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Full-Text Articles in Education

Counting Girls In - Gender Issues In Science And Mathematics: An Examination Of The Research Concerning Innate And Socio-Cultural Gender Differences In The Fields Of Science And Mathematics In An Effort To Promote More Female Participation, Valerie R. Mackin Dec 2009

Counting Girls In - Gender Issues In Science And Mathematics: An Examination Of The Research Concerning Innate And Socio-Cultural Gender Differences In The Fields Of Science And Mathematics In An Effort To Promote More Female Participation, Valerie R. Mackin

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

In today's world, there is an increasing demand for people in the technological fields. Fewer females than males pursue careers in physical sciences, engineering, and computer science in the United States presenting a loss of needed mathematicians and scientists. Gender differences related to mathematics and science is a complex arena of study, involving both innate biological differences combined with socially constructed ideas about gender in society. Through an in-depth investigation from educational, cognitive, and social psychology perspectives one will be able to determine how innate and socio-cultural factors contribute to the shortage of needed mathematicians and scientists in the United …


Profiles Of Urban, Low Ses, African American Girls’ Attitudes Toward Science: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Gayle Buck, Kristin Cook, Cassie F. Quigley, Jennifer Eastwood, Yvonne Lucas Oct 2009

Profiles Of Urban, Low Ses, African American Girls’ Attitudes Toward Science: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Gayle Buck, Kristin Cook, Cassie F. Quigley, Jennifer Eastwood, Yvonne Lucas

Publications

The purpose of this study was to increase the science education community’s understanding of the experiences and needs of girls who cross the traditional categorical boundaries of gender, race and socioeconomic status in a manner that has left their needs and experience largely invisible. A first of several in a series, this study sought to explore how African American girls from low SES communities position themselves in science learning. We followed a mixed-methods sequential explanatory strategy, in which two data collection phases, qualitative following the quantitative, were employed to investigate 89 African-American girls’ personal orientations towards science learning. By using …


Earth Sun Moon Phenomena: Seasons, Lunar Cycle, Tides [7th-8th Grade], Theodore Risinger Sep 2009

Earth Sun Moon Phenomena: Seasons, Lunar Cycle, Tides [7th-8th Grade], Theodore Risinger

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit focuses on the interactions and motions of the earth, sun, and moon that cause seasons, the lunar cycle and tides on earth. Most middle school age students have misconceptions of these topics. The primary goal of this unit to correct any misconceptions students may have on these topics. Secondly, to further their understanding of how and why things on earth happen the way they do. For each of the topics covered no one single rule or individual event will cover all the aspects involved in the great question of “Why?”. Students will be challenged because they will have …


The Use Of Robotics, Gps And Gis Technologies To Encourage Stem-Oriented Learning In Youth, Viacheslav I. Adamchuk, Gwen Nugent, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett Sep 2009

The Use Of Robotics, Gps And Gis Technologies To Encourage Stem-Oriented Learning In Youth, Viacheslav I. Adamchuk, Gwen Nugent, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

In our technology rich world, the educational areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) play an increasingly essential role in developing well-prepared specialists for the 21st century workplace. Unfortunately, interest in theses areas has been declining for a few decades. Various innovative educational initiatives in formal and informal learning environments have been undertaken nationally to attempt to encourage STEM-oriented learning. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the particular program described in this paper focuses on middle school youth in non-formal learning environments. The program integrates educational robotics, Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies to provide …


Using Robotics To Equip K-12 Teachers: Silicon Prairie Initiative For Robotics In Information Technology (Spirit), Alisa Gilmore, Bing Chen, Neal Grandgenett Jun 2009

Using Robotics To Equip K-12 Teachers: Silicon Prairie Initiative For Robotics In Information Technology (Spirit), Alisa Gilmore, Bing Chen, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The Silicon Prairie Initiative for Robotics in Information Technology (SPIRIT) is a unique collaborative effort between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) College of Engineering, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Education, and the local Omaha Public Schools (OPS) system. With funding from an NSF ITEST grant, from 2006 – 2008 the initiative recruited and trained 97 math and science middle school teachers through summer workshops and follow-up sessions during the school year, with the goal of equipping teachers in hands-on engineering design principles and providing curriculum development support for STEM instruction. The centerpiece of the training was …


What's The Matter...Do Things Keep Changing? [10th-12th Grade], Dustin Demoin Apr 2009

What's The Matter...Do Things Keep Changing? [10th-12th Grade], Dustin Demoin

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit attempts to provide students with a deeper understanding of the properties of matter and physical and chemical properties/changes. This unit could be used at the middle school or IPC level with the omission of the discussion of the kinetic molecular theory. You will also need access to a CRC manual for the project. You could just work with photocopies of the book for the triple points and critical points.


A New Model Of 4-H Volunteer Development In Science, Engineering, And Technology Programs, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett, Gwen Nugent Apr 2009

A New Model Of 4-H Volunteer Development In Science, Engineering, And Technology Programs, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett, Gwen Nugent

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

New initiatives centered on science, engineering, and technology (SET) in 4-H may be moving away from the long-established adult volunteer delivery model. This shift in delivery may be due to a lack of availability of adult volunteers who possess the necessary SET competencies to effectively lead 4-H clubs. One way to offset this trend may be to blend traditional face-to-face training with continuous training efforts that include asynchronous on-line training modules, synchronous Web-based meetings, and self-directed learning. This new 4-H SET Volunteer Competencies Training Model is being tested in the Nebraska 4-H Robotics and GPS/GIS program.


