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Science and Mathematics Education Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Teacher Growth In Knowledge Of Conservation Of Energy And In Self-Efficacy, Paul H. Wilson May 2022

Teacher Growth In Knowledge Of Conservation Of Energy And In Self-Efficacy, Paul H. Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines a conversation between a group of three in-service teachers during a professional development workshop. During the workshop, the teachers collaborated to answer a set of survey questions pertaining to energy concepts in physical science. The teachers began the survey expressing low self-efficacy in their knowledge of energy. Through this study, we were able to observe teachers as they learned new concepts. This study used a narrative analysis of their conversation. The analysis centers on changes in the teachers’ common content knowledge of conservation of energy and their expressed self-efficacy regarding that knowledge. Their knowledge was evaluated from …


Echoes Of The Past: The Effect Of Background Experience On Far Transfer, Graham H. Hummel-Hall May 2018

Echoes Of The Past: The Effect Of Background Experience On Far Transfer, Graham H. Hummel-Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Far transfer is the application of knowledge learned in one setting to a problem in a very different setting. This multi-method study looked at far transfer in humans and whether it could be facilitated, inhibited, or remain unaffected by the number of courses or years a student at a university spent learning about the subject matter of the knowledge being transferred. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of pretest and post-test data from an introductory undergraduate earth science course, I found that students with more physical science background experience more frequently engaged in successful and accurate transfer of physics information to …


Contrast Dependent Knowledge Development In Contrast Supported Scientific Observation, Maura B. Foley Aug 2017

Contrast Dependent Knowledge Development In Contrast Supported Scientific Observation, Maura B. Foley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of contrasts between phenomena can influence how people think and reason about them, so learning contrasts is important in school science. Building knowledge through a process of construction is a common framework through which school science is taught. However, telling phenomena apart through differentiation also plays an important role in learning and may be underused as a teaching framework. An effective way to learn contrasts is to use them to perceptually differentiate similar-looking phenomena presented side-by-side. However, little is known about the persistence/usefulness of knowledge generated during perceptual differentiation over short periods of time and its usage in student …