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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Experiences During The Implementation Of Two Different Project-Based Learning Assignments In A Fluid Mechanics Course., Orlando Ayala, Kristie Gutierrez, Francisco Cima, Julia Noginova, Min Jung Lee, Stacie Ringleb, Pilar Pazos, Krishnanand Kaipa, Jennifer Kidd Jan 2022

Experiences During The Implementation Of Two Different Project-Based Learning Assignments In A Fluid Mechanics Course., Orlando Ayala, Kristie Gutierrez, Francisco Cima, Julia Noginova, Min Jung Lee, Stacie Ringleb, Pilar Pazos, Krishnanand Kaipa, Jennifer Kidd

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

There is growing evidence of the effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL) in preparing students to solve complex problems. In PBL implementations in engineering, students are treated as professional engineers facing projects centered around real-world problems, including the complexity and uncertainty that influence such problems. Not only does this help students to analyze and solve an authentic real-world task, promoting critical thinking, but also students learn from each other, learning valuable communication and teamwork skills. Faculty play an important part by assuming non-conventional roles (e.g., client, senior professional engineer, consultant) to help students throughout this instructional and learning approach. Typically in …


Philosophical Underpinnings Of Mathematics Teacher Educator's Work, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores, Signe E. Kastberg, Melva R. Grant, Olive Chapman Jan 2022

Philosophical Underpinnings Of Mathematics Teacher Educator's Work, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores, Signe E. Kastberg, Melva R. Grant, Olive Chapman

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) are turning research lens on themselves to explore their knowledge and practices and with that contribute knowledge to the field of mathematics teacher education. In this working group we build from our exploration of MTEs' work. MTEs will describe their work and their views of knowledge and being in their work as MTEs. We invite MTEs to join our working group and assert that MTEs' discussions of their work will provide opportunities for professional learning that reveals how their knowledge and identity inform their practice.


Mathematics Teacher Educators Using Self-Based Methodologies, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores, Jennifer Ward, Sue Ellen Richardson, Melva R. Grant, Dana Cox, Signe E. Kastberg, Olive Chapman Jun 2020

Mathematics Teacher Educators Using Self-Based Methodologies, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores, Jennifer Ward, Sue Ellen Richardson, Melva R. Grant, Dana Cox, Signe E. Kastberg, Olive Chapman

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Narrative inquiry, self-study, and autoethnography (i.e., self-based methodologies) are becoming a more common choice of mathematics teacher educators (MTEs). This has opened new possibilities and challenges for early career MTEs as they try to disseminate their findings in mathematics education journals. Building from our working group at PME-NA 2018 and 2019, we respond to the need for creating a community where MTEs can feel supported in their study design, implementation, representation of findings, and publication using self-based methodologies. This year, we continue our focus on mentoring and scholarship on self-based methodologies. We invite English- and Spanish-speaking MTEs with research projects …


Characteristics Of Critical Friendship That Transform Professional Identity, Signe E. Kastberg, Melva R. Grant Jan 2020

Characteristics Of Critical Friendship That Transform Professional Identity, Signe E. Kastberg, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

We met at CASTLE 2018, two trained mathematics teacher educators (MTEs), interested in mathematics, and teaching elementary mathematics methods to preservice teachers (PTs). Melva’s self-study research, focused on improving her online methods course, was approaching its second year and her second critical friend had lost interest in continuing. Melva invited Signe to be her critical friend (Schuck & Russell, 2005) and Signe agreed. Explicit expectations of our critical friendship included weekly meetings. Our critical friendship seemed to follow an expected trajectory for, “supporting/coaching the transformation of another’s teaching” (Stolle, et al., 2019, p. 20). However, there were implicit ways our …


Mobile Learning And Cognition, Helen Crompton, Diane Burke Dec 2018

Mobile Learning And Cognition, Helen Crompton, Diane Burke

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The rise of mobile learning in schools during the past decade has led to promises about its power to extend and enhance student cognitive development – for example, by providing greater pedagogical opportunities for students (Mifsud, 2014). However, others claim that mobile devices are most often used to support traditional pedagogical approaches whereby students only passively consume content (Cochrane & Antonczak, 2014; Frohberg, Goth & Schwabe, 2009; Rushby, 2012). As schools invest resources in providing students with opportunities to use mobile devices as tools for learning, it is important to critically examine their use in practice.


