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Full-Text Articles in Education

Exploring Practical Measures As An Approach For Measuring Elementary Students’ Attitudes Towards Computer Science, Umar Shehzad, Mimi M. Recker, Jody E. Clarke-Midura Apr 2024

Exploring Practical Measures As An Approach For Measuring Elementary Students’ Attitudes Towards Computer Science, Umar Shehzad, Mimi M. Recker, Jody E. Clarke-Midura

Publications

This paper presents a novel approach for predicting the outcomes of elementary students’ participation in computer science (CS) instruction by using exit tickets, a type of practical measure, where students provide rapid feedback on their instructional experiences. Such feedback can help teachers to inform ongoing teaching and instructional practices. We fit a Structural Equation Model to examine whether students' perceptions of enjoyment, ease, and connections between mathematics and CS in an integrated lesson predicted their affective outcomes in self-efficacy, interest, and CS identity, collected in a pre- post- survey. We found that practical measures can validly measure student experiences.


Rethinking Integrated Computer Science Instruction: A Cross-Context And Expansive Approach In Elementary Classrooms, Umar Shehzad, Jody E. Clarke-Midura, Kimberly Beck, Jessica F. Shumway, Mimi M. Recker Apr 2023

Rethinking Integrated Computer Science Instruction: A Cross-Context And Expansive Approach In Elementary Classrooms, Umar Shehzad, Jody E. Clarke-Midura, Kimberly Beck, Jessica F. Shumway, Mimi M. Recker

Publications

This study examines how a rural-serving school district aimed to provide elementary level computer science (CS) by offering instruction during students’ computer lab, a class taught by paraprofessional educators with limited background in computing. As part of a research practice partnership, cross-context mathematics and CS lessons were co-designed to expansively frame and highlight connections across – as opposed to integration within – the two subjects. Findings indicate that the paraprofessionals teaching the lessons generally reported positive experiences and understanding of content; however, those less comfortable with the content reported lower student interest. Further, most students who engaged with the lessons …


Geometry And Coding: Introducing An Interactive And Integrated Mathematics-Computer Science Unit, Kimberly Beck, Jessica F. Shumway Apr 2023

Geometry And Coding: Introducing An Interactive And Integrated Mathematics-Computer Science Unit, Kimberly Beck, Jessica F. Shumway

Publications

As part of a collaborative project between Utah State University, the Cache County School District, and Stanford, instructional units were designed for fifth-grade students. These units integrated math concepts of geometrical shapes and computer science concepts of sequences, conditionals, and loops. One component of the unit was implemented in math classrooms by math teachers, and the other component was implemented in computer labs. This presentation will focus on the math unit as presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM-V).


Co-Designing Elementary-Level Computer Science And Mathematics Lessons: An Expansive Framing Approach, Umar Shehzad, Jody Clarke-Midura, Kimberly Beck, Jessica Shumway, Mimi Recker Jan 2023

Co-Designing Elementary-Level Computer Science And Mathematics Lessons: An Expansive Framing Approach, Umar Shehzad, Jody Clarke-Midura, Kimberly Beck, Jessica Shumway, Mimi Recker

Publications

This study examines how a rural-serving school district aimed to provide elementary-level computer science (CS) by offering instruction during students’ computer lab time. As part of a research-practice partnership, cross-context mathematics and CS lessons were co-designed to expansively frame and highlight connections across – as opposed to integration within – the two subjects. Findings indicated that most students who engaged with the lessons across the lab and classroom contexts reported finding the lessons interesting, seeing connections to their mathematics classes, and understanding the programming. In contrast, a three-level logistic regression model showed that students who only learned about mathematics connections …


Applying Expansive Framing To An Integrated Mathematics-Computer Science Unit, Kimberly Evagelatos Beck, Jessica F. Shumway Sep 2022

Applying Expansive Framing To An Integrated Mathematics-Computer Science Unit, Kimberly Evagelatos Beck, Jessica F. Shumway

Publications

In this research report for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2022 Research Conference, we discuss the theory of Expansive Framing and its application to an interdisciplinary mathematics-computer science curricular unit.


