Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Education

Applying Cluster Analysis To Student Responses From Energy Surveys For Identification Of Commonalities In Their Understanding, Arianna Giguere May 2020

Applying Cluster Analysis To Student Responses From Energy Surveys For Identification Of Commonalities In Their Understanding, Arianna Giguere

Honors College

Energy is a complicated model that has been developed to describe matter to matter interactions. Since energy can be challenging to define, there are inconsistencies among even teachers and physicists in how they define the concept. It is no wonder that students themselves carry misconceptions and confusions. While it may be difficult to teach, an understanding of energy from a young age is essential for the future of technology, climate change, and scientific discoveries. Middle school students in Maine are required to learn about energy transformation, conservation, and forms, and from 2011-2018, researchers at the University of Maine administered multiple …


Periodic Table Club, Makayla Gill, Kailynn Jensen Apr 2020

Periodic Table Club, Makayla Gill, Kailynn Jensen

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This club is dedicated to teaching the generation of future scientists the periodic table. This is designed to be a unique take on a STEM club that uses the periodic table as a backbone for a solid foundation in chemistry.


An Electrolysis Experiment For A Middle School Summer Science Camp, Mike A. Christiansen, Leslie Jessup, Kevin D. Woodward Jul 2013

An Electrolysis Experiment For A Middle School Summer Science Camp, Mike A. Christiansen, Leslie Jessup, Kevin D. Woodward

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Higher education is often culturally deemphasized in the geographic area served by our rural, regional campus. As a result, faculty members have the opportunity to spearhead teaching efforts designed to educate the community about the importance of obtaining a post-secondary degree. To this end, we recently held a Science Summer Camp for middle school students, designed to infuse young people with an increased excitement for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. In this report, we summarize a chemical electrolysis experiment we carried out with middle school students for our annual Science Summer Camp. We also provided procedural guidelines for …


Students Talk About Energy In Project- Based Inquiry Science, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann Jan 2013

Students Talk About Energy In Project- Based Inquiry Science, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann

Faculty Publications

We examine the types of emergent language eighth grade students in rural Maine middle schools use when they discuss energy in their first experiences with Project-Based Inquiry Science: Energy, a research-based curriculum that uses a specific language for talking about energy. By comparative analysis of the language used by the curriculum materials to students’ language, we find that students’ talk is at times more aligned with a Stores and Transfer model of energy than the Forms model supported by the curriculum.