Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Promoting Engagement Through Socioscientific Inquiry At The Middle School Level, Kaitlyn Kalehuawehe

Undergraduate Theses

Learning science is not just about facts. It is an area that has the potential to expand beyond the classroom. There is a concern for students having negative associations with science, and not seeing the relevance it plays within their lives. The curriculum should reflect science's value within society and its influence on complex issues. Learning science in the context of socioscientific issues (SSI) can promote an understanding that connects science to society and everyday life. The main objective of this thesis is the see how the use of SSI in the middle school classroom can promote student engagement and …

Child Science Identity Interview Guide And Protocol, Heidi Cian, Remy Dou

Department of Teaching and Learning

While many data collection tools exist to elicit how individuals think about prototypical STEM persons (e.g., the Draw-a-Scientist assessment), such tools fail to capture the nuance of how individuals think about STEM and STEM personhood and how those perceptions change according to context and “in real life”. We designed the Child Science Identity Interview Guide and Protocol to learn about how youth see everyday experiences as “STEM” (or a particular subfield) and think of themselves and those in their social orbits as STEM persons.

Effects Of Creative Video Games On Creativity, Haiqal Sazalli, Sharil Sungkono, Mohammed Rashaun, Khalis Muzakir

Introduction to Research Methods RSCH 202

The purpose of this research is to find the effects of creative games on the Creativity Quotient of human beings. Assessing creativity is based on divergent thinking consisting of fluency, originality and uniqueness in thinking methods. The theoretical framework assesses the creative thinking of candidates through a 4-week gaming programme consists of a pre-and post-assessment of the Creativity Quotient Test which consists of 10 critical thinking questions. These questions will test the fluency, originality and uniqueness of the candidates. To provide a fair result, the same questions will be used for the pre-and post-assessment. Results will prove that games are …

Brookings, South Dakota: Learning Lab, Doriane Paso

Empowering Research for Educators

The following paper explores the possibilities of education in one local setting using both an insider and outsider perspective. Education is a part of society, and as society changes, why should education not change with it?

Alexa?: Possibilities Of Voice Assistant Technology And Artificial Intelligence In The Classroom, Patrick D. Hales, Melissa Anderson, Tonya Christianson, Amber Gaspar, Billi Jo Meyer, Beth Nelson, Krista Shilvock, Mary Steinmetz, Makenzi Timmons, Michelle Vande Weerd

Empowering Research for Educators

The following paper represents the combined effort of 10 educators exploring the experience and use of voice assistant technology in classrooms. This reflection and study of our classrooms looks to better understand both our use of technology and students’ use of technology in very specific ways. Is there a place for voice assistant technology in our classrooms? What benefits are there? What obstacles exist? We tell our stories and experiences here with the intent to provide context and continue the discussion among more of our colleagues.

From Assertion To Conversion: Classroom Management For 21st Century Teachers, Benjamin Halbkat

Empowering Research for Educators

The following position paper provides a new teacher's perspective on modern classroom management. Where is there room for improvement? What might the future hold?

High School Biology Preparation: Do Students Feel They Have Been Adequately Prepared For Introductory College Biology?, Mara Neitzel

Empowering Research for Educators

The purpose of this study was to determine how well students are being prepared in high school for introductory college biology courses. Specifically, the objectives of the study are as follows: To gain a better understanding about how well students feel they have been prepared for college science classes based on their high school education, to gain insight on how college preparation in high school impacts students’ self-confidence, and to determine if the accessibility of advanced education courses is influenced by the size of a high school. A mixed methods survey was distributed to freshman in the fall semester of …

In Support Of The Tinker V. Des Moines Decision, Matthew Olson

Empowering Research for Educators

The following position outlines a case for the Tinker v. Des Moines decision, including a historical and modern perspective. With freedom of speech and protest being a regular part of the discussion about U.S. society and schools, now is a good time to look back.

An Exploration Of The Factors That Motivate Gifted And Talented Rural Students To Engage In Stem, Issabella Baldwin Zurek '18, Takudzwa George '18, Clinton Oshipitan '18, Robert Luo '18, Amy Wang '18

Student Publications & Research

Research Questions:

• What motivates rural students to pursue STEM?
• How can we use these factors to engage more rural students in STEM?

