Education Commons^™

Enhancing Precalculus Curricula With E-Learning: Implementation And Assessment, Janet Callahan, Seung Youn Chyung, Joanna Guild, William Clement, Joe Guarino, Doug Bullock, Cheryl Schrader

Janet M. Callahan

During Fall semester of 2007, a semester-long, quasi-experimental study was conducted at Boise State University to investigate the effectiveness of a systematically sequenced and managed, self-paced e-learning activity on improving students’ academic performance and motivation. A total of 125 students enrolled in 3 different sections of a Precalculus class participated in the study. The e-learning activity was implemented in 2 of the 3 sections as a required homework assignment. Students enrolled in one of the 2 selected sections were all engineering majors. The 3^rd section was a control group that did not use the e-learning activity. A pre-test, measuring …

Broadening The Concept Of 'Just What They Need' In Mathematics Education, Erin Wilding-Martin

Erin Wilding-Martin

The Development Of Professional Expertise Through Reflection In The Principalship, Eric Mclaren

Eric McLaren

The study of principals as learners is important because the landscape of public education is changing. Schools are becoming more diverse and the demands on schools more varied and complex. The role of the principal is increasingly ambiguous, complex, and varied. Principals must adapt and develop'their professional practice. Effective principals learn from experience to meet the shifting expectations of the role and the needs of the school. Multiple learning experiences help principals become more proficient in their jobs. Initial certification, induction into the role, continuing professional education, and learning from experiences are means to the development of expertise. This study …

Discovering And Developing Diverse Stem Talent: Enabling Academically Talented Urban Youth To Flourish, Stephanie Pace Marshall, Glenn W. "Max" Mcgee, Eric Mclaren, Catherine C. Veal

Eric McLaren

The Growing Excellence Gap in K-12 Education, Plucker, Burroughs, and Song (2010) provided compelling evidence that "the presence of an excellence gap is demonstrated on both national and state assessments of student performance," with "economically disadvantaged, English Language Learners, and historically underprivileged minorities representing a smaller proportion of students scoring at the highest levels of achievement" (p. 28). Three "case stories" of students from IMSA illuminate some of the (a) challenges and opportunities inherent in igniting STEM talent in urban youth and ensuring their success; (b) principles for designing and creating learning experiences and environments that ignite and nurture the …

Assessing High School Gifted Student Progress In Science Through Misconceptions And Mosart, Christopher G. Kolar, Evelyn Ho-Wisniewski

Christopher G. Kolar

This paper reports how 188 high school students identified as gifted in science were assessed with the Misconceptions-Oriented Standards-Based Assessment Resource for Teachers (MOSART). Students enrolled in a year-long science-centered curriculum where this instrument appeared to be a means of identifying standards-aligned progress, avoiding ceiling effects and reliance on content mastery. This paper discusses two questions: 1. Is the MOSART a valid measure of conceptual understanding in gifted students? and 2. Can the MOSART be used with this population to measure growth in understanding? We present results from the physics and chemistry tests, and consider results from the earth science …

Introducing Nonlinear Problems To Undergraduate Engineering Students, Mulukutla S. Sarma, Karl E. Lonngren

Sarma Mulukutla

It is argued that preparing good engineers to the present day challenging industry should involve the extension of homework problems to include realistic complications of nonlinearity and extensive use of the available computing facilities. This point of view has been illustrated through a simple Faraday's law problem of an electromechanical system that exhibits nonlinear effects if the resistance of the rails is taken into account. The procedure that is employed in this paper to solve the nonlinear equation is simple enough to be introduced at an undergraduate level for the engineering students

Laboratory Manual For Physics, Gary Lewis

Gary C. Lewis

No abstract provided.

Interactive Learningware For Physics Vol. 1: Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Waves, James Tanner, Gary Lewis

Gary C. Lewis

Retaining the comprehensiveness and rigor of the previous edition, this sequel has been dramatically revised to be more student oriented. Definitions and issues have been improved, making them tighter and more easily understood. More than 400 sample problems have been updated and expanded to reinforce physics concepts. Formulas involving elements of calculus are better explained due to additional subsections. A wealth of animated illustrations and full-color photographs will capture today's visually-oriented students' attention.

