Education Commons^™

A Guided Chatbot Learning Experience In The Science Classroom, Jennifer Davis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation describes a practitioner’s design-based development of a prototype chatbot to guide students in learning biological concepts of genetic mutations and protein synthesis. This chatbot’s architecture provides learning activities, feedback, and support throughout a series of short, connected lessons. The chatbot is designed to scaffold learners through a predict, observe, explain model of inquiry learning. It utilizes real-world phenomena to lead students through biology core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Results of prototype testing include survey results in support of the proof of concept among both students and teachers, as well as accuracy measurements of chatbot …

Empowering Salieri - Extracting The Genius In Our Students, Zachary C. Schafer, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Aesthetic Based Alternative Assessment (ABAA) is a type of project-based learning that extends beyond science content and places students’ interests at the forefront of the learning environment. ABAA is consistent with a holistic approach to science teaching and learning long advocated by former NSTA President Hans O. Andersen (1989–1990), in which students’ interests serve as the departure to more intensive involvement with the subject.

Theories - A Powerful Tool For Science, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Scientific theories are often mischaracterized by non-scientists, journalists, etc., as being merely someone’s guesses; guesses that would be more appropriately labeled as conjecture or speculation. Others mistakenly equate theory and hypothesis. Still others incorrectly assert that scientific laws (which refer to a limited set of remarkably repeatable observational data) are ‘stronger’ than theories. In the practice of science, however, laws are narrowly confined and limited in application, whereas theories are broad in scope and widely applied. Simply stated, theories are scientists’ most powerful tools.

How Vocabulary Notebooks Change Student Knowledge Of Science Concepts And Vocabulary, Justin Wheeler

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study was conducted to determine the effect that an explicit vocabulary strategy, the use of vocabulary notebooks, may have on students in an upper elementary science classroom. The study was conducted in a small mid-western town of approximately 14,000 people in an elementary school with approximately 415 students. The study was conducted in a science classroom of fifth-grade students in which the primary investigator was the teacher. The research question for this study was: How does student’s vocabulary knowledge of science concepts change when students create vocabulary notebook entries including definition, science concept, examples, and non-examples? Data sources collected …

What Does Motivated Mean? Re-Presenting Learning, Technology, And Motivation In Middle Schools Via New Ethnographic Writing, Justin Olmanson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This article offers a critique of the way middle schoolers are often positioned as generalizable objects that can be acted upon to produce measurable increases in motivation and learning. The critique invites a reconsideration and cultural analysis of some of the dominant discourses and perceptions of technology, young adolescence, and the study of motivation. The use of New Ethnographic Writing—a method that performs a cultural critique via extended scenes—connects to the roles and status of motivation, technology, and educational research methods deployed within public schools. Coupled with weak theory, this approach offers a way to understand young adolescents as navigating …

Theory Guided Professional Development In Early Childhood Science Education, Soo-Young Hong, Julia C. Torquati, Victoria J. Molfese

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The importance of early and developmentally appropriate science education is increasingly recognized. Consequently, creation of common guidelines and standards in early childhood science education has begun (National Research Council (NRC), 2012), and researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have shown great interest in aligning professional development with the new guidelines and standard. There are some important issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement guidelines and make progress toward accomplishing standards. Early childhood teachers have expressed a lack of confidence in teaching science and nature (Torquati, Cutler, Gilkerson, & Sarver, in press) and have limited science and pedagogical …

Strategic Discussions For Nebraska: Opportunities For Nebraska -- Food Scarcity, Mary Garbacz

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Strategic Discussions for Nebraska is a program in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources that produces an annual publication called Opportunities for Nebraska, focusing on a different topic each year. The publication is produced in hard copy and also is available online at www.sdn.unl.edu.

The content for each publication is produced by UNL students enrolled in a Magazine Writing course each spring semester, taught by the SDN coordinator. Students conduct interviews with UNL researchers and write stories for inclusion in the publication. The interviews are captured on video and are edited into video montages, …

Changing Perceptions Of Science In Undergraduate Students: A Mixed Methods Case Study, Cindy S. Larson-Miller

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this bounded single-case study was to explore the understanding of the nature and process of science for undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The study investigated one professor’s methodology to explicitly teach undergraduate students about the nature and process of science, and documented their understanding and perception of science, both pre- and post-course.

Using a mixed method approach, data were collected to provide a better understanding of teaching the nature and process of science. Three main types of data were analyzed: the process of science (TPOS) assessment; survey questions, and the module curriculum.

Participating students …

Extensiveness And Perceptions Of Lecture Demonstrations In The High School Chemistry Classroom, Daniel S. Price

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While lecture demonstrations have been conducted in chemistry classrooms for hundreds of years, little research exists to document the frequency with which such demonstrations are employed or their effect on learners’ motivation and performance. A mixed-methods research study was performed, using quantitative and qualitative survey data, along with qualitative data from follow-up interviews and structured correspondence, to determine the extent to which lecture demonstrations are used in high school chemistry instruction, and the perceived effects of viewing such demonstrations on students’ performance on course assignments and on motivation to excel in current and future chemistry courses. Fifty-two randomly selected chemistry …

Beliefs Of Science Teachers Toward The Teaching Of Science/Technological/Social Issues: Are We Addressing National Standards?, Jon E. Pedersen, Samuel Totten

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

As science educators, we must view the changing nature of society brought on by technology and the global nature of society as an impetus to reexamine the nature of science instruction. We have been bestowed with the responsibility to educate students on a variety of topics that less than two decades ago did not exist. Many of these social issues are controversial in nature and are directly linked to the local, regional, national, and global communities in which we exist. However, including these social issues in the extant curriculum of science has, at best, been limited. This is true even …