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Articles 1 - 30 of 38
Full-Text Articles in Education
Addressing Student Engagement During Covid-19: Secondary Stem Teachers Attend To The Affective Dimension Of Learner Needs, Tiffany Roman, Laurie Brantley-Dias, Michael Dias, Belinda Edwards
Addressing Student Engagement During Covid-19: Secondary Stem Teachers Attend To The Affective Dimension Of Learner Needs, Tiffany Roman, Laurie Brantley-Dias, Michael Dias, Belinda Edwards
Faculty and Research Publications
This case study examines how a cohort of eleven induction secondary STEM teachers engaged learners during the onset of COVID-19 and their designs for student engagement given an online or blended teaching context in fall 2020. Participants attended a summer professional development workshop guided by trauma-informed teaching practices and learner engagement conceptual frameworks. Through the analysis of teacher artifacts and interviews, we identified dimensions of student engagement that teachers prioritized. Results indicate a marked increase in teachers’ attention to affective and social dimensions of learner engagement. We argue that teacher awareness and action in the affective domain of student engagement …
Mathematical Tasks And The Student, David Clarke, Heidi Strømskag, Heather Lynn Johnson, Angelika Bikner-Ahsbahs, Kimberly Gardner
Mathematical Tasks And The Student, David Clarke, Heidi Strømskag, Heather Lynn Johnson, Angelika Bikner-Ahsbahs, Kimberly Gardner
Faculty and Research Publications
Mathematics Education has at its core a conception of the mathematical performances that represent the aspirations of the mathematics classroom and curriculum. These performances are constituted through teacher and student participation in the activities stimulated by mathematical tasks selected by the teacher for the realization of an instructional purpose. In this nexus of activity, intention, interpretation and consequence, the mathematical task occupies a central place. This Research Forum provides an opportunity to explore and reflect upon the role that mathematical tasks play in the achievement of the goals of the international mathematics education community. Further, consistent with current curricular and …
Students' Perceived Utility Of Precision Taught Calculus, Rebecca-Anne Dibbs, David Glassmeyer, Wafa Yacoub
Students' Perceived Utility Of Precision Taught Calculus, Rebecca-Anne Dibbs, David Glassmeyer, Wafa Yacoub
Faculty and Research Publications
The last decade of calculus research has showed students learn best when lecture is supplemented with thoughtful use of technology and group work; however, educators are given little direction of how they are to balance the already full first semester calculus class. Precision teaching is an instructional model that employs formative assessment to provide information on what topics are understood by students as well as indicate troublesome concepts. With this information, the instructor can adjust class time accordingly by incorporating supplemental activities most beneficial to students. The purpose of this interview study was to explore the perceived utility of precision …
A Data Generating Review That Bops, Twists And Pulls At Misconceptions, Kimberly Gardner
A Data Generating Review That Bops, Twists And Pulls At Misconceptions, Kimberly Gardner
Faculty and Research Publications
Statistics is an integral part of the K-12 mathematics curriculum (age 5-18). Naturally, students construct misconceptions of what they learn. This article discusses The Bop It© Challenge, a review activity assesses student understanding and reveals their misundertandings of statistical concepts.
