Education Commons^™

Conceptualizing Social Mathematical Empowerment: What Is The Curricular Connection?, Alicia C. Gonzales

Doctoral Dissertations

As a result of everchanging goals and visions for mathematics education in the United States, this study builds on an initial theoretical framework of empowerment and further conceptualizes one domain, namely Social Mathematical Empowerment [SME]. I used concept analysis to define processes and outcomes more precisely and identified SME as a multi-layered, dialectic construct. This approach results in two components of action and awareness with various instructional and theoretical approaches. I then applied that conceptualization and created an analytical tool to examine mathematics teaching materials to engage learners in SME. This study adds to the existing knowledge base by providing …

Design Artifacts As Externalized Mental Models Of Children’S Science Concept Development, Christine Mcgrail

Doctoral Dissertations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) calls for the integration of the practices of science and engineering across all science disciplines beginning in the early elementary grades. Science and engineering education research has determined that engineering design is a productive means for promoting understanding of science concepts. However, design artifacts created during engineering design problem-solving have not received sufficient attention for their potential to embody children’s science understanding. The aim of this study was to examine how conceptual development of the concepts of force and motion was instantiated in design artifacts by early elementary age children engaged in engineering design. …

Examining Small-Group Discourse Through The Lens Of Students’ Beliefs About Mathematics And The Instructional Triangle, Jennifer Ericson

Doctoral Dissertations

Standards-based mathematics instruction [SBMI], with opportunities to engage in high-quality mathematical discourse about meaningful tasks, leads to increased student achievement. However, not all students participate in mathematical discourse with high-quality. Esmonde & Langer-Osuna (2013) found that students participate in discourse with various degrees of engagement based upon individual beliefs. Boaler (2006b) found that SBMI in a detracked setting improves students’ beliefs about mathematics. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to illustrate the phenomenon of incongruent written curricula commitments across grade bands in a school district by examining small-group discourse and students’ mathematical related beliefs. This study compared students’ …

Increasing Senior High School Students' Mathematical Problem-Solving Skills Through Improving Their Spatial Visualization Skills By Learning And Practicing Three-Dimensional Dynamic Geometry With Cabri 3d, Nurul Yaqin

Doctoral Dissertations

Problem-solving is one of the standards of mathematics processes developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Many research studies indicated that there was a relationship between mathematics achievement and spatial visualization skills. But the research results still didn’t indicate whether or not there was a causal mediation relationship between the achievement of learning-and-practicing three-dimensional geometry and mathematical problem-solving skills mediated by spatial visualization skills. Therefore, it’s still necessary for us to specifically investigate whether or not spatial visualization skills can be a medial factor between the increase of mathematical problem-solving skills and the effects of learning and practicing …

Building Capacity For Academically Productive Talk: The Development Of Teacher Leaders In Science Professional Development, Renee Affolter

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite decades of research on the type of classroom dialogue that supports collaborative student sensemaking and professional development efforts to support such dialogue, opportunities for students to incrementally deepen their understanding of science ideas through engagement in science practices and to engage in complex reasoning and argumentation through classroom talk is limited in most K-12 science classrooms (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000; Lemke, 1990; Michaels, Shouse, & Schweingruber, 2008; Mortimer & Scott, 2003; C. O’Connor, Michaels, & Chapin, 2015; Reinsvold & Cochran, 2011; Scott, Mortimer, & Aguiar, 2006; Weiss, Pasley, Smith., Banilower, and Heck, 2003; Wilson, Schweingruber, & Nielsen, 2015). …

A Semiotic Analysis Of Linguistic And Conceptual Development In Mathematics For English Language Learners, Hyunsook Shin