Garden-Based Learning In Worcester, Massachusetts: Addressing Science And Health Curriculum Gaps Through Summer Youth Programming, Julia Groenfeldt

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This research examines the role of experiential garden-based “food citizenship” education for improving school year health and science curriculum retention and to further influence broader social and environmental awareness. Studies demonstrate the importance of these educational models to teach children the processes of food production to consumption. Through new knowledge on food systems education, children will learn to become more mindful and conscious consumers that will ultimately impact personal health outcomes as well as broader global sustainability. Education is a key component to the emerging alternative food network (AFN) that is challenging the modern agro-industrial food system. This research provides …

The Effects Of A Seventh Grade Mathematics Remediation Course On Student Achievement, Jason Nix

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since the installment of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools have sought strategies to help students meet these academic requirements. Many middle schools have turned to math remediation classes as a way to improve students' achievement scores. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to explore the relationship of the mathematics remediation class as an intervention strategy to help low performing seventh grade students' achievement on the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test. The sample consisted of N= 775 (391 male, 384 female) seventh grade students enrolled in one rural middle school. The result of the statistical test, ANCOVA, revealed …

Moving Toward Equitable, Accessible, And Relevant Mathematics For All. A Book Review Of Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice By The Numbers, Lauren Provost

Democracy and Education

A book review of Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers, edited by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson.

An African-Centered Approach To Land Education, Salvotore Engel-Dimauro, Karanja Keita Carroll

Publications and Research

Approaches to environmental education which are engaging with place and critical pedagogy have not yet broadly engaged with the African world and insights from Africana Studies and Geography. An African-centered approach facilitates people's reconnection to places and ecosystems in ways that do not reduce places to objects of conquest and things to be exploited for profitability and individual gain. Such an approach offers effective critiques of settler coloniser perspectives on the environment and deeper understandings of the relationship between worldview and ecologically sensitised education. Through examples from Africana Studies and Geography, this article provides an introduction to how an African-centered …

An Engineering Journey: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of African-American Engineers' Persistence, Kristy Somerville-Midgette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological research study examined the perspectives and lived experiences of African-American female engineers related to the factors that led to their persistence to enter, persist through, and remain in the field. The study was guided by four research questions: (a) How do K-12 experiences shape African-American female engineers' decisions to enter the STEM field? (b) What persistence factors motivated African-American female engineers to enter the engineering profession? (c) What are the factors that shape African-American female engineers' persistence to progress through postsecondary engineering programs? (d) How do professional experiences shape African-American female engineers' persistence in the field? Cognitive …

Loving The World And Our Children Enough--Nurturing Decidedly Different Scientifc Minds, By Design, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Publications & Research

Wise world-shaping and problem-solving requires that we and our children think in decidedly different, integral and wise ways. This transformation requires a fundamental shift in consciousness and the emergence of global minds that can creatively live into a new worldview of an interconnected planet and a sustainable and interdependent human family. "The fullness of our humanity and the sustainability of our planet rest with the nurturing of decidedly different minds."

Evaluation Of An Adult Education Technology Program, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adult education technology program at a chartered alternative adult education center in Florida. The adult education center had a low rate of students passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study examined the impact of the use of computer technology in an effort to improve student learning in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers at the institution were used by all students for tutorials to prepare them for the FCAT and to obtain a high school diploma. The research questions for this study were as follows: 1. Is the education technology …

Learning Mathematics In English Medium Classrooms In Pakistan: Implications For Policy And Practice, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This is an in-depth qualitative study of students learning mathematics in classrooms where the medium of instruction was English which was the second or third language of the learners i.e. they were multilingual classrooms. Moreover, to promote reasoning and learning with understanding, the teachers had introduced group work, mathematical discussion, and mathematics tasks employing everyday contexts and language. Focus of the paper is the complex relationship between the language of instruction and the process of learning mathematics. The study demonstrates that learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms brings added complexity because students moved back and forth from the language of instruction …