An Item Response Curves Analysis Of The Force Concept Inventory, Gary A. Morris, Nathan Harshman, Lee Branum-Martin, Eric Mazur, Taha Mzoughi, Stephen D. Baker
An Item Response Curves Analysis Of The Force Concept Inventory, Gary A. Morris, Nathan Harshman, Lee Branum-Martin, Eric Mazur, Taha Mzoughi, Stephen D. Baker
Faculty and Research Publications
Several years ago, we introduced the idea of item response curves (IRC), a simplistic form of item response theory (IRT), to the physics education research community as a way to examine item performance on diagnostic instruments such as the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). We noted that a full-blown analysis using IRT would be a next logical step, which several authors have since taken. In this paper, we show that our simple approach not only yields similar conclusions in the analysis of the performance of items on the FCI to the more sophisticated and complex IRT analyses but also permits additional …
Following Student Gaze Patterns In Physical Science Lectures, David Rosengrant, Doug Hearrington, Kerriann Alvarado, Danielle Keeble
Following Student Gaze Patterns In Physical Science Lectures, David Rosengrant, Doug Hearrington, Kerriann Alvarado, Danielle Keeble
Faculty and Research Publications
This study investigates the gaze patterns of undergraduate college students attending a lecture-based physical science class to better understand the relationships between gaze and focus patterns and student attention during class. The investigators used a new eye-tracking product; Tobii Glasses. The glasses eliminate the need for subjects to focus on a computer screen or carry around a backpack-sized recording device, thus giving an investigator the ability to study a broader range of research questions. This investigation includes what students focus on in the classroom (i.e. demonstrations, instructor, notes, board work, and presentations) during a normal lecture, what diverts attention away …
Meeting Their Fullest Potential: The Beliefs And Teaching Of A Culturally Relevant Science Teacher, Charlease P. Kelly-Jackson, Tambra O. Jackson
Meeting Their Fullest Potential: The Beliefs And Teaching Of A Culturally Relevant Science Teacher, Charlease P. Kelly-Jackson, Tambra O. Jackson
Faculty and Research Publications
As elementary and middle school children of color continue to score poorly on science standardized tests, culturally relevant teaching has been shown to be an effective approach to addressing the social and academic needs of students from diverse backgrounds. This article illustrates how the theory of culturally relevant pedagogy is embraced in the teaching beliefs of a sixth grade science teacher in a rural, low socioeconomic, predominantly African American school. The findings from a qualitative case study reveal beliefs and teaching practices consistent with three major tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy: conceptions of self and students; social relations; and perceptions …
Undergraduate Science Research: A Comparison Of Influences And Experiences Between Premed And Non-Premed Students, Lara Brongo Pacifici, Norman Thompson
Undergraduate Science Research: A Comparison Of Influences And Experiences Between Premed And Non-Premed Students, Lara Brongo Pacifici, Norman Thompson
Faculty and Research Publications
Most students participating in science undergraduate research (UR) plan to attend either medical school or graduate school. This study examines possible differences between premed and non-premed students in their influences to do research and expectations of research. Questionnaire responses from 55 premed students and 80 non-premed students were analyzed. No differences existed in the expectations of research between the two groups, but attitudes toward science and intrinsic motivation to learn more about science were significantly higher for non-premed students. Follow-up interviews with 11 of the students, including a case study with one premed student, provided explanation for the observed differences. …
Impulse-Momentum Diagrams, David Rosengrant
Impulse-Momentum Diagrams, David Rosengrant
Faculty and Research Publications
Multiple representations are a valuable tool to help students learn and understand physics concepts. Furthermore, representations help students learn how to think and act like real scientists. These representations include: pictures, free‐body diagrams, energy bar charts, electrical circuits, and, more recently, computer simulations and animations. However, instructors have limited choices when they want to help their students understand impulse and momentum. One of the only available options is the impulse‐momentum bar chart. The bar charts can effectively show the magnitude of the momentum as well as help students understand conservation of momentum, but they do not easily show the actual …
Establishing Open-Ended Assessments: Investigating The Validity Of Creative Exercises, Scott E. Lewis, Janet L. Shaw, Kathryn A. Freeman
Establishing Open-Ended Assessments: Investigating The Validity Of Creative Exercises, Scott E. Lewis, Janet L. Shaw, Kathryn A. Freeman
Faculty and Research Publications
Open-ended assessments, defined as assessments with a large set of possible correct answers, by nature lend themselves to concerns regarding accurate and consistent grading. This article describes one particular open-ended assessment, named Creative Exercises (CE), designed for promoting students' interconnection of concepts in a college general chemistry setting. The article presents evidence concerning several aspects of validity, including the extent scores represent chemistry knowledge and the extent scoring is consistent across three graders. The evidence is also presented in the context of what is known about concept maps, a commonly employed open-ended assessment in chemistry. Implications for the administration of …
Developing Mathematical Content Knowledge For Teaching Elementary School Mathematics, Eva Thanheiser, Christine A. Browning, Meg Moss, Tad Watanabe, Gina Garza-Kling
Developing Mathematical Content Knowledge For Teaching Elementary School Mathematics, Eva Thanheiser, Christine A. Browning, Meg Moss, Tad Watanabe, Gina Garza-Kling
Faculty and Research Publications
In this paper the authors present three design principles they use to develop preservice teachers' mathematical content knowledge for teaching in their mathematics content and/or methods courses: (1) building on currently held conceptions, (2) modeling teaching for understanding, (3) focusing on connections between content knowledge and other types of knowledge. The authors share results of individual research projects and teaching approaches focusing on helping preservice elementary teachers develop such knowledge. Specific examples from different content areas (whole number, fractions, angle, and area) are discussed.