Technologies To Enhance And Extend Children's Understanding Of Geometry: A Configurative Thematic Synthesis Of The Literature, Helen Crompton, Melva R. Grant, Khitam Y. H. Shraim Feb 2018

Technologies To Enhance And Extend Children's Understanding Of Geometry: A Configurative Thematic Synthesis Of The Literature, Helen Crompton, Melva R. Grant, Khitam Y. H. Shraim

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Empirical evidence indicates that students are not learning geometry with relational understanding of the concepts. Studies have shown that digital technologies can support students in mathematics. The purpose of this study was to find which technologies and technological affordances are specific to learners of geometry. This paper presents the results of a configurative thematic synthesis of empirical studies and theoretical papers to show that dynamic geometry environments (DGEs: including 3D DGEs) and logobased environments were the main types of technologies used to support geometry learners. The results of this study also reveal that there are five main technological supports provided …


The Effects Of Self-Regulation Strategies On Middle School Students' Calibration Accuracy And Achievement, Deana Ford, Linda Bol, Jamie Colwell, Melva R. Grant Jan 2018

The Effects Of Self-Regulation Strategies On Middle School Students' Calibration Accuracy And Achievement, Deana Ford, Linda Bol, Jamie Colwell, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study investigated the impact that self-regulation strategies have on metacognitive judgements (calibration) and mathematics achievement of typical and advanced achieving 7th grade mathematics students over a period of seven weeks. Self-regulation strategies, four square graphic organizers and vocabulary games were implemented with the treatment condition while online games were implemented with the control condition. The results revealed that participants in the treatment condition were more accurate in their calibrations than participants in the control condition, more specifically for postdiction accuracy. Although the participants in the treatment condition scored higher on their achievement tests than the participants in the control …


Connected Education: Teachers' Attitudes Towards Student Learning In A 1:1: Technology Middle School Environment, Tian Luo, Alexander Murray Jan 2018

Connected Education: Teachers' Attitudes Towards Student Learning In A 1:1: Technology Middle School Environment, Tian Luo, Alexander Murray

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Online and blended forms of learning has been increasingly common in K-12 settings, along with the technological advancement with always-on and connected devices. The study purports to understand teachers’ attitudes towards the middle school’s 1:1 policy and students’ frequent use of always-on and connected technology, as well as their concerns about middle school students’ capabilities of using mobile devices and technologies in 1:1 environments. Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, data was obtained through semi-structured interviews, pre- and post- teacher open-ended surveys, along with classroom and lab observations. The study concluded that teachers typically embraced student use of school issued connected …


The Utility Of Storytelling Strategies In The Biology Classroom, Elizabeth Csikar, Jill E. Stefaniak Jan 2018

The Utility Of Storytelling Strategies In The Biology Classroom, Elizabeth Csikar, Jill E. Stefaniak

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Conveying scientific information with high intrinsic cognitive load to students is a challenge. Often, students do not have the existing schema to incorporate the information in a comprehensive manner. One method that has shown promise is storytelling. Storytelling has been successfully used to convey public health information to non-experts. Therefore, it was of interest to determine whether storytelling could be used in the classroom to present information with high intrinsic load to students in a meaningful manner. This study used a post-test only quasi-experimental study design to explore the utility of storytelling as an instructional strategy in anatomy and physiology …


Using Mobile Devices To Facilitate Student Questioning In A Large Undergraduate Science Class, Helen Crompton, Stephen R. Burgin, Declan G. De Paor, Kristen Gregory Jan 2018

Using Mobile Devices To Facilitate Student Questioning In A Large Undergraduate Science Class, Helen Crompton, Stephen R. Burgin, Declan G. De Paor, Kristen Gregory

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Asking scientific questions is the first practice of science and engineering listed in the Next Generation Science Standards. However, getting students to ask unsolicited questions in a large class can be difficult. In this qualitative study, undergraduate students sent SMS text messages to the instructor who received them on his mobile phone and via Google Glass. Using observations, coding of texts, and interviews, the researchers investigated the types and level of questions students asked and the perceptions of the instructor and TAs on how the messages were received. From the findings of this study, it is evident that students asked …


Using Precision In Stem Language: A Qualitative Look, Mary M. Capraro, Ali Bricer, Melva R. Grant, Yvonna S. Lincoln Jan 2017

Using Precision In Stem Language: A Qualitative Look, Mary M. Capraro, Ali Bricer, Melva R. Grant, Yvonna S. Lincoln

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Teachers need to develop a variety of pedagogical strategies that can encourage precise and accurate communication - an extremely important 21st century skill. Precision with STEM oral language is essential. Emphasizing oral communication with precise language in combination with increased spatial skills with modeling can improve the chances of success in STEM courses and later in making STEM career choices. The participants were 14 middle and high school teachers who participated in a week of professional development (PD). The Aural/Spatial Interactions and Invariant Components of Vocabulary for STEM Content Area Specialists (AS-STEM) was administered to teacher groups to examine how …


Workbooks For Instruction In Diagram Comprehension: High School Biology Part I, Jennifer G. Cromley, Tony Perez, Bradley W. Bergey Jan 2017

Workbooks For Instruction In Diagram Comprehension: High School Biology Part I, Jennifer G. Cromley, Tony Perez, Bradley W. Bergey

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Four methods were developed for teaching high school students how to better understand the diagrams in their biology textbooks. The 4 workbooks instantiate these methods: Conventions of Diagrams, Self-Explanation in Diagrams, Student-Completed Diagrams-Visual, and Student-Completed Diagrams-Verbal.


