword: when well executed, open science can accelerate the rate of scientific inquiry across the institution and beyond; however ...

Trials And Tribulations Of Designing An Online Science Lab, Kalli-Ann Binkowski

Innovate! Teaching with Technology Conference

Between supplies, safety, simplicity, authenticity, inquiry, and time, online labs are really difficult to design. Learn how we utilized free resources and a vendor kit to create an authentic inquiry lab for online students, that includes safety instruction, videos, and group work.

Multiple Audiences

Online Biology With A Lab? It Can Be Done Well!, Kalli-Ann Binkowski, Annette Mcnamara

Innovate! Teaching with Technology Conference

Designing an online course from a face-to-face course took nine months, an instructor, two designers, one academic technologist, a usability lab, and one student worker. Our goal was to use current best practices to make an interactive, authentic learning experience for every online student, with a hands-on lab to boot! Join us to learn how we managed to build this complex course in a way that reduced instructor grading effort and was highly usable to students.

Multiple Audiences.

Implicit Theories Of Ability Of Grade 6 Science Students: Relation To Epistemological Beliefs And Academic Motivation And Achievement In Science, Jason Chen, Frank Pajares

Jason Shih-Hao Chen

We investigated (a) the associations of implicit theories and epistemological beliefs and their effects on the academic motivation and achievement of students in Grade 6 science and (b) the mean differences of implicit theories, epistemological beliefs, and academic motivation and achievement as a function of gender and race/ethnicity (N = 508). Path analysis revealed that an incremental view of ability had direct and indirect effects on adaptive motivational factors, whereas fixed entity views had direct and indirect effects on maladaptive factors. Epistemological beliefs mediated the influence of implicit theories of ability on achievement goal orientations, self-efficacy, and science achievement. Results ...

Youth Stem Motivation: Immersive Technologies To Engage And Empower Underrepresented Students, Jason Chen, Chris Dede

Jason Shih-Hao Chen

There is no learning without engagement, a situation that happens all too often in our typically lecture-based classrooms. At the same time, engagement without learning, which frequently happens in today’s digital worlds, is not a healthy alternative. Some claim that online gaming is one answer to engaging and motivating students in their academic work. Yet, students can frequently be engaged in these virtual worlds without actually learning anything or being more academically motivated. In this white paper we describe a project underway at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education in which we are designing innovative technological environments that draw ...

The Effects Of Interactive Word Walls On Students With Learning Disabilities In The Secondary Science Classroom, Casey Elizabeth Eustace-Debaun

Theses and Dissertations

Effective approaches for teaching vocabulary to various populations of learners is a topic of current research (Barr, Eslami, & Malatesha, 2012) yet little research is dedicated to students with learning disabilities in the science classroom. Within this study the interactive word wall was used as a tool to build vocabulary and to encourage usage of new subject-specific terminology. The experiment utilized quasi-experimental pre-post test comparison group design using interrupted time-series (Johnson & Christiensen, 2007) due to the inability to randomize participants and establish a clear control group. The data was collected across four units of terminology and with a student satisfaction survey ...

Hot-Packaging Reduces Lipid Oxidation And Improves Sensory Characteristics Of Cooked Turkey Meat, Maiko Ishikawa, Dong U. Ahn

Dong U. Ahn

The effects of two vacuum packaging methods (hot and cold vacuum packaging) on the storage stability and sensory characteristics of cooked meat were compared. Ground turkey breast and leg meat patties were cooked, vacuum packaged appropriately, and stored up to 22 days. Lipid oxidation was measured by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test. In addition, Total aerobic count and sensory evaluation (flavor, juiciness, tenderness, overall acceptability) were conducted. There was no significant difference in aerobic plate count by packaging methods; however, panelist rating revealed that hot-packaged turkey leg meat had higher juiciness and overall acceptability scores than cold-packaged ones. Although TBARS ...

The Engineering Admissions Partnership Program: A Navigation Strategy For Community College Students Seeking A Pathway Into Engineering, Marcia R. Laugerman, Mack C. Shelley, Steven K. Mickelson, Diane T. Rover

Diane Rover

This paper presents the evaluation of a program designed to improve transfer outcomes for community college students pursuing an engineering degree. The program, the Engineering Admissions Partnership Program (E-APP), was designed to improve the navigational success of community college transfer students through connections to the university. These connections include coordinated academic advising, peer-mentoring, campus visits, and online social and professional networks. The objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of the E-APP and its interventions, which will be measured by increased participation rates and increased university retention rates for E-APP participants. Outcome data for the students are analyzed ...