The Stories They’D Tell: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Writing Stories To Demonstrate Physical Science Concepts, Jennifer Kreps Frisch
The Stories They’D Tell: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Writing Stories To Demonstrate Physical Science Concepts, Jennifer Kreps Frisch
Faculty and Research Publications
Preservice teachers enrolled in a science content-based course wrote stories that could help their future students understand a science concept. First, participants chose their topic and wrote the story with few guidelines to establish a baseline. In the next part, a different set of students were given a choice of three topics (based on force, electricity, and heat misconceptions), and collaborated to write stories with guidance from the instructor. Stories were analyzed for narrative and science units, and test scores examined. Without guidance, many students struggled to find ways to integrate science within a story. With guidance, participants wrote stories …
Creative Exercises In General Chemistry: A Student-Centered Assessment, Scott E. Lewis, Janet L. Shaw, Kathryn A. Freeman
Creative Exercises In General Chemistry: A Student-Centered Assessment, Scott E. Lewis, Janet L. Shaw, Kathryn A. Freeman
Faculty and Research Publications
Creative exercises (CEs) are a form of assessment in which students are given a prompt and asked to write down as many distinct, correct, and relevant facts about the prompt as they can. Students receive credit for each fact that they include that is related to the prompt and distinct from the other facts they list. With CEs, students have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and the opportunity to select the information that they believe is related to the prompt. In addition, CEs encourage students to connect concepts because any relevant information presented can assist them in completing the …
A Longitudinal Study Of Cultural Competence Among Health Science Faculty, Astrid H. Wilson, Susan Sanner, Lydia E. Mcallister
A Longitudinal Study Of Cultural Competence Among Health Science Faculty, Astrid H. Wilson, Susan Sanner, Lydia E. Mcallister
Faculty and Research Publications
The purpose of this study was to measure the process of cultural competence over time in a group of Health Science Faculty teaching nursing and other allied health students. Faculty (n=28) were administered the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals (IAPCC) prior to a cultural competence workshop, immediately after the workshop, and again at three months, six months and 12 months. The mean scores increased significantly with each administration of the IAPCC from the pretest administration (52.17) to the 12 month administration (59.71) demonstrating new knowledge related to cultural competence as a process.
"What Was Really Accomplished Today?" Mathematics Content Specialists Observe A Class For Prospective K-8 Teachers, Andrew M. Tyminski, Sarah D. Ledford, Dennis Hembree
"What Was Really Accomplished Today?" Mathematics Content Specialists Observe A Class For Prospective K-8 Teachers, Andrew M. Tyminski, Sarah D. Ledford, Dennis Hembree
Faculty and Research Publications
One of the important activities mathematics teacher educators engage in is the development of teachers at both the in-service and pre-service levels. Also of importance is the professional development of these professional developers. In the summer of 2004, a summer institute was held that allowed mathematics teacher educators watch the teaching of a mathematics content course for prospective K-8 teachers. This paper examines the manner in which a specific group of mathematics content specialists experienced this professional development.
Generativity: The New Frontier For Information And Communication Technology Literacy, Jorge Pérez, Meg C. Murray
Generativity: The New Frontier For Information And Communication Technology Literacy, Jorge Pérez, Meg C. Murray
Faculty and Research Publications
Information and communication technology literacy is increasingly referred to as the fourth literacy. However, it is neither as well understood nor as readily assessed as reading, writing, and arithmetic. This paper argues that better understanding and more effective measurement of ICT literacy are needed to gauge readiness to both pursue higher education and enter the workforce. The paper builds on existing definitions of ICT literacy by introducing a model that extends the dimensionality of the construct. The model posits that skills and knowledge, along with attitudes toward IT, coalesce in the context of reflective self-awareness and purposeful intent to allow …
Detection Of Psilocybin Mushroom Analogs In Chocolate: Incorporating Current Events Into The Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory, Brandon Huskins, Christopher Dockery
Detection Of Psilocybin Mushroom Analogs In Chocolate: Incorporating Current Events Into The Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory, Brandon Huskins, Christopher Dockery
Faculty and Research Publications
In this experiment, tryptamine is used as a psilocin analog and is dispersed onto a Fisher brand cellulose laboratory sponge to simulate dehydrated mushrooms. The resulting “mushroom” material is ground, molded into chocolate, and presented to student groups for real-world and applied analyses. Students isolate the tryptamine from the chocolate using their knowledge of drug chemistry, solubility, pH, extractions, etc. Qualitative analysis is conducted by comparison to standards (Thin Layer Chromatography or Gas Chromatography) and quantitative analysis is conducted by Gas Chromatography using the method of internal standards.