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores how an elementary mathematics teacher supported English language leaners’ (ELLs’) academic language and concept development in the context of current high- stakes school reform. The conceptual frameworks informing this study include Halliday’s theory of systemic functional linguistics (e.g., Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014) and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of concept development (Vygotsky, 1986). Specifically, this study analyzes the interplay between academic and everyday language and how this interplay can facilitate the development of what Vygotsky referred to as “real” or complete concepts as students shift from “spontaneous” to more “scientific” understanding of phenomenon (Vygotsky, 1986, p.173). This year-long qualitative …

Female Students’ Academic Engagement And Achievement In Science And Engineering: Exploring The Influence Of Gender Grouping In Small Group Work In Design-Based Learning Contexts In High School Biology, Miancheng Guo

Doctoral Dissertations

In the past 30 years, although much effort has been made to narrow the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), females are still largely underrepresented in some important STEM fields, such as physics and engineering (NSF, 2007). To deal with this situation, people from different sectors have long reached a common understanding: Educators must improve school girls’ interest, participation and engagement in STEM subjects (e.g., Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013). In the K-12 classroom, small group work has been shown to promote an equitable environment for girls’ learning in science and have a positive impact …

Stem Pipeline For Students With Disabilities: From High School To Intentions To Major In Stem, Joshua Bittinger

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) major declaration intentions of students with disabilities as they graduated high school and entered college. I used data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) because data collection began in high school and followed students into college, facilitating research focusing on access. Before investigating major declaration intentions, I critiqued the definition and measurement of disability in the HSLS:09, drawing from survey research methods literature. The two subsequent analyses focused on psychological and structural components, respectively. My focus on psychological components drew from Eccles and colleagues’ (1983) expectancy-value framework. …

The Role Of Prior Knowledge, Situational Interest, And Case Study Pedagogy In The Undergraduate Biology Classroom., Ally Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations

In the undergraduate science classroom, case study pedagogy is method that uses stories with dilemmas and/or questions to convey scientific content. Case study pedagogy shows promise as an active learning pedagogy to meet the demands of 21st century biology education initiatives; however, there is a dearth of information on how students learn with case studies in the undergraduate biology classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate variables that impact learning with case studies (prior content and contextual knowledge, situational interest, and pedagogical strategies) and the relationships between those variables to further understand how students learn with case studies …

Motivation And Gender Dynamics In High School Science: The Effect Of Gender Composition On Motivation In Small Group Inquiry And Engineering Tasks, Julie Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

While current research shows that the gender gap in science achievement has disappeared (Miller, Blessing, & Schwartz, 2006), girls continue to show declining levels of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) engagement in school. Literature shows that various societal and educational factors impact girls’ STEM motivation disproportionately to boys (Bennett & Hogarth, 2009; Breakwell & Robertson, 2001; Brotman & Moore, 2008; Campbell & Clewell, 1999; Cokadar & Kulce, 2008; Huebner, 2009; Jovanovic & King, 1998; Lee, 1998; Miller, Blessing, & Schwartz, 2006; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003; Solomon, 1997). The onset of this phenomenon occurs in the middle school years …

Multiple Representations Of The Fundamental Theorem Of Calculus As Enacted In The Curriculum, Sense-Making And Gender, Ileana Vasu

Doctoral Dissertations

Multiple representations of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC) are deemed essential to creating mathematical habits of mind, but not all classroom instruction includes them. This study articulates the relationship between college students’ experience with multiple representations of the FTC, gained through the enacted curriculum, and their use of multiple representations when problem solving or discussing the FTC. It suggests that students’ use of multiple representations directly relates to their curricular experience, which outweighs a student’s own inclination towards any particular representation. It further suggests that the relationship between classroom experience with a particular representation of the FTC, and its …

Evaluating A Translingual Administration Of The Early Grades Math Assessment (Egma) In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Fernanda Gandara

Doctoral Dissertations

Translanguaging is a view around languages that normalizes diglossia without separation: the linguistic resources of the bilinguals are considered one integrated system. Translanguaging is also a language practice of bilinguals, who select features from their entire linguistic repertoire to make sense of the world around them. Translanguaging is widely used by students and teachers in the bilingual classroom, as it allows students to build upon their entire set of resources, enhance learning outcomes, perform identities, and develop their languages even further. However, translanguaging is rarely used in assessments of bilinguals. Assessments of bilinguals, especially large-scale tests, are typically monolingual in …

Cross Case Study Of An Elementary Engineering Task, John Heffernan

Doctoral Dissertations

Designerly play has been identified as a fundamental component of childhood learning (Baynes, 1994; Petroski, 2003). However, as students enter grade one and beyond, the increasing academic focus has resulted in the loss of opportunities for designerly play (Zhao, 2012). At the same time, there are increasing calls to increase the number, skill, and diversity of STEM workers (Brophy, Portsmore, Klein, & Rogers, 2008). The robotics based Elementary Engineering Curriculum (Heffernan, 2013) - used by students in this study - and other similar projects have the potential to increase the STEM pipeline but elementary engineering is not well-understood. Research is …

Supporting Black And Brown Females’ Stem Identity Construction Through Mathematics Teacher Noticing: A Mixed Methods Study, Carolyn Gardner

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study explores the nature of the relationship between a teacher’s experiences and her pedagogical practices that are oriented to support female students of color identity construction in relation to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies and careers. The narratives and class observations of the female mathematics teacher of color who is a STEM career changer were used to identify ways in which the teacher’s lived experiences supported her mathematics teacher noticing and influenced her adaptive teaching practices. Student surveys and individual student focal interviews were analyzed to assess the students’ perceptions of the teacher’s support and their …

Understanding Stem Learning Outcomes Using A Phenomenographic Approach, Cheryl L. Brooks

Doctoral Dissertations

Today’s STEM professionals are called upon to meet the nation’s technical challenges with innovative technologies that push the boundaries of our current understanding and practices. While the total number of STEM graduates may be sufficient for the number of STEM jobs, many lack the specific competencies needed for practice, suggesting that science and engineering graduates may not be adequately prepared for careers in the STEM fields (U.S. Joint Economic Committee, 2012). Using a phenomenographical approach, the researcher interviewed 18 STEM professionals to understand the qualitatively different ways in which they gained the technical and professional competencies needed to be successful …

Conditions Supporting The Development Of Scientific Argumentation In High School Chemistry Classrooms: The Role Of Question Prompts And An Interactive Simulation, Tugba Keser

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to provide benefit to preservice and inservice science teachers, who have an interest in applying scientific argumentation in their high school chemistry instructions, by investigating role of question prompts and an interactive simulation supporting the development of scientific argumentation. In particular, the study examined the quality of students’ arguments changing over time in scientific argumentation when they constructed and defended their arguments using the “Gas Properties” computer simulation. For this purpose, forty-seven11^th grade students from four classes first worked in pairs and then, all the pairs returned the classroom for discussion. One …

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 …

Developing Spatial Reasoning Skills In General Chemistry Students, Deborah L. Carlisle

Doctoral Dissertations

The study of organic chemistry requires the understanding and use of spatial relationships, which can be challenging for many students. Prior research has shown that there is a need to develop students’ spatial reasoning skills. To that end, this study implemented guided activities designed to strengthen students’ spatial skills, with the aim of preparing students for organic chemistry and other future STEM courses. Students, taking the second semester of a two-semester general chemistry course, engaged in these activities. This study followed a quasi experimental design, in which the experimental (n = 209) and the control group (n = 212) were …

A Program Evaluation Of A Policy Intervention To Increase Racial Diversity In The Sciences And Engineering, Ricardo Leon Gomez Yepes

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation is an evaluation of an intervention designed to (a) increase the number of minority students who pursue graduate degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and (b) to develop a cadre of qualified individuals from minority backgrounds who, upon finishing their training, are ready to take positions as faculty members and mentors.

The Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) is a program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support a pathway from undergraduate to graduate school and to a career in the professoriate. AGEP is part of an effort by the U.S. …