Specialized Science High Schools: Exploring Contributions Of The Model To Adolescent Talent Development Specialized Science, Christopher G. Kolar, Tracy L. Cross, Rena F. Subotnik, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius Jan 2009

Specialized Science High Schools: Exploring Contributions Of The Model To Adolescent Talent Development Specialized Science, Christopher G. Kolar, Tracy L. Cross, Rena F. Subotnik, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius

Publications & Research

As the field of gifted education shifts much of its focus to domain-specific talent development, specialized science high schools are taking their place on the stage. Back in 1981,Bloom and Sosniak argued persuasively that talent development cannot take place exclusively in schools. They stressed that schools were not prepared to offer the required levels of expert teaching, time, and effort. Yet, specialized science high schools, by design, are staffed with teachers with advanced degrees, offer relatively flexible schedules, interested peers,reasonable access to appropriate technology, and connections with research institutions to provide apprenticeships for the most motivated and interested students.


Developing Science Content Knowledge Through The Creation Of Slowmations, David Macdonald, Garry F. Hoban Jan 2009

Developing Science Content Knowledge Through The Creation Of Slowmations, David Macdonald, Garry F. Hoban

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

“Slowmation” (abbreviated from “Slow Motion Animation) is a new yet simple form of stopmotion animation which enables learners to create their own animations of science concepts. This paper presents a study of preservice elementary teachers in a science method classes (14 in one class in 2009) to ascertain if they improved their science knowledge when using a three phase framework requiring them to: (i) create their own Slowmation about a science concept; (ii) upload them to a web site (www.slowmation.com.au) so that they could be reviewed by a peer and a content expert; and (iii) if necessary, modify the animation …


Improving Preservice Teachers' Science Knowledge By Creating, Reviewing And Publishing Slowmations To Teachertube, Garry F. Hoban, David C. Macdonald, Brian Ferry Jan 2009

Improving Preservice Teachers' Science Knowledge By Creating, Reviewing And Publishing Slowmations To Teachertube, Garry F. Hoban, David C. Macdonald, Brian Ferry

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Slowmation is a simplified form of stop-motion animation that enables learners to create their own animations of science concepts. This paper presents a study of preservice elementary teachers in two science method classes (17 in 2007 and 12 in 2008) to research if they improved their science knowledge when they used a three phase framework to create, review and publish slowmations to a web site (TeacherTube). Qualitative data (three interviews, two concept maps and the animations) collected from each preservice teacher showed that nearly all increased their science content knowledge as a result of creating the animations. Uploading the slowmations …


Simplifying Animation With "Slowmation" To Encourage Preservice Teachers' Science Learning And Teaching, Garry F. Hoban, David C. Macdonald, Brian Ferry, Sharon Hoban Jan 2009

Simplifying Animation With "Slowmation" To Encourage Preservice Teachers' Science Learning And Teaching, Garry F. Hoban, David C. Macdonald, Brian Ferry, Sharon Hoban

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Preservice elementary teachers often lack science content knowledge which reduces their confidence to implement the subject in school classrooms. “Slowmation” (abbreviated from “Slow Animation”) is a new yet simplified form of stop-motion animation that encourages preservice teachers to engage with science content because they create their own animations to represent key concepts. This paper presents a study of 29 preservice elementary teachers in a science method class to ascertain if they improved their science knowledge when they created their own animations and whether they used the approach to teach science in classrooms on practicum. Qualitative data (three interviews, two concept …


Quality Instruction Creates Higher Student Learning, Kelly Jan Austin Jan 2009

Quality Instruction Creates Higher Student Learning, Kelly Jan Austin

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Many agree that science education is in need of reform, due to the fact that America is falling behind other industrialized nations in measures of science performance. In order to revolutionize the direction of this discipline is it up to the educators to implement changes in their classroom. It seems that our educational settings know what needs to be done in order to reach higher standards of achievement, however it is concerning that schools aren’t taking the steps necessary to reach these levels. In trying to enhance student learning, there are several methods in science education that are targeted at …


The Status Of School Science Laboratory Technicians In Australian Secondary Schools : Research Report Prepared For The Department Of Education, Employment And Workplace Relations, Mark Hackling Jan 2009

The Status Of School Science Laboratory Technicians In Australian Secondary Schools : Research Report Prepared For The Department Of Education, Employment And Workplace Relations, Mark Hackling

Research outputs pre 2011

Australia needs a scientifically literate society and a supply of scientists and technologists to sustain a thriving economy and to address a wide range of social and environmental challenges. The goals of scientific literacy and a sufficient supply of science and technology graduates from higher education require that primary and secondary schools offer authentic and inquiry oriented science curricula that engage students and inspire them to continue their studies of science (Ainley et al., 2008). Science teachers depend heavily on good facilities and high quality technical support to implement an engaging and inquiry-oriented curriculum and this will be particularly important …