Education Commons^™

Does Instructional Autonomy Matter? Exploring Job Satisfaction For Math And Non-Math Teachers In Low, Middle, And High Ses Schools, Hannah Sean Ellefritz

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the 2000s, standards-based education policies decreased the autonomy of public schools across the U.S., deprofessionalizing educators and limiting their participation in the development of curriculum and instructional policy. Many education scholars argue that, rather than professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, standards-based reforms position teachers as technicians, accountable for measurable output in accordance with externally imposed standards. This literature suggests that such education policies may have implications for teachers’ job satisfaction, especially those working in schools or subject fields that are particularly susceptible to standardized curriculum and accountability procedures. Using nationally representative data from the Teaching and Learning International …

The Process Of Establishing A Blooming Chemistry Tool For Use In Undergraduate Chemistry Education And Research, Emryse Geye

Dissertations and Theses

While it is still common in college chemistry to assess student learning and skill with summative assessments, the CER community does not currently have a simple tool to determine and communicate whether an assessment is actually aligned with the outcomes of interest. In particular, as so-called evidence-based teaching practices and active learning strategies gain a foothold in college chemistry classrooms, the ability to communicate whether those (often labor-, cost-, and time-intensive) interventions are not only aligned with course outcomes, but also provide measurable benefit to students becomes more imperative. While college chemistry has made some strides in the area of …

Analyzing Classroom Discourse To Investigate Structuring Equitable Mathematical Talk In Small Groups And Whole-Class Discussions, Brittney Marie Ellis

Dissertations and Theses

Shifting classroom discourse to be more student-centered has become an integral part of reform-oriented instructional practices. At the same time, shifting discourse can open up opportunities for inequity to occur in the immediate learning environment as both the quantity and quality of mathematical talk changes. In this project, I examined complexities involved in such settings by using discourse analysis methods to explore the positioning of students relative to mathematics content and each other's mathematical ideas. First, I analyzed the ways teachers' discourse during group work enactments related to established equitable teaching practices. Findings from this study suggest communicating group tasks …

Investigating Active Learning Through The Lens Of Student Engagement, Nicole Naibert

Dissertations and Theses

Incorporating active learning into a course has been generally found to lead to improved student learning outcomes; however, not all students benefit from these environments to the same extent. Although active learning environments provide the opportunity for students to interact and engage with the material, whether a student decides to do so is completely up to them. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation was to begin exploring active learning environments through the lens of student engagement and relevant associated variables (i.e., self-efficacy and student perceptions). This was completed through three separate but related projects.

Project I focused on investigating flipped …

High School Students’ Nature Of Science Understandings And Scientific Argumentation Skills In The Context Of Socioscientific Issues, John Michael Williams

Dissertations and Theses

Today’s high school graduates are required to digest and interpret massive amounts of information related to science. National standards documents in science education promote the development of skills to effectively evaluate the credibility of scientific information, with the goal of producing citizens capable of making scientifically informed decisions after graduation. These skills include the ability to make reasoned arguments based on evidence (Scientific Argumentation [SA]) and an understanding of how scientific knowledge is generated, validated, and communicated (Nature of Science [NOS]). While the importance of these skills is not in dispute, the few studies that have examined the connection between …