Indirect Gravimetric Determination Of Waters Of Hydration, Marina C. Koether
Indirect Gravimetric Determination Of Waters Of Hydration, Marina C. Koether
Faculty and Research Publications
An alternate gravimetric experiment is described that can be employed in the general chemistry or the quantitative analysis laboratory course. The procedure takes less time than conventional methods and introduces students to waters of hydration and indirect determinations.
Enhancing Ocean Literacy Using Real-Time Data, Lisa G. Adams, George Matsumoto
Enhancing Ocean Literacy Using Real-Time Data, Lisa G. Adams, George Matsumoto
Faculty and Research Publications
No abstract provided.
Shark Teeth Classification, Tom Brown, Sally Creel, Velda Lee
Shark Teeth Classification, Tom Brown, Sally Creel, Velda Lee
Faculty and Research Publications
On a recent autumn afternoon at Harmony Leland Elementary in Mableton, Georgia, students in a fifth-grade science class investigated the essential process of classification--the act of putting things into groups according to some common characteristics or attributes. While they may have honed these skills earlier in the week by grouping their own shoes or school supplies, this class provided the unique opportunity to classify objects that are inherently fascinating to students--shark teeth fossils! This article describes how by using the teeth to estimate the length of ancient sharks, students got a classification activity they could really sink their teeth into.
Do Students Use And Understand Free-Body Diagrams?, David Rosengrant, Alan Van Heuvelen, Eugenia Etkina
Do Students Use And Understand Free-Body Diagrams?, David Rosengrant, Alan Van Heuvelen, Eugenia Etkina
Faculty and Research Publications
Physics education literature recommends using multiple representations to help students understand concepts and solve problems. However, there is little research concerning why students use the representations and whether those who use them are more successful. This study addresses these questions using free-body diagrams (diagrammatic representations used in problems involving forces) as a type of representation. We conducted a two-year quantitative and qualitative study of students’ use of free-body diagrams while solving physics problems. We found that when students are in a course that consistently emphasizes the use of free-body diagrams, the majority of them do use diagrams on their own …
Animated Database Courseware: Using Animations To Extend Conceptual Understanding Of Database Concepts, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes
Animated Database Courseware: Using Animations To Extend Conceptual Understanding Of Database Concepts, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes
Faculty and Research Publications
Teaching abstract concepts can be best supported with supplemental instructional materials such as software animations. Visualization and animations have been shown to increase student motivation and help students develop deeper understandings. Through an NSF funded CCLI grant, a set of animations to support the teaching of database concepts is being developed and made freely available. Current modules available cover areas such as database design, interactive SQL, stored procedures and triggers, transactions and database security. In this paper, we provide an overview of the Animated Database Courseware (ADbC) as well as provide examples of how this software might be utilized in …
Computing For The Masses: Extending The Computer Science Curriculum With Information Technology Literacy, Jorge Pérez, Meg C. Murray
Computing For The Masses: Extending The Computer Science Curriculum With Information Technology Literacy, Jorge Pérez, Meg C. Murray
Faculty and Research Publications
Enrollments in computer science programs continue to drop as demand for workers skilled in computing increases. Information technology scholars face the ironic challenge of attracting more students into computing disciplines in the age of ubiquitous computing. This paper chronicles a decision by a department of computer science and information systems to offer an information technology literacy course as a service to its institution. Educational and curricular justifications for the course progressed in parallel with recognition of the course's strategic value to the department in the face of sharp declines in the number of students majoring in CS or IS. Following …
An Exploratory Overview Of Teaching Computer Game Development, Mario Guimaraes, Meg C. Murray
An Exploratory Overview Of Teaching Computer Game Development, Mario Guimaraes, Meg C. Murray
Faculty and Research Publications
The computer game industry has exploded reaching sales of several billion dollars a year and, consequently, a majority of college students are familiar with the gaming environment. In fact, videogame development has been cited as one way to motivate students to explore the world of Computer Science. However, most videogames are extremely complex computer programs created by a team of developers including programmers and graphic artists and represent thousands of hours of work. Fortunately there are software tools available that provide a way for simple computer games to be created fairly easily using a building block approach. This paper discusses …