"Design For Co-Design" In A Computer Science Curriculum Research-Practice Partnership, Victor R. Lee, Jody Clarke-Midura, Jessica F. Shumway, Mimi Recker Aug 2022

"Design For Co-Design" In A Computer Science Curriculum Research-Practice Partnership, Victor R. Lee, Jody Clarke-Midura, Jessica F. Shumway, Mimi Recker

Publications

This paper reports on a study of the dynamics of a Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) oriented around design, specifically the co-design model. The RPP is focused on supporting elementary school computer science (CS) instruction by involving paraprofessional educators and teachers in curricular co-design. A problem of practice addressed is that few elementary educators have backgrounds in teaching CS and have limited available instructional time and budget for CS. The co-design strategy entailed highlighting CS concepts in the mathematics curriculum during classroom instruction and designing computer lab lessons that explored related ideas through programming. Analyses focused on tensions within RPP interaction dynamics …


Characterizing The Growth Of One Student's Mathematical Understanding In A Multi-Representational Learning Environment, Hilal Gulkilik, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Hasan Huseyin Ugurlu, Nejla Yuruk Mar 2020

Characterizing The Growth Of One Student's Mathematical Understanding In A Multi-Representational Learning Environment, Hilal Gulkilik, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Hasan Huseyin Ugurlu, Nejla Yuruk

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to characterize the growth of one student’s mathematical understanding and use of different representations about a geometric transformation, dilation. We accomplished this purpose by using the Pirie-Kieren model jointly with the Semiotic Representation Theory as a lens. Elif, a 10th- grade student, was purposefully chosen as the case for this study because of the growth of mathematical understanding about dilation she exhibited over time. Elif participated in task-based interviews before, during and after participating in a variety of transformation lessons where she used multiple representations, including physical and virtual manipulatives. The results …


Cooperative Extension And Sustainability Outreach: Programmatic Successes, Administrative Support, And Areas For Improvement, Roslynn Brain Mccann, Mark Apel, Clark Dove, Ramona Madhosingh-Hector, Jennison Kipp Searcy, David Kay Feb 2020

Cooperative Extension And Sustainability Outreach: Programmatic Successes, Administrative Support, And Areas For Improvement, Roslynn Brain Mccann, Mark Apel, Clark Dove, Ramona Madhosingh-Hector, Jennison Kipp Searcy, David Kay

Extension Research

According to the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, without urgent global changes, climate catastrophe caused by warming of greater than 1.5°C will occur by 2030, endangering the planet's capacity to sustain human populations and livelihoods. The National Network for Sustainable Living Education administered a national survey in January 2017 to assess how well-positioned Extension is to address sustainability in the communities the organization serves. Educators from 40 states responded, and 1,395 usable surveys were received. Survey results will help Extension employees discover opportunities for innovation and relevancy in their programming.


Student Insights Report, Fall 2019, The Center For Student Analytics Sep 2019

Student Insights Report, Fall 2019, The Center For Student Analytics

Publications

For the past three years, the staff of the Center for Student Analytics have worked to discover and expose meaningful, data-informed insights into what helps students succeed at Utah State University. The following pages highlight 20 of the most useful insights we found provided here in small sets that will be useful to students, faculty, staff, university leadership, parents, and even prospective students. As you explore this report, we encourage you to see the student data as a window into USU itself. While big data helps us understand how individual students are performing, it tells us a great deal more …


Imagining Across Disciplines For A Sustainable Future, Emily James Nov 2018

Imagining Across Disciplines For A Sustainable Future, Emily James

Writing Center Analysis Papers

At present, the words sustainable and sustainability tend to be associated with environmental issues. Yet, the word sustain comes from the Old French sostenier meaning, “hold up, bear; suffer, endure” and Latin’s sustinere that adds, “hold upright; furnish with means of support; undergo.” Latin’s sustinere can further be broken down into the elements sub and tenere, the root of which, ten, means, “to stretch” (Harper). This paper reflects upon the ways in which the concept of sustainability affects my role as a writing tutor and composition instructor as I seek to help students stretch their abilities to develop ideas …


How Design Features In Digital Math Games Support Learning And Mathematics Connections, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Christina W. Lommatsch, Kristy Litster, Jill Ashby, Emma P. Bullock, Allison L. Roxburgh, Jessica F. Shumway, Emily Speed, Benjamin Covington, Christine Hartmann, Jody Clarke-Midura, Joel Skaria, Arla Westenskow, Beth L. Macdonald, Jurgen Symanzik, Kerry Jordan Oct 2018

How Design Features In Digital Math Games Support Learning And Mathematics Connections, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Christina W. Lommatsch, Kristy Litster, Jill Ashby, Emma P. Bullock, Allison L. Roxburgh, Jessica F. Shumway, Emily Speed, Benjamin Covington, Christine Hartmann, Jody Clarke-Midura, Joel Skaria, Arla Westenskow, Beth L. Macdonald, Jurgen Symanzik, Kerry Jordan

