Education Commons^™

Agriculture Education Teacher Perspectives On Stem In Secondary Classrooms -A Delphi Study, Nicholas Kyle Porter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Recent statistics tell us that the number of jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related fields are growing at a rapid rate, it is projected that STEM related careers will grow 17% between 2008 and 2018 (Langdon, n.d.). Within these areas lies agriculture. Given the shift of career opportunities, such as in the areas of research and development, a change has to be made in the way students are educated within agriculture. The ultimate goal of all educators is to better prepare students for their future careers and endeavors because these students are the future of our food …

The Effects Of Problem-Based Learning On Mathematics Achievement Of Elementary Students Across Time, Brittany Marie Crowley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study specifically evaluated the long-term effects of problem-based learning (PBL) instruction on the mathematics achievement of students who demonstrated higher ability in the subject area than their comparable peers. Subjects included 65 students from six south-central Kentucky elementary schools who participated in Project Gifted Education in Math and Science (Project GEMS), a grant partially funded through the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program. The students were assigned to one of three conditions – PBL-Plus, PBL, or Control – based upon school of attendance. The participants were then administered baseline testing in the fall of the …

Student Transition At A Residential Stem School, Olivia Kaitlin Gatten

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of this qualitative study was to gain insight into which personal factors most affect student adjustment in a state residential STEM school. Factors from Tinto’s Model of Institutional Departure were used as the framework to capture the transition of gifted high school students from traditional high school to The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a statewide residential STEM school. Tinto’s Model predicts college persistence using pre-existing individual characteristics and institutional experiences. These qualities and experiences were used to form questions about student traits and transition. Questionnaires were administered to Gatton Academy first-year students, …

Improvement Of Pedagogical Laboratory Based Learning: Multimedia Enhanced Instructional Methods, Sumbul Khan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In engineering technology and other scientific-based education, lab-based courses play a crucial role (Ma & Nickerson, 2006). Even though laboratory experience in student learning is crucial, it faces some problems. Due to insufficient laboratory conditions that lead to overcrowding and inability to view demonstrations, the effectiveness of hands on experience declines (Tiwari & Singh, 2011; Tuysuz, 2010). Considering the limitations that constrain lab experience, investigating and implementing alternatives to enhance pedagogical laboratory based learning becomes inevitable. This study investigates multimedia enhanced pedagogical teaching methods for delivering laboratory instruction to students. The purpose of this study was to improve pedagogical laboratory …

Mathematics Anxiety In Ninth-Grade Pre-Algebra, Jacquelyn D. Tretter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this qualitative action research study, five lower-achieving freshman prealgebra students in a rural high school were interviewed about mathematics anxiety. The subjects ranged in age from 13 to 15 years and included three boys and two girls, of which one was Hispanic, one was African-American, and three were Caucasian. These students had tested below the fourth-grade level in mathematics during their eighth-grade year and were placed in special pre-algebra classes, which met for 30 additional minutes each day and progressed with more depth, but at a slower pace.

The researcher employed personal interviews to answer the research question: How …

Development Of A Math Interest Inventory To Identify Gifted Students From Underrepresented And Diverse Populations, Gabrielle M. Snow

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current investigation supports the objectives of Project GEMS (Roberts, 2008), a grant funded program whose objectives include the development and validation of a protocol to identify students from underrepresented and diverse populations as gifted in the content areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Identification of students from low-income and diverse populations as gifted has been a struggle with current assessment techniques (Baldwin, 2005). Project GEMS aims to address this problem through development of interest measures specific to the STEM areas for use within an identification protocol. The current project developed a measure to assess interest in mathematics. The …

Development Of A Teacher Identification Form Of Student Interest In Mathematics, Sarah E. Thompson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Comparing the mathematics performance of American students to their counterparts in other countries has been a common theme in recent literature, with conclusions generally finding that American students are falling far behind. One response to this problem may involve research which has shown a modest positive correlation between student interest and achievement in math (Koller, Baumert, & Schnabel, 2001; Schiefele, Krapp, & Winteler, 1992). Being able to identify students with high levels of interest in math may allow educators to provide advanced instruction to such students.

Current measures of student interest in mathematics are lacking in that they often are …

A Survey Of Factors Affecting Enrollment In Mathematics Teacher Education Programs, Rebecca Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Concern for an adequate supply of competent mathematics teachers prompted this research. The study was implemented to identify the factors believed to be of importance in a student's decision concerning whether or not to become a public school teacher.

A comparison was made between two groups of mathematics students at Western Kentucky University. Mathematics students were separated according to whether or not they were pursuing teacher certification.

A two-part questionnaire was administered. The first part asked students to rate the importance of 10 selected career factors in their career decision. The second part asked students to rate these same 10 …

A Study Of Types Of Presentations & Materials Utilized In Selected Title I Math Programs In Kentucky, Judith White

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Two groups of Title I Math teachers, one representing school systems which reported second and third grade student achievement gains of one year or more on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills for 1978-79, and one group which reported gains of less than eight months, were surveyed in an effort to identify which methods of presentation and types of materials apparently contributed to the most successful Title I Math programs, in terms of student achievement gains.

