Education Commons^™

The Impact Of A Design-Based Engineering Curriculum On High School Biology: Evaluating Academic Achievement And Student Perceptions Of Epistemology, Self-Efficacy, And Self-Determination In Life Science, Courtney Cox

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Integration of the engineering design process (EDP) into the high school biology classroom may improve academic achievement, alter epistemological beliefs about learning science, and positively influence student perceptions of science self-efficacy and self-determination. This quasi-experimental research study tested these claims by implementing an EDP curriculum within two honors biology classes (n=36) at an independent high school in a large urban city in the Southeastern United States. Two additional honors biology courses at the school (n=34) were instructed using the department's traditional curricular resources. Achievement data were collected from both groups and compared for statically significant differences using independent t-tests …

Myside Bias Shifting In The Written Arguments Of First Year Composition Students, Lezlie Christensen-Branum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation reports on research conducted to better understand how college student writers learned to work against their own biases as they researched and wrote arguments. I conducted a review of former studies to design a curriculum that would help students avoid bias and increase their ability to write arguments tailored to specific readers in ways that accomplish their goals. This review also informed the kinds of data to be collected and analyzed in order to accomplish the research goal, which was to understand whether and how each of seven students enrolled in a composition course reduced their biases. I …

“I Don’T Know What You’Re Expecting But I Can Make Something Here”: Epistemological Beliefs Of Adult Undergraduates And The Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Process, Rusty Dolleman

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a term for various methods by which universities accredit student experiential learning. One such method is the academic portfolio, a written reflective process in which students demonstrate that their personal or professional learning fulfills university outcomes. Proponents of academic portfolios claim that they also improve student critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Research on traditional undergraduates suggests that differences in critical thinking and problem-solving are related to epistemological development, but little research has been done on adult undergraduate epistemologies or how student epistemology may affect PLA portfolio work. This study attempts to answer two questions: …

Path Associations Between Preservice Physical Educators’ Beliefs About Epistemology And Their Value And Self-Efficacy For Sport Education And Teaching Games For Understanding, Ken R. Lodewyk

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Teachers’ beliefs about epistemology – that is, their personal broad mental representations about the nature of reality, knowledge, and how people know and learn – have been associated with the many educational outcomes both in the classroom and in physical education. Little is known about whether these beliefs predict physical educators’ value (i.e., interest, importance, like, and usefulness) and self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in performing) for using constructivist teaching models such as sport education and teaching games for understanding. As a result, this study examined path associations from beliefs about epistemology (epistemic worldviews and epistemological beliefs) to value and self-efficacy for …

The Struggle Is Real: Exploring Epistemological Change Through The Use Of The Next Generation Science Standards In A High School Chemistry Classroom, Nancy Nasr

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research study examines my resistance to implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in my high school chemistry classroom, which is not uncommon among teachers. This resistance highlighted my conflicting epistemological beliefs, which, as a product of my own experiences as a student, among other factors, are deep-rooted and difficult to change. The dilemma for many science teachers, like me, is that the NGSS approaches the teaching of science in a constructivist manner, which attempts to move science instruction away from traditional pedagogies. Science teachers whose epistemological beliefs are rooted in traditional pedagogies may understand the inherent …

The Impact Of A Research Methods Course On Teacher Candidates’ Epistemological Beliefs, Menşure Alkiş Küçükaydin, Yasin Gökbulut

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The epistemological beliefs of teachers impact both their in-class practices and the perceptions and beliefs of the students whose learning is the responsibility of teachers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate and discuss the impact of a course entitled “research methods” which is taught in education faculties in Turkey, on the epistemological beliefs of teacher candidates. The study adopted the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Forty-three teacher candidates participated in the study. The data for the study were collected through the “Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Scale (SEBs)”, a semi-structured interview form, and another form that included the written opinions of teacher candidates. …

Investigating Coherence Among Turkish Elementary Science Teachers’ Teaching Belief Systems, Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Practice, Eralp Bahcivan, William W. Cobern

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated comprehensive science teaching belief systems and their relation to science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and teaching practices. Rokeach’s (1968) belief system was used as a framework for representing the hierarchy among in-service teachers’ teaching beliefs. This study employed a multiple case study design with three in-service science teachers. Cases were selected based on participant’s personal epistemology. Data were collected through interviews and classroom observations. Content analyses showed that when science teachers presented characteristics of autonomous self-construal more than related self-construal, they had a more advanced personal epistemology. In addition, these beliefs shaped participants’ conceptions of teaching and …

Epistemological And Pedagogical Beliefs Of Pre-Service And In-Service Teachers In A Tanzanian Context, Michael B. Msendekwa

Education Dissertations

Abstract

This study investigated the epistemological and pedagogical beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers working toward a degree in education at a university in Tanzania. A total of 702 pre-service and in-service teachers from year one and three participated in the study. The Teaching and Learning Conception Questionnaire (Chan & Elliott, 2004b; Lee, Zhang, Song, & Huang 2013) was used to measure student-teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, and the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (Chan & Elliott, 2000, 2004b; Lee, Zhang, Song, & Huang, 2013) to measure their epistemological beliefs.

Factor analysis of data from the Teaching and Learning Conception Questionnaire resulted in a …

Learning To Teach: What Pre-Service Teachers Report, Dawn Naylor

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

With universities and schools of education receiving recurring criticism for being ineffective in preparing graduates for school teaching, this study sought to understand the phenomenon of learning to teach in order to investigate universal questions about who was learning to teach and what, where, when and how did they learn to teach during their initial learning to teach experiences at university. The topic was approached by listening to the voices and stories of those who ought to know the most about the phenomenon: the pre-service teachers. A multiple case study analysis was conducted with seven pre-service teachers, enrolled in their …

Effects Of Epistemological And Pedagogical Beliefs On The Instructional Practices Of Teachers: A Chinese Perspective, John Chi-Kin Lee, Zhonghua Zhang, Huan Song, Xianhan Huang

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study examines how the beliefs of Chinese in-service teachers regarding knowledge and knowledge acquisition influence their instructional classroom practices in junior secondary schools directly or indirectly through their conceptions of teaching and learning. The results indicate that the factor of learning effort/process is highly valued by Chinese in-service teachers in their epistemological beliefs, and that the constructivist approach is the dominant conception on teaching and learning for junior secondary school teachers.. In addition, the constructivist conception of teaching and learning is found to be positively related to three types of classroom instructional practices, whereas the traditional conception about teaching …

Preservice Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs: A Study Of Student And Course Characteristics, Peter B. Baker

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The research project described herein was designed to measure teacher education students' epistemological beliefs. Teacher education students' epistemological beliefs were compared according to participants' academic and demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of the courses in which students are enrolled at the time of study data collection. Participants included teacher education students currently studying in Old Dominion University's Darden College of Education. Results indicated that, while participants' epistemological beliefs and the development thereof are both, at times, related to their demographic and academic characteristics as well as the characteristics of the courses in which they were enrolled during the study, …

Self-Regulated Learning In An Introductory Undergraduate Accounting Course., Lana L. Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-regulated learning skills have been shown to positively impact academic achievement in educational settings. This same set of skills becomes critically important as graduates enter today‟s dynamic work environment. That environment increasingly requires accountants and other professionals to be lifelong learners. This study is a response to the call of the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) to make "learning to learn" a priority in the accounting classroom. This study used a quantitative, quasi-experimental design within the context of a beginning accounting course. The course is characterized by high failure rates, highly conceptual content, and a population of novice learners.

Study …

Epistemological Congruency In Community College Classrooms: Effects Of Epistemological Beliefs On Students Experiences, Cheryl Fruge

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to explore epistemological beliefs of students as well as those of their instructors to determine how epistemological congruence or incongruence shapes students’ experiences. The term, “epistemological congruency” is introduced to conceptualize the similarities or differences between students’ and teachers’ epistemological beliefs. Further, the study considers how students’ grades, integration into the academic community, and intentions to persist are related to epistemological congruency between teacher and student. Students and faculty at a community college in the Southeastern United States participated in the study. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Tinto’s …

A Cross-Cultural Study Of Epistemological Beliefs And Moral Reasoning Between American And Chinese College Students, Zhongtang Ren

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

This study investigated the cultural differences of epistemological beliefs and moral reasoning between American and Chinese college students (N=452) recruited from three universities, Old Dominion University in the eastern United States, Luoyang Normal University in the central China and Central University for Nationalities in northern China. A series of factorial MANOVA was conducted to explore the influence of gender, ethnicity and nationality as the independent variables on epistemological beliefs measured with five EBI (Epistemological Beliefs Inventory) scores and moral reasoning measured with two DIT (Defining Issues Test) scores as dependent variables.

No effects were found for gender and …