Interactive Learningware For Physics Vol. 2: Fundamentals Of Physics, James Tanner, Gary Lewis

Gary C. Lewis

Retaining the comprehensiveness and rigor of the previous edition, this sequel has been dramatically revised to be more student oriented. Definitions and issues have been improved, making them tighter and more easily understood. More than 400 sample problems have been updated and expanded to reinforce physics concepts. Formulas involving elements of calculus are better explained due to additional subsections. A wealth of animated illustrations and full-color photographs will capture today's visually-oriented students' attention.

A New Approach To Teaching Science, Gary Lewis, Gail Schiffer

Gary C. Lewis

After several years of hard work, the faculty of Kennesaw State College has adopted and begun to implement a new core of courses to be taken by all undergraduate students. Central to the core philosophy is the integration of knowledge from a wide array of disciplines and the teaching of skills essential to a well-educated college graduate. Course sequences in the area of humanities and the social sciences have been designed to meet these objectives, and the faculties of these disciplines have worked hard developing these courses.

Excellent Adventures In Global Collaboration, Glenn W. "Max" Mcgee, Aracelys Rios

Glenn W. "Max" McGee

No abstract provided.

Discovering And Developing Diverse Stem Talent: Enabling Academically Talented Urban Youth To Flourish, Stephanie Pace Marshall, Glenn W. "Max" Mcgee, Eric Mclaren, Catherine C. Veal

Glenn W. "Max" McGee

The Growing Excellence Gap in K-12 Education, Plucker, Burroughs, and Song (2010) provided compelling evidence that "the presence of an excellence gap is demonstrated on both national and state assessments of student performance," with "economically disadvantaged, English Language Learners, and historically underprivileged minorities representing a smaller proportion of students scoring at the highest levels of achievement" (p. 28). Three "case stories" of students from IMSA illuminate some of the (a) challenges and opportunities inherent in igniting STEM talent in urban youth and ensuring their success; (b) principles for designing and creating learning experiences and environments that ignite and nurture the …

Enhancing The Cs Curriculum With With Aspect-Oriented Software Development (Aosd) And Early Experience, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal, Tzilla Elrad

Konstantin Läufer

Aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) is evolving as an important step beyond existing software development approaches such as object-oriented development. An aspect is a module that captures a crosscutting concern, behavior that cuts across different units of abstraction in a software application; expressed as a module, such behavior can be enabled and disabled transparently and non-invasively, without changing the application code itself. Increasing industry demand for expertise in AOSD gives rise to the pedagogical challenge of covering this methodology and its foundations in the computer science curriculum. We present our curricular initiative to incorporate a novel course in AOSD in the …

The Extreme Software Development Series: An Open Curricular Framework For Applied Capstone Courses, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal

Konstantin Läufer

We describe an open, flexible curricular framework for offering a collection of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in software development. The courses offered within this framework are further unified by combining solid foundations with current technology and play the role of capstone courses in a modern software development track. Our initiative has been very successful with all stakeholders involved.

Existing Specialty Schools As Leverage For Behavioral Sciences Research On Teaching And Learning In Stem Fields, Christopher Kolar, Heather Sondel

Christopher G. Kolar

The National Science Foundation has requested comments and proposals that outline challenge questions for the next decade in behavioral sciences research. At the same time, the NSF has joined the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology as well as the National Academy of Sciences in issuing reports first identifying the need for specialized STEM education as a strategic necessity and then proposing the establishment of an additional 1000 specialized STEM schools. A common theme in these reports is that foundational work must be conducted to establish effective organizational and instructional practices for these schools. The authors of this …

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

Christopher G. Kolar

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.

Student Usage Patterns And Perceptions For Differentiated Lab Exercises In An Undergraduate Programming Course, Heng Ngee Mok

Heng Ngee MOK

Differentiated instruction in the form of tiered take-home lab exercises was implemented for students of an undergraduate-level programming course. This paper attempts to uncover the perceptions and usage patterns of students toward these new lab exercises using a comprehensive survey. Findings reveal that these tiered exercises are generally very well received and preferred over their traditional "one size fits all" counter-parts. Although the study does not show that tiered exercises have improved proÞciency or scores, it does seem to indicate higher student engagement and motivation levels. Based on the survey results, a list of recommendations is put forth for the …

Exploring Mathematical Competencies, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

The author describes a set of competencies that are fundamental to the development of ‘mathematical literacy’, or a person’s ability to apply their mathematical knowledge to practical situations.