A study of survey results indicated that a Title I Math pull-out program served by a teacher in groups of less than ten students …

An Experimental Study Of The Effects Of Required Homework Review Versus Review On Request Upon Achievement, Dolores Dick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

During the 1979-80 school year, two Algebra I classes were involved in a study to test the effects of two methods for reviewing homework problems on students' achievements and attitudes. One review procedure was to solve and explain each problem during the class period that followed the class period in which the homework assignment had been made. The other procedure involved solving and explaining only the problems that students requested to have reviewed. While one procedure was being used with one class, the other procedure was being used with the comparison class. One treatment procedure was used with a class …

Effects Of Diad Arrangement & Use Of Audio-Visual Materials On The Achievement Of Freshmen In Quantitative Physical Science Classes, Jim Duke

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purposes of this study were to compare the mean achievement of students in a Quantitative Physical Science class in which the members were allowed to select their own partners with students in a Quantitative Physical Science class in which partners were assigned on the basis of high-low test scores and to compare mean achievement of students in a Quantitative Physical Science class that used audio-visual material with the mean achievement of students in a Quantitative Physical Science class that used no audio-visual material.

The population consisted of sixty-eight ninth grade boys and girls enrolled in Quantitative Physical Science classes …

Individualized Science Instruction In The Middle Schools & Junior High Schools In Kentucky, Rita Byars

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A study was made of the individualized science instruction in the middle schools and junior high schools of Kentucky. The status of the programs was investigated by an information survey. The instrument sought answers as to the size of the schools, organization of the schools, kinds of science taught and the frequency of use of individualized science approaches. Methods of financing and the administering plans, the objectives of the plans, and the strategies implemented to achieve these were parts of the study. Questions designed to elicit details about the requirements of an individualized program included the increase in laboratory activity …

An Elementary Science Program On The Fourth Grade Level, Zelma Miles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to ascertain what is being done in elementary science on the fourth grade level in the states included in this study; (2) to determine whether the work being done is in keeping with the thinking of the modern authorities on the teaching of elementary science; and (3) to formulate a program of elementary science on the fourth grade level based on the materials considered most practical and organized around the "center of interest" currently accepted as basic for the teaching of science in the fourth grade.

A Course Of Study For General Chemistry, Paul E. Kerrick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

1. This study should help the teacher create a greater interest among the students for chemistry. The study should enable the teacher to do better teaching.
2. The study was prompted by a felt need on the part of the writer and to satisfy the partial requirements for a Masters degree.
3. The study involves three main divisions:

1. A course of study in chemistry consisting of an introduction.
2. A course of study in chemistry consisting of nine developed units.
3. The means of evaluating a course of study.

1. The scope of the study includes an introduction to chemistry usually taught in high school.
2. Materials …

A Course Of Study For Plane Geometry, Robert Sherfey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study involves the following divisions:

1. To build a course of study in plane geometry consisting of six units developed.
2. To suggest some ways of evaluating a course of study.

Educational Achievement Of Seventh & Eighth Grade Pupils In Warren County Kentucky, Edward Matthews

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to make a comparison of the achievement in reading and arithmetic of seventh and eighth grade pupils in the one, two and three-room schools and in the consolidated schools of Warren County, Kentucky.

Mechanical Drill & Meaningful Drill In Arithmetic For The Primary Grades, Mary Schell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis has been written to emphasize the differences in two methods of teaching arithmetic - mechanical drill and meaningful drill - and attempts to present a psychologically and theoretically sound proposal for instruction in number skills in the primary grades of the elementary school.

The Value Of High School Physics To The College Student, Emery White

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Secondary school science consists of biology, chemistry, physics, or a combination course known as general science. General science deals only with the practical side of the laws of physics. It fails to go into detail and very often omits the law entirely. Physics in high school requires a special room in the building which is not easily adapted to other use. A large amount of expensive equipment is need to teach it efficiently. Can all of this expense be justified? Is the student who ends his school career with high school graduation sent out into life with a large amount …

The Solution Of Ordinary & Partial Differential Equations In Series, Kenneth Wood

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to compile and discuss some of the methods of solution of both ordinary and partial differential equations, whose solutions are expressible in the form of a series. An exhaustive study is not attempted. A few of the methods of most common occurrence for finding solutions in series are discussed and examples illustrating these methods are presented.

Is High School Chemistry A Preparation For College Chemistry, Mansfield Martin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The subject of this study grew out of a desire to estimate the value of high school chemistry and its relation to college chemistry. The purpose is to bring about a better understanding of the necessity of a closer tie-up between different levels of our educational system. Life and growth are continuous processes, and, if education if life, we must make it a continuous experience. While limited because of incomplete records and changing classifications of our high schools, it is hoped that this study will lead to a further and more scientific study of related problems in this field.