Education Commons^™

Demographics, Persistence, And Academic Performance: A Logistic Regression Analysis Of Who Chooses To Enter The Mathematics And Science Teaching Pipeline, Esther Joseph

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As of 1999, high school teachers without majors in their subject areas number 37% of biology teachers, 59% of physical science teachers, and 60% of mathematics teachers. These discouraging statistics grow more extreme in middle schools and high poverty public high schools, especially regarding mathematics and physical sciences instruction. The statistics are especially worrisome given the strong correlation between thorough teacher subject matter preparation and higher student performance. Unfortunately, the literature is limited in terms of a direct comparison between mathematics and science majors and individuals who become mathematics and science teachers. This study was undertaken to add to the …

A Novel Approach To Using Personal Response Systems And Diagrams To Foster Student Engagement In Large Lecture: Case Study Of Instruction For Model-Based Reasoning In Biology, Johanna M. Fitzgerald

Doctoral Dissertations

At UMass Amherst a method of personal response system (clickers) use in large lecture biology called Guided Application of Model-based Reasoning (GAMBR) has been designed to give students experiences in reasoning like expert biologists: In large lecture biology many instructors appear to use clickers mainly as a quizzing and attendance tool. Less well documented and examined are uses of clickers to facilitate cognitive engagement in learning scientific models and skills. In GAMBR, clicker questions ask students to apply and perturb biological models; this is designed to engage them in model-based reasoning. In an attempt to understand such a course, an …

The Effects Of Emotive Reasoning On Secondary School Students' Decision-Making In The Context Of Socioscientific Issues, Wardell Anthony Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The discrepancy between what students are being taught within K-12 science classrooms and what they experience in the real world has been well documented. This study sought to explore the ways a high school biology curriculum, which integrates socioscientific issues, impacts students' emotive reasoning and their ability to evaluate evidence, make informed decisions on contemporary scientific dilemmas, and integrate scientific content knowledge in their reasoning on SSI. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine differences within and between an SSI treatment group and a comparison group as well as individual differences among students' responses over a semester of …

Fostering Preservice Teacher Identity In Science Through A Student-Selected Project, D.J. Wink, J. Ellefson, M. Nishimura, D. Perry, S. Wenzel, Jeong Hwang Choe

Jeong Choe

This article addresses the problem of authentic student engagement in the science classroom by incorporating a semester long research and writing assignment that enables students to investigate scientific topics related to strong personal, career, or health interests.

Comparison Of The Conceptual Understanding Of Newton's Laws In An Online And Traditional Introductory Physical Science Course, Rex Robert Moak

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to (a) determine if taking the Physical Science Survey I course in face-to-face (F2F) and online format statistically significantly improves Newtonian conceptual comprehension as measured by the FCI; (b) determine which course format, if any, has statistically significantly higher FCI post-means; and (c) determine if students’ satisfaction with learning is statistically significantly different in the two course formats.

Data for this study was collected from students and faculty in various course formats during the Fall semester of 2012 and the Spring semester of 2013. The researcher used two research tools: the Force Concepts Inventory …

Science Youth Action Research: Promoting Critical Science Literacy Through Relevance And Agency, Elizabeth Coleman

Dissertations

This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity …