Education Commons^™

Much To Do About Identity: Successful Women In Science Reflect On Their School Years, Jonathan L. Hall, Malcom B. Butler

Teacher Education and Technology Faculty Publications

This study presents the recollections of 12 successful women in science duringtheir school years before postsecondary education. The participants shareddetailed descriptions of their science experiences through three semi-structured interviews. An identity works conceptual framework consisting offigured worlds, positioning, and agency constructs to portray the complexdynamics of their experiences was used to analyze the data. The following fourthemes emerged from the data analysis: participants had an early interest inmathematics and science; they were“stubbornly”persistent in science-figuredworlds; they engaged in science-figured worlds beyond school; and they posi-tioned themselves as science leaders. These findings add to the evolution of sci-ence identity development theoretical models …

Different Conceptions Of Lines And Points In The Context Of Graphing, Halil Tasova

College of Education Faculty Publications

In this study, I identified important differences in how students conceive points and lines. For example, students envisioned points as a circular dot that represents two quantities’ measures and envisioned that points on a graph (e.g., a line) do not exist until they are physically and visually plotted. Therefore, they conceived the line as representing a direction of movement of a dot on a coordinate plane. On the contrary, students’ meaning of a line included a record of two covarying quantities with the result of the trace consisting of infinitely many points, each of which represents both quantities’ measures. I …

Understanding The Role Of Science-Specific Literacy Strategies In Supporting Science Teaching And Student Learning: A Case Study Of Preservice Elementary Teachers In A Science Methods Course That Integrated A Disciplinary Literacy Framework, Su Gao, Jonathan L. Hall, Vassiliki Zygouris-Coe, Rebecca A. Grysko

Teacher Education and Technology Faculty Publications

The shift to student engagement in scientific and engineering practices to learn science provides opportunities for science learning and language learning to occur in tandem. These opportunities also pose new challenges for elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) since literacy methods courses have been presented separately from science methods courses. We integrated a disciplinary literacy framework in a science methods course to help elementary PSTs understand the synergistic connections between literacy and science teaching. The purpose of this study was to examine elementary PSTs’ understanding of the use of science-specific literacy strategies to support science teaching and learning through three points of …

Building A Community Of Practice: A Case Study Of Introductory College Chemistry Students, Jonathan L. Hall, Katherine R. Whitaker, Samantha R. Seals, Pamela P. Benz

Teacher Education and Technology Faculty Publications

Engagement in active learning and learning communities is important for persistence of STEM students early in their academic programs. Colleges and universities have an ongoing call to facilitate active learning techniques, yet large group, lecture-based instruction is still the prominent method of instruction. This qualitative case study examines interviews and classroom observations of undergraduate chemistry students enrolled at a primarily undergraduate institution. Critical educational elements were identified for chemistry students participating in a redesigned, introductory course which included a collaborative peer-lead learning experience. The participants engaged in required, weekly sessions structured around community building and active learning. The data were …

Transforming Technology & Engineering Educator Inputs Into Desired Student Outputs Through Mechanism Analysis And Synthesis, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The intention of this article is to provide middle and high school Technology and Engineering Educators (T&EEs) with a more thorough understanding of an engineering approach to the teaching and learning of mechanics. During the teaching and learning of engineering content, in this case mechanics, the educator should attempt to align pedagogical content knowledge with engineering content knowledge and practices. T&EEs will also need to focus on terminology, structure, and applying theory to practical hands-on learning activities inside and outside of the classroom. T&EEs have the potential to foster middle and high school students’ mechanical knowledge and the ability to …

Scope Process: Fostering Students' Design Outcome Effectiveness, Andrew J. Hughes, Cameron D. Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to help Technology and Engineering Educators scaffold engineering design and problem-solving experiences so that students taking technology and engineering courses will develop an improved ability to design. Technology and Engineering Education seems to increasingly focus on problem-solving, design, and engineering. Technology and Engineering Education is not the only discipline with this focus. The fact that both Science and Technology and Engineering Education are similarly focused on the teaching and learning of engineering begs the question of what separates technology and engineering educators from science educators in the teaching of engineering? Lewis (2004) cautioned that …

Mechanism Design And Analysis: Developing An Understanding Of Mechanism Motion Through Graphical Modeling, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The intention of this article is to provide Technology and Engineering Educators with foundational knowledge of mechanism design and analysis and the ability to develop middle and high school students' mechanism knowledge during practical hands-on learning activities in the STEM classroom. Technology and Engineering Educators' implementation of mechanism design and analysis could promote students' increased depth of mechanical knowledge and ability to apply this knowledge during engineering design challenges. In this article, the authors present an introduction to four-bar mechanism design and analysis using CAD software to produce graphical representations. After designing mechanisms graphical, students should be allowed to produce …

Parent Involvement And Student Achievement: Effects Of Indirect Parent Involvement On Student Achievement In Mathematics, Sarah Ann Myers

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Parents are often seen through a deficit lens despite all that they do for their children. Parents want to do all they can to help their children be successful in school and in math specifically. This can be challenging due to the increasing pressure for students to perform well in math, the current methods for teaching math, and the math work students bring home. This quantitative study investigates how home-based parent involvement strategies predict student's math grade point average (GPA). The data in this study was derived from 23,503 participants within the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). With …

Scaffolding Middle And High School Students’ Engineering Design Experiences: Quality Problem-Scopeing Promoting Successful Solutions, Andrew Hughes, Cameron Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Highly proficient expert engineers begin the iterative process of design by thoroughly investigating the design problem. Engineering students are often distracted by surface details, leading to a faulty conception of the problem and inappropriate solution strategies. Adequate problem-scoping is arguably the most important step in the design process. To address this issue, the researchers developed an instructional framework to help teachers scaffold students’ cognitive and metacognitive processes during the problem-scoping phase of a design challenge. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the impact that scaffolded instruction related to the SCOPE process had on students’ solution success during …

Secondary Mathematics Teacher Beliefs: Heterogeneous Or Homogenous Tracking And Ability Grouping, Andrew Hughes

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This study focused on secondary school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about tracking (ability grouping across classes) and ability grouping within classes and their perceived effects on student achievement, student affects and behaviors, and instruction. Case study methodology was employed, and semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of six teachers from two schools in a city within the southeastern United States. Three teachers worked in a school that predominantly tracks their students while the other three teachers worked in a school that mixes their students by ability across classes. Data from this study are consistent with social inequities reported in tracking …

Method Of Joints: Theory And Practice Of Designing, Building, And Testing Trusses, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The authors of this article, like many of us, are proponents of engineering education but are also proponents of shop skills, craftsmanship, technological literacy, and the tacit knowledge and skills developed through applying sound theories during practical hands-on learning. The authors believe that engineering is an important aspect of our discipline, but so are the application of thinking, tool skills, measurement, geometric construction, manufacturing, instrumentation, testing and analysis, mathematical and scientific theories, and many other hands-on, minds-on skillsets that all need to maintain association with our discipline. As the authors are proponents for engineering education that is done well, they …

Solving Concurrent And Nonconcurrent Coplanar Force Systems: Balancing Theory And Practice In The Technology And Engineering Education Classroom, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The basic concepts inherent to statics, including unbalanced and balanced forces and instability and stability of physical systems, have traditionally been covered in middle and high school physical science courses (Physical Science as indicated in Next Generation Science Standards). Yet, these concepts are covered using a physical science approach that has minor but significant differences in terminology, structure, and focus when compared with an engineering approach. Since a robust understanding of statics is considered an essential component for most engineering disciplines, Technology and Engineering Education’s (T&EE) implementation of statics with an engineering approach could promote students’ ability to transfer learning …

The Effects Of Project Lead The Way Launch Curriculum On Elementary Girls’ Perception And Career Interests In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics, Mina Blazy

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The United States has examined the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education since before the turn of the century. STEM educators are still having the conversation around why more women are not joining STEM pathways. Girls and boys as early as birth are curious about the world; through their own lens they learn about gravity from dropping spaghetti on the floor or seeing a small insect on the wall. As children get older they are influenced by the perceptions of their parents and peers.

This study looked at the perception and career interests of girls in STEM …

Embedding Problem Solving In The Math 30x Courses, Kelli Wasserman

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

The Math 30x Quarter Bridge courses have been designed to bridge the gap created in curriculum, as CSUSB transitions from quarters to semesters. The four course series will soon be a three course series, with the fourth course embedded in the other three. These classes will now incorporate reading, problem solving and reflection assignments from Powerful Problem Solving by Max Ray and Thinking Around the Box by Davida Fischman and Shawnee McMurran. These classes will also serve as a model for the Fall semester courses. The following outlines the Group Projects to be incorporated into the Quarter Bridge and Semester …

Reacting To The Past Course Outline And Materials, Arturo Huipe

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

Reacting to the past pedagogy. Including course outline and example character role sheet. Examination of a critical change in the natural sciences through the study of the context and impact of a specific idea, innovation or discovery. Using the Reacting to the Past approach, students play complex role-playing games informed by important historical sources (specific themes and topics may vary). Students will develop skills in information literacy, collaboration, speaking, and writing as they pursue the objectives of their assigned role by convincing classmates of their views. Following the game, debriefing will facilitate deeper understandings of the focus concepts and provide …

Concrete Beam Design: Pouring The Foundation To Engineering In T&E Classrooms, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Ask a middle or high school student if they could design a concrete beam that weighs only 20 pounds and is 36” long but must hold 600 pounds without failing. What is the student likely to say? What if the student was told that, with some optimized decision making based on relatively straightforward mathematics, their beam could hold 2400 pounds or more? The focus of this article is not on concrete beam design, it is rather an introduction to engineering principles in beam design using a lab activity. The concepts and skills learned in this article will lead students into …

Analyzing Concrete Beam Design: Verifying Predictions In T&Ee Classrooms, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Design is often accepted as a fundamental aspect of engineering (Dym, et al., 2005). The design process is frequently portrayed as a set of steps. However, the design process is more complex than just a set of steps in a relatively fixed process. The complex nature of design, design thinking, questioning, and decision-making is exactly what technology and engineering classrooms are well suited to address. When addressing the question—“Why is technology and engineering education (T&EE) so important?”—the authors believe T&EE’s importance relates to our discipline’s ability to solve complex problems by balancing theory and practice in engaging hands-on learning scenarios …

Promoting Preservice Stem Education Teachers' Metacognitive Awareness: Professional Development Designed To Improve Teacher Metacognitive Awareness, Andrew John Hughes, Eddie Partida

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

This quantitative portion of a convergent complementarity, mixed-methods, exploratory study describes the design and implementation of a 5-week preservice teacher professional development (PD) experience and the associated Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) measures before and after the experience. The PD experience was designed to explicitly address participants’ domain-general and domain-specific knowledge and regulation of cognition through a highly integrated academic and clinical preparation regimen centered on a cognitive coaching model. The study participants comprised preservice STEM education teachers (N = 11) enrolled in a dual teaching certification and Master’s in Education program. The findings showed an increase in participants’ regulation …

Practice Brief 65: Using 3d Interim Assessments To Support Coherence, Equity, And A Shared Understanding Of Learning, Todd Campbell, Jonathan Hall, Peter Mclaren, Jeff Grieg, Sean Elkins, John Duffy, Holly Hollander

Teacher Education and Technology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Dynamic Mathematical Software In The Instruction Of The Unit Circle, Edward Simons

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study is attempting to test the effectiveness of dynamic computer models such as GeoGebra and Desmos on high school students’ ability to understand key concepts with regards to the introduction of unit circle and the graphing of the sine and cosine functions.

Algebra two high school students of varying ages were chosen and randomly placed into two groups. Both groups were given the same pre-assessment and an identical lesson. The two groups’ only difference occurred with the individual student practice portion of the lesson where one group did ‘traditional’ paper and pencil practice for graphing and solving while the …

Project Based Learning Course Integration For Elementary Science Methods, William Dwyer

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

I have revised my syllabus to integrate PBL into my course, Science/Health Curriculum and Pedagogy in Elementary School (EELB 532), for this current term. I am teaching this course for the third year at the Palm Desert campus. Throughout my career as an instructor in teacher education, I have promoted PBL to my science methods students; however, this term is the first time I have integrated PBL into my course by making it a major course assignment.