A Closer Look At The Crease Length Problem, Sean F. Ellermeyer
A Closer Look At The Crease Length Problem, Sean F. Ellermeyer
Faculty and Research Publications
An optimization problem that appears as an exercise in most modern calculus textbooks is the crease length problem. Here, Ellermeyer provides a solution of the general crease length problem in which all possible foldings of a corner to the opposite edge are taken into account. One of his findings will be that the minimum crease length is never produced by a Case 2 fold and hence that the general crease length problem always yields a different minimum than the constrained problem that is treated in the textbooks. He discovers a criterion that determines which foldings must be performed in order …
Expanding The Database Curriculum, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes
Expanding The Database Curriculum, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes
Faculty and Research Publications
As database concepts and technologies continue to evolve there exists a need to expand the topics included in database curricula. This is challenging given the restraints on the number of courses that can be included in a typical CS or IS program. While a set of commonly identified core concepts and principles exists, there is little consensus on what supplemental materials should be included in database courses. Through an NSF proof-of-concept grant, we designed and developed courseware incorporating the use of animations to deepen and enrich standard presentations of core database concepts and to complement database teachings as found in …
Learner-Centered Assignments In Computer Literacy, Martha E. Myers, Meg C. Murray, Mario Guimaraes, Debra B. Geist
Learner-Centered Assignments In Computer Literacy, Martha E. Myers, Meg C. Murray, Mario Guimaraes, Debra B. Geist
Faculty and Research Publications
Literacy is a concept that is understood to be the identifier of an educated populace. In today's world, literacy includes computer literacy, as well as language and quantitative literacy. This paper describes exercises developed to improve first year students' computer literacy through more learner-centered engagement. Exercises are designed to support learner-centered goals of independent and responsible learners, appropriate breadth and depth of content, teacher as facilitator, and assessment woven into learning. Exercise topics include purchase of a personal computer, basic logic via spreadsheets, an annotated bibliography built with electronic resources, and an integrated assignment customized by and for each student.
Problem Solving And Proving Via Generalisation, Michael De Villiers, Mary Garner
Problem Solving And Proving Via Generalisation, Michael De Villiers, Mary Garner
Faculty and Research Publications
No abstract provided.
Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein
Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein
Faculty and Research Publications
Good use of multiple representations is considered key to learning physics, and so there is considerable motivation both to learn how students use multiple representations when solving problems and to learn how best to teach problem solving using multiple representations. In this study of two large-lecture algebra-based physics courses at the University of Colorado (CU) and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, we address both issues. Students in each of the two courses solved five common electrostatics problems of varying difficulty, and we examine their solutions to clarify the relationship between multiple representation use and performance on problems involving …
Testing The Test: Item Response Curves And Test Quality, Gary A. Morris, Lee Branum-Martin, Nathan Harshman, Stephen D. Baxter, Eric Mazur, Suvendra Dutta, Taha Mzoughi, Veronica Mccauley
Testing The Test: Item Response Curves And Test Quality, Gary A. Morris, Lee Branum-Martin, Nathan Harshman, Stephen D. Baxter, Eric Mazur, Suvendra Dutta, Taha Mzoughi, Veronica Mccauley
Faculty and Research Publications
We present a simple technique for evaluating multiple-choice questions and their answers beyond the usual measures of difficulty and the effectiveness of distractors. The technique involves the construction and qualitative consideration of item response curves and is based on item response theory from the field of education measurement. To demonstrate the technique, we apply item response curve analysis to three questions from the Force Concept Inventory. Item response curve analysis allows us to characterize qualitatively whether these questions are efficient, where efficient is defined in terms of the construction, performance, and discrimination of a question and its answer choices. This …