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Current research shows that digital games can significantly enhance children’s learning. The purpose of this study was to examine how design features in 12 digital math games influenced children’s learning. The participants in this study were 193 children in Grades 2 through 6 (ages 8-12). During clinical interviews, children in the study completed pre-tests, interacted with digital math games, responded to questions about the digital math games, and completed post-tests. We recorded the interactions using two video perspectives that recorded children’s gameplay and responses to interviewers. We employed mixed methods to analyze the data and identify salient patterns in children’s …


In-Class Versus At-Home Quizzes: Which Is Better? A Flipped Learning Study In A Two-Site Synchronously-Broadcast Organic Chemistry Course, Michael A. Christensen, Alyssia M. Lambert, Louis S. Nadelson, Kami M. Dupree, Trish A. Kingsford Dec 2016

In-Class Versus At-Home Quizzes: Which Is Better? A Flipped Learning Study In A Two-Site Synchronously-Broadcast Organic Chemistry Course, Michael A. Christensen, Alyssia M. Lambert, Louis S. Nadelson, Kami M. Dupree, Trish A. Kingsford

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

We recently shared our design of a two-semester flipped organic chemistry course, in which we gave students in-class quizzes to incentivize attendance and watching the lecture videos in advance. With a second iteration, we planned to make the video-watching experience more engaging. We accordingly hypothesized that if students completed short at-home quizzes while watching the videos, then attentiveness, engagement, and learning would increase. We tested this with a later section of the course, dividing the material into 13 units. For units 1-6, we gave in-class quizzes; for 7-13, quizzes were at home. Although units 1-6 and 7-13 covered different material, …


The National Science Foundation's Coupling, Energetics And Dynamics Of Atmospheric Regions (Cedar) Student Community, Leda Sox, Timothy Duly, Barbara Emery Dec 2014

The National Science Foundation's Coupling, Energetics And Dynamics Of Atmospheric Regions (Cedar) Student Community, Leda Sox, Timothy Duly, Barbara Emery

Physics Student Research

The National Science Foundation sponsors Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) Workshops, which have been held every summer, for the past 27 years. CEDAR Workshops are on the order of a week long and at various locations that are close to university campuses where CEDAR type scientific research is done. Although there is no formal student group within the CEDAR community, the workshops are very student-focused. Roughly half the Workshop participants are students. There are two Student Representatives on the CEDAR Science Steering Committee (CSSC), the group of scientists who organize the CEDAR Workshops. Each Student Representative is …


Less Cookbook And More Research! Synthetic Efforts Toward Jbir-94 And Jbir-125: A Student-Designed Research Project In A Sophomore Organic Chemistry Lab, Mike A. Christiansen, C. L. Crawford, C. D. Mangum Feb 2014

Less Cookbook And More Research! Synthetic Efforts Toward Jbir-94 And Jbir-125: A Student-Designed Research Project In A Sophomore Organic Chemistry Lab, Mike A. Christiansen, C. L. Crawford, C. D. Mangum

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In light of the meaningful learning gains that can be obtained through a genuine research experience, chemistry educators have had a longstanding interest in making teaching labs less “cookbook-like” and more research-driven [1]. With this mindset, we recently restructured our two-semester sophomore organic chemistry lab course to include a synthesis project that was chosen, designed, and carried out by students. This led to progress toward the syntheses of JBIR-94 and JBIR-125, two antioxidative/anticancer natural products that have yet to be assembled through organic chemistry. The major drawback of our course redesign is that it requires close supervision by an instructor …


Remediation Research In Usu 1360 Intelligent Life In The Universe, Tony Triplett, Jared Butler Jan 2014

Remediation Research In Usu 1360 Intelligent Life In The Universe, Tony Triplett, Jared Butler

Physics Student Research

Some students struggle more than others during their college years and if not identified and given the help they need many drop out, resulting in less money for the university and lack of direction and education for the student. Students were identified as “at-risk” after failing their first exam in a general science course and were given an extra assignment to make up some points. The assignment was given to help students learn structured study skills in order to prepare for the following examination. The work turned in by these students was analyzed and critiqued for quality and effort. As …


An Electrolysis Experiment For A Middle School Summer Science Camp, Mike A. Christiansen, Leslie Jessup, Kevin D. Woodward Jul 2013

An Electrolysis Experiment For A Middle School Summer Science Camp, Mike A. Christiansen, Leslie Jessup, Kevin D. Woodward