An Examination Of An Online Tutoring Program's Impact On Low-Achieving Middle School Students' Mathematics Achievement, Shanan Chappell,, Pamela Arnold, John Nunnery, Melva R. Grant Jan 2015

An Examination Of An Online Tutoring Program's Impact On Low-Achieving Middle School Students' Mathematics Achievement, Shanan Chappell,, Pamela Arnold, John Nunnery, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the impact of synchronous online tutoring services on struggling middle school students’ mathematics achievement. The online tutoring was provided as a response to intervention (RTI) Tier 3 support (intensive, individualized intervention) in schools implementing a school-wide mathematics program that addresses Tier 1 (high-quality classroom instruction) and Tier 2 (small group interventions). We employed quasi-experimental, within- and between-group designs to examine impacts for 119 students in two schools to measure the tutoring’s impact on mathematics assessment scores. We also conducted qualitative analyses of student and tutor postsession commentary. The findings suggest …


Understanding Angle And Angle Measure: A Design-Based Research Study Using Context Aware Ubiquitous Learning, Helen Crompton Jan 2015

Understanding Angle And Angle Measure: A Design-Based Research Study Using Context Aware Ubiquitous Learning, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Mobile technologies are quickly becoming tools found in the educational environment. The researchers in this study use a form of mobile learning to support students in learning about angle concepts. Design-based research is used in this study to develop an empirically-substantiated local instruction theory about students' develop of angle and angle measure. This local instruction theory involves real-world connections and mobile technologies through a sub category of mobile learning called context-aware ubiquitous learning. Through a process of anticipation, enactment, evaluation, and revision, the local instruction theory was developed to include a theoretical contribution of how students come to understand angle …


Designing Playful Games And Applications To Support Science Centers Learning Activities, Michail N. Giannakos, David Jones, Helen Crompton, Nikos Chrisochoides Jun 2014

Designing Playful Games And Applications To Support Science Centers Learning Activities, Michail N. Giannakos, David Jones, Helen Crompton, Nikos Chrisochoides

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

In recent years there has been a renewed interest on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Following this interest, science centers' staff started providing technology enhanced informal STEM education experiences. The use of well-designed mobile and ubiquitous forms of technology to enrich informal STEM education activities is an essential success factor. The goal of our research is to investigate how technology applications can be better used and developed for taking full advantage of the opportunities and challenges they provide for students learning about STEM concepts. In our approach, we have conducted a series of interviews with experts from science …


Discover Math With Sketchpad Explorer, Helen Crompton Jan 2014

Discover Math With Sketchpad Explorer, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Review of Geometer's SketchPad.


Research Windows: Iste Standards In The Research, Helen Crompton Jan 2014

Research Windows: Iste Standards In The Research, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

[First paragraph]

When ISTE began developing educational technology standards for PK-12 students in the early 1990s, it was ahead of its time. The organization saw the need to prepare students for the future, and it invested in standards as a way to give schools a clear path to staying relevant. The future that ISTE foresaw has definitely arrived, but it's not standing still. To ensure that the standards remain useful for students and educators around the world, ISTE has submitted them to a rigorous updating and revision process.


Career And Technical Education: A Best Kept Secret In Modern Education, Michael Kosloski Jan 2014

Career And Technical Education: A Best Kept Secret In Modern Education, Michael Kosloski

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The educational community continuously searches for the most proven and effective methods that enhance learning. One of the most successful and proven methods for academic success for all students is career and technical education. This article provides a description and explanation of why CTE is effective, as well as presents empirical finding to support CTE as a sound educational tool for the modern learner.


The Effects Of Tinkerability On Novice Programming Skill Acquisition, Tian Luo Jan 2011

The Effects Of Tinkerability On Novice Programming Skill Acquisition, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This paper reports on an exploratory study which used a graphical programming environment, Scratch, to facilitate the comprehension of a scripting programming language, ActionScript. Online survey questionnaires were distributed to 34 enrolled students, in a graduate level programming course with a 70% response rate. Findings indicated that Scratch contributed to the understanding of basic programming concepts such as event handling, sequential, and conditional statement but it was less helpful in assisting students’ understanding of more abstract concepts such as variables. This study also suggests that students’ learning style preference and proficiency with programming also make a difference in their perception …


Examining Sociocultural Contexts Of Classrooms To Foster Student Mathematical Discourse And Learning, Melva R. Grant Jan 2010

Examining Sociocultural Contexts Of Classrooms To Foster Student Mathematical Discourse And Learning, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Mathematics learning and teaching are optimized in classrooms when reform-oriented culture (ROC) is present. This report presents a case study that illustrates how ROC manifested and influenced mathematical Discourses in one sixth-grade classroom. The data was drawn from a study that addressed the question: How do classroom interactions influence mathematical Discourses? The study used interpretive methodology for analysis. One finding was that classroom boundary interactions either enhanced or hindered mathematical Discourses dependent upon sociocultural context alignments. An implication of this research is when “effective” learning and/or teaching strategies are identified, “effective” implementation may require paying close attention to sociocultural context …