Education Commons^™

Administrators' Capacity For Supporting Reform-Oriented Science Instruction: An Urban School District Case Study, Venicia Ferrell, Joanna K. Garner

Center for Educational Partnerships Publications

Secondary school administrators play a vital role as instructional leaders, but little is known about their knowledge of science practices and perceptions of strategies for supporting reform-oriented science instruction. This multiphase, mixed-methods Q-Methodology study explored administrators' perceptions of instructional leadership and, in particular, high-quality science instruction. After a concourse of 40 items was developed through a review of literature and an expert panel, n = 22 administrators from one urban school district completed a Q-sort and a post-sort questionnaire in which they commented on a lesson excerpt. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was used to assimilate the participants into …

Teacher Beliefs About Providing Instruction For Gifted Students In Inclusive Mathematics Classrooms, Carrie Lynn Kizuka

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Kindergarten - Grade 12 (K-12) students identified as gifted in mathematics in the United States are not being appropriately challenged. Teachers are the most important school-related factor that contributes to student success; however, researchers have not explored the experiences of teachers who work with gifted students in inclusive mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of K-12 teachers who provide instruction for gifted students in inclusive mathematics classrooms. Bandura's social cognitive theory framed the study. Interview data were collected from 12 teachers who provide mathematics instruction for gifted students in inclusive …

Success Rates Of Second Semester Anatomy Students In Online And On-Ground Classes At A Community College In East Tennessee, William Sproat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educators expect the number of institutions offering online courses and the number of students enrolling in these courses to increase as many students, particularly nontraditional students, discover the advantages of online content delivery. Online courses require new methods of communication between students and faculty as well as discovering new ways to build relationships, earn student trust, conduct appropriate assessment, and deliver useful course content. Many institutions—public, private, and for-profit—offer a wide variety of online coursework but faculty, employers, and the public have expressed concerns about the quality of online course content. In particular, online delivery of coursework in the natural …

From Science Student To Scientist: Predictors And Outcomes Of Heterogeneous Science Identity Trajectories In College, Kristy A. Robinson, Tony Perez, Amy K. Nuttall, Cary J. Roseth, Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This 5-year longitudinal study investigates the development of science identity throughout college from an expectancy-value perspective. Specifically, heterogeneous developmental patterns of science identity across 4 years of college were examined using growth-mixture modeling. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs (efficacy for science tasks, perceived competence in science) were modeled as antecedents, and participation in a science career after graduation was modeled as a distal outcome of these identity development trajectories. Three latent classes (High with Transitory Incline, Moderate-High and Stable, and Moderate-Low with Early Decline) were identified. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs in the first year of college significantly predicted latent …

Place-Based Education: An Impetus For Teacher Efficacy, Tamara Chase Coleman

Dissertations

This research investigated professional development in place-based (PB) methodology on the efficacy of science teachers. While teachers are expected to use best practices they do not always implement them due to a lack of efficacy in implementation. A professional development program (PD) was designed to increase confidence among teachers planning to incorporate PB methods. Place-based education (PBE) is recognized as a best-practice among professional educators. PBE includes the selection, design and engagement with science using the geographic place as the content. The literature reports that student learning and teacher efficacy will improve when teachers are prepared effectively in PB practices. …

Connecting Teaching Practice To Student Efficacy In Undergraduate Mathematics, Sandra Becker

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Academic efficacy plays a critical role in student success in math learning at all levels due to its impact on persistence, motivation, and academic performance. This research aimed to connect student efficacy with key aspects of the instructional environment in six undergraduate math classes. Student surveys indicated significant differences in mean efficacy between classes, as well as significant differences in student perceptions of teacher behavior between the efficacy groups. Findings from observations of the classes revealed that key aspects of the instructional discourse varied by efficacy group. Instructors in higher efficacy classes tended to have more personal connections with students …

Personality And Science Training As Predictors Of Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs, Holly Saint

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Various factors have been researched over the past decade related to teaching efficacy under NCLB. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) guided this correlational study with 13 Alabama and 10 Tennessee public school districts to examine 114 K-4 teachers' personality measured by the Big Five Inventory (BFI) personality factors; science pre-service training and school-district professional development training measured by an unpublished Science Training Survey; and science teaching efficacy beliefs measured by the Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI). The BFI's personality factors and science training were examined in combination using a hierarchical linear regression in an eight-step model while controlling for …

Inquiry, Efficacy, And Science Education, Heather Christa Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing learners who are equipped to think critically about the vast information circulating around them is essential in their preparation for a role in society today. The use of effective inquiry-based instruction is not a widespread practice among K-12 classrooms. Many secondary and post-secondary science instructors see the valuable link between students asking questions and the development of critical thinking. Inquiry-based instruction provides student opportunities to ask questions, design methods of investigation, gather information, and finally reach conclusions based on evidence. However, this instruction style is rarely used in the classroom, particularly in elementary classrooms. This study examines the relationships …

The Impact Of Bilingual Treatment On The Math Skills Of Hispanic High School Algebra Students, Robert Kirk

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was designed to measure the impact of instructional techniques in the Foundations of Algebra classroom to bridge linguistic barriers between Hispanic students and the language of teaching. Two consecutive years of failing to meet anticipated yearly growth among Hispanic students in Algebra I, as determined by the North Carolina End of Course exams, indicated a cognitive gap among these students when it comes to learning mathematics.

The writer developed an experiment to be delivered among 9 sections of Algebra in a North Carolina high school. The control group used Microsoft PowerPoint slides created for every lesson plan determined …