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Higher education is often culturally deemphasized in the geographic area served by our rural, regional campus. As a result, faculty members have the opportunity to spearhead teaching efforts designed to educate the community about the importance of obtaining a post-secondary degree. To this end, we recently held a Science Summer Camp for middle school students, designed to infuse young people with an increased excitement for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. In this report, we summarize a chemical electrolysis experiment we carried out with middle school students for our annual Science Summer Camp. We also provided procedural guidelines for …


Collaborative Strategic Board Games As A Site For Distributed Computational Thinking, Matthew Berland, Victor R. Lee Apr 2011

Collaborative Strategic Board Games As A Site For Distributed Computational Thinking, Matthew Berland, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper examines the idea that contemporary strategic board games represent an informal, interactional context in which complex computational thinking takes place. When games are collaborative – that is, a game requires that players work in joint pursuit of a shared goal – the computational thinking is easily observed as distributed across several participants. This raises the possibility that a focus on such board games are profitable for those who wish to understand computational thinking and learning in situ. This paper introduces a coding scheme, applies it to the recorded discourse of three groups of game players, and provides qualitative …


Earth Systems Lesson Plan: Size And Forces Of The Solar System, Getaway Special Team 2010 Sep 2010

Earth Systems Lesson Plan: Size And Forces Of The Solar System, Getaway Special Team 2010

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.


Elementary And Middle School Science Lesson Plan: Solid, Liquid, Gas, What Is It?, Getaway Special Team 2010 Sep 2010

Elementary And Middle School Science Lesson Plan: Solid, Liquid, Gas, What Is It?, Getaway Special Team 2010

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.


Physics Lesson Plan: How Far And Fast Does It Travel?, Getaway Special Team 2010 Sep 2010

Physics Lesson Plan: How Far And Fast Does It Travel?, Getaway Special Team 2010

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.


Where In The World? Demographic Patterns In Access Data, Mimi Recker, Beijie Xu, Sherry Hsi, Christine Garrard Jun 2010

Where In The World? Demographic Patterns In Access Data, Mimi Recker, Beijie Xu, Sherry Hsi, Christine Garrard

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Standard webmetrics tools record the IP address of users’ computers, thereby providing fodder for analyses of their geographical location, and for understanding the impact of e-learning and teaching. Here we describe how two web-based educational systems were engineered to collect geo-referenced data. This is followed by a description of joining these data with demographic and educational datasets for the United States, and mapping different datasets using geographic information system (GIS) techniques to visually display their relationships. Results from statistical analyses of these relationships that highlight areas of significance are given.


Educational Data Mining Approaches For Digital Libraries, Mimi Recker, Sherry Hsi, Beijie Xu, Rob Rothfarb Nov 2009

Educational Data Mining Approaches For Digital Libraries, Mimi Recker, Sherry Hsi, Beijie Xu, Rob Rothfarb

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This collaborative research project between the Exploratorium and Utah State's Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences investigates online evaluation approaches and the application of educational data mining to educational digital libraries and services. Much work over the past decades has focused on developing algorithms and methods for discovering patterns in large datasets, known as Knowledge Discovery from Data (KDD). Webmetrics, the application of KDD to web usage mining, is growing rapidly in areas such as e-commerce. Educational Data Mining (EDM) is just beginning to emerge as a tool to analyze the massive, longitudinal user data that are captured in …


Sixth Grade Lesson Plan: Heat Moves, Getaway Special Team 2009 Oct 2009

Sixth Grade Lesson Plan: Heat Moves, Getaway Special Team 2009

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.


Fifth Grade Lesson Plan: Solid, Liquid, And Gas, Getaway Special Team 2009 Oct 2009

Fifth Grade Lesson Plan: Solid, Liquid, And Gas, Getaway Special Team 2009

Education and Outreach

No abstract provided.


Energy Efficient Appliances, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson Jul 2005

Energy Efficient Appliances, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.


Energy Efficient Windows, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson Jul 2005

Energy Efficient Windows, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.


Lighting, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson Jul 2005

Lighting, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.


Solar South, Roof Overhangs, And Light Shelves, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson Jul 2005

Solar South, Roof Overhangs, And Light Shelves, Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.


Checklist To Determine Energy Efficiency Of A Home, Leona Hawks Jul 2005

Checklist To Determine Energy Efficiency Of A Home, Leona Hawks

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.


Photovoltaic Systems (Pv), Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson Jul 2005

Photovoltaic Systems (Pv), Leona Hawks, Celia Peterson

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.