Developing Teacher Competencies For Problem-Based Learning Pedagogy And For Supporting Learning In Language-Minority Students, Peter Rillero, Mari Koerner, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, Joi Merritt, Wendy J. Farr

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Teachers need to be able to design and implement problem-based learning (PBL) experiences to help students master the content and the processes in new mathematics and science education standards. Due to the changed population of learners within schools, it is also critically important that teachers in the elementary grades have the abilities to work effectively with English language learners (ELL). This article discusses the implementation of a major initiative by our teachers college to achieve both of these goals through Problem-Based Enhanced Language Learning (PBELL), which combines PBL, enhanced opportunities for language, and ELL methods. The implementation began with a ...

Discovery Learning Plus Direct Instruction Equals Success: Modifying American Math Education In The Algebra Classroom, Sean P. Ferrill Mr.

Honors Projects

In light of both high American failure rates in algebra courses and the significant proportion of innumerate American students, this thesis examines a variety of effective educational methods in mathematics. Constructivism, discovery learning, traditional instruction, and the Japanese primary education system are all analyzed to incorporate effective education techniques. Based on the meta-analysis of each of these methods, a hybrid method has been constructed to adapt in the American Common Core algebra classroom.

The Impact Of Teacher Perception Of Professional Learning Communities On Student Algebraic Achievement, Tyrone John

All Graduate Works by Year: Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this study, I investigate the impact of teachers’ perceptions of professional learning communities on student algebraic achievement. Furthermore, I also investigate whether these relationships manifest differently for males compared to females. Research indicates that teacher quality and professionalism are considered the most critical factors affecting academic achievement. In this dissertation, I interrogate this issue by employing multivariate analyses using data retrieved from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) and 2012 follow-up. HSLS:09 used a nationally representative sample of over 21,000 ninth-grade students, which incorporated teacher, parent, school administrator, and school counselor input to create ...

A New Integrated Style To Teaching Engineering Mathematics At Third Level Engineering Courses, Mohamad Saleh, Colm Mcguinness

The ITB Journal

Mathematics is the main pillar in the engineering foundation courses and the engineering profession where mathematical manipulation, modelling and simulation are used widely. However, experience in engineering courses has shown that students encounter some difficulties in mathematics, with a certain degree of disinterest and apathy. This is reflected in the mathematical continuous assessments, final exams, laboratory reports for other engineering subjects and in answering engineering numerical question-based mathematical formula. This paper investigates a new development and the implication of two models of a CBL integrated with course lecture material. This is part of an overall integrated approach, achieved through an ...

Math Department Newsletter, 2016-2017, Mathematics Department

Mathematics Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Experiencing The Implementation Of New Inquiry Science Curricula, Peter S. Ower

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Using a phenomenological methodology, a cohort of four experienced science teachers was interviewed about their experience transitioning from traditional, teacher and fact-centered science curricula to inquiry-based curricula. Each teacher participated in two interviews that focused on their teaching backgrounds, their experience teaching the prior traditional curriculum, and their experience teaching the new inquiry-based curriculum. The findings are presented as a narrative of each teachers’ experience with the new curriculum implementation. Analyzing the data revealed four key themes. 1) The teachers felt trapped by the old curriculum as it did not align with their positive views of teaching science through inquiry ...

Lab Without A Lab: Prospects For An Iolab Kit To Provide Hands-On Introductory Physics Laboratory Learning Experiences Outside The Traditional Setting, Seth T. Ashman

Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Flex—Iowa State University’S Mobile Technology Classroom, Peter Evans, Eric Schares

Reference and Instruction Conference Papers, Posters and Presentations

Iowa State University’s FLEx (Forward Learning Experience) program is a mobile technology classroom housed in a 16-foot trailer, designed to introduce K-12 students, educators, and families to advanced technology and design thinking concepts. Since the fall of 2014, the FLEx has engaged over 35,000 participants through 171 events across the state of Iowa.

An Investigation Of Turkish Middle School Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Orientations Towards Direct And Inquiry Instructional Approaches, Selcuk Sahingoz

Dissertations

One of the most important goals of science education is preparing effective science teachers which includes the development of a science pedagogical orientation. Helping in-service science teachers improve their orientations toward science teaching begins with identifying their current orientations. While there are many aspects of an effective science teaching orientation, this study specifically focuses on effective pedagogy. The interest of this study is to clarify pedagogical orientations of middle school science teachers in Turkey toward the teaching of science conceptual knowledge. It focuses on what instructional preferences Turkish middle school science teachers have in theory and practice.

The purpose of ...