Student Enrollment In Classes With Frequent Mathematical Discussion And Its Longitudinal Effect On Mathematics Achievement., Karl Kosko

Karl W Kosko

Mathematical discussion has been identified as being beneficial to students’ understandings of mathematics (Goos, 1995; Lee, 2006). Students in classrooms with more effective math discussion have been observed to engage more frequently in discussion (e.g. Hiebert & Wearne, 1993), but the converse is not necessarily true (e.g. Manouchehri & St. John, 2006). Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, the present study examined student enrollment in classes with more and less frequent discussion and such enrollment’s effect on mathematics achievement over time. Results indicated that students enrolled in classes that discuss math “almost every day” consistently have higher math achievement than students enrolled …

A Deeper Look At How Teachers Say What They Say: A Quantitative Modality Analysis Of Teacher-To-Teacher Talk., Karl Kosko, Patricio Herbst

Karl W Kosko

Analysis of teacher-to-teacher talk provides researchers with useful information regarding the teaching profession and teachers’ perspectives. This article provides a description of a method, with accompanying example, examining teacher-to-teacher talk by incorporating semantic modality and examining trends of its usage in a quantitative manner. Analysis of the example presented showed a tendency for teachers to use normative and probability modality, signaling a prevalence of assertions concerned with normative ways of teaching. The example analysis provides a replicable framework for other researchers to apply and adapt the analysis method described. Specifications and discussion of this method are provided in detail.

Can 3d Visualization Assist In Young Children’S Understanding Of Sun-Earth-Moon System?, Zeynep Isik-Ercan, Beomjin Kim, Jeff Nowak

Zeynep Isik-Ercan

This research-in-progress investigates how the usage of technology, specifically three dimensional (3D) stereoscopic vision, might support astronomy learning in primary grades. 3D stereoscopic vision might be an effective means to observe the relationships among space objects through simulations. In order to explore this presumption, this pilot study examines how 3D stereoscopic vision might enhance urban second graders’ understanding of (a) the shape of Sun, Moon, and Earth, (b) how day and night alternate, and (c) how Moon appears in different shapes. Currently, Indiana state standards for science do not suggest the teaching of these astronomical concepts explicitly before fourth grade. …

Students’ Quality Of Mathematical Discussion And Their Self-Determination In Mathematics., Karl Kosko, Jesse Wilkins

Karl W Kosko

Mathematical discussion allows for students to reflect upon math concepts and understand such concepts at a deeper level. This process of reflection requires a certain amount of internalization on the part of the student. This internalization is facilitated by meeting the needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as advocated by Self-Determination Theory. The current study provides evidence of a relationship between fulfillment of these psychological needs and the quality of mathematical discussion students report they engage in. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling of data from 176 high school Geometry students were conducted to examine this relationship. Results support the …

Down The Rabbit Hole: A Look At Integrating Classic Literature Into A Secondary Mathematics Curriculum, Adam E. Sokol

Adam E Sokol

The importance of mathematics and reading is paramount to the advancement of civilization. Research has shown that mathematics and reading, along with writing, have a strong correlation. The new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics stress the importance of applying mathematical concepts to other subjects and real life. Interestingly, the mathematics and English curriculums have some objectives in common. Classic literature provides a unique context for mathematical concepts to be applied. Using classic literature to teach mathematics could allow students to engage in mathematics and literature more deeply. Example lessons and worksheets supported by research allow teachers to another …

Lib 3010 Spring 2012: Students Choose An Image To Represent Patent Searching, Jan Comfort

Jan Comfort

A Novel Approach For Solving Steady Flow Of Walter B Fluid In A Vertical Channel With Porous Wall Via Sumudu Transform, Habibolla Latifizadeh

H. L. Zadeh

No abstract provided.

Numerical Solution Of Mhd Flow Over A Nonlinear Porous Stretching Sheet, Habibolla Latifizadeh

H. L. Zadeh

No abstract provided.

Solving Discrete Kdv Equation By Reconstruction Of Variational Iteration Method, Habibolla Latifizadeh

H. L. Zadeh

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of Variational Iteration Method And He-Laplace Method, Habibolla Latifizadeh

H. L. Zadeh

No abstract provided.

Development And Validation Of An Analytical Method To The Solution Of Modelling The Pollution Of A System Of Lakes, Habibolla Latifizadeh

H. L. Zadeh

No abstract provided.

New Analytical Approach To Nonlinear Behavior Study Of Asym- Metrically Lcbs On Nonlinear Elastic Foundation Under Steady Axial And Thermal Loading, Habibolla Latifizadeh

H. L. Zadeh

No abstract provided.