Indicators Of Future Mathematics Proficiency: Literature Review & Synthesis, Claudia Preciado

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The beauty of mathematics can arguably be found in the way in which all concepts are interrelated and interwoven to create a massive web of knowledge and in the ways this can be applied to all aspects of life and technology. Given this inextricable interrelationship amongst several mathematical topics, many students encounter issues in learning mathematics due to gaps in their understanding of previously taught material. As a result, mathematics education in the K-12 setting has emphasized the need for interventions in order to help students grasp the progressively complex concepts that are required by our current society and education …

Community College And High School Partnership: College Math Readiness Program, Ernesto Oscar Reyes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study describes the partnership between an urban community college and seven high schools from its inception. The purpose of the partnership was to increase the number of high school seniors transitioning into college-level math courses through the college math readiness program, an existing community college intermediate algebra course. In addition to archival records and documents, college math faculty, high school math teachers, administrators and staff, and college students were interviewed for this study. Four major challenges were identified in the following areas: student recruitment process, data management, lack of information to students, and collaboration among math faculty and math …

Adult Education In A Museum Setting Requires Reinforcement, Judy Ann Lowman

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis addresses adult education in a museum setting and measures adult learning during and after a museum visit. While a number of studies have investigated the impact of museum visits on children’s learning, there are few studies on adult learners. This thesis is an initial effort to fill that gap. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews with 24 adult visitors at the Victor Valley Museum in Apple Valley, California. The objective was to determine which exhibits were found to be of greatest interest to the visitor. Follow-up interviews were conducted four weeks later to measure retention. The qualitative data …

Discovering And Applying Geometric Transformations: Transformations To Show Congruence And Similarity, Tamara V. Bonn

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The use and application of geometric transformations is a fundamental standard for the Common Core State Standards. This study was developed to determine current high school teachers’ prior mathematical content knowledge and develop their content knowledge of transformations and their applications. The design of this study was guided by the questions: “Why is there a level of reluctance amongst secondary teachers when it comes to teaching geometric transformations?” and “How can their content knowledge become deepened to apply geometric transformations to prove that two figures are congruent?” The study provided teachers a chance to gain experience with transformations and use …

Algebra 1 Students’ Ability To Relate The Definition Of A Function To Its Representations, Sarah A. Thomson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

One hundred high school Algebra students from a southern California school participated in this study to provide information on students’ ability to relate the definition of function to its representations. The goals of the study were (1) to explore the extent to which students are able to distinguish between representations of functions/non-functions; (2) to compare students’ ability to distinguish between familiar/unfamiliar representations of functions/non-functions; (3) to explore the extent to which students are able to apply the definition of function to verify function representations; and (4) to explore the extent to which students are able to provide an adequate definition …

Planting, Learning, Growing: Utilizing Service-Learning In Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics Among Urban Middle School Students, Carly Jessica Chavez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is meant to work as a descriptive analysis of service-learning pedagogy and outcomes, through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning opportunities. One of the many challenges facing public education is how to actively incorporate elements of STEM into the classroom curriculum and school-wide.

Is Problem-Solving An Effective College Mathematics Teaching Strategy?, Tommie Hugh Denson

Theses Digitization Project

This study will provide instructors with more data on which method of teaching is best for students' success in a remedial college mathematics course by directly comparing problem-based learning to traditional instruction. Assessment scores and positive change in students' attitude toward mathematics will determine student success.

Using Cornell Notes To Teach Rational Expressions, Tammy Sue Young

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the project was to determine whether or not students who learn how to take structured notes using the Cornell Notes format will develop a deeper conceptual understanding and an increased comprehension of concepts involving rational expressions as evidenced on their performance on a multiple choice and free response test.

Teaching Mathematics In The Classroom With Powerpoint Software, Robert Ward Kopp

Theses Digitization Project

This study will look at at how to better student achievement in an Algebra II course. Specifically this study examines two different modifications made during the second semester of an Algebra II course taught at a high school in Riverside County. The modifications that were made were based on a detailed literature review that suggested looking at how students learn while using PowerPoint software as an instructional tool and at the same time investigate the consequence of rearranging a fairly common and predetermined curriculum pattern.