Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning On Students In High School Chemistry In Rural Maine, Brianna Degone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy that is promoted throughout education for its use of active learning and ability to connect to real-world applications. Studies have been conducted on PBL ranging from early elementary grades through graduate courses, however little research considers the effectiveness of PBL at the secondary science level. This thesis considers the use of PBL and describes the implementation of a PBL unit in a rural Maine 11th grade chemistry classroom. The thesis aims to better understand the impact PBL has on students’ content learning and additional skills acquired through the PBL learning process. Along with …

An Investigation Of Students' Use And Understanding Of Evaluation Strategies, Abolaji R. Akinyemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One expected outcome of physics instruction is that students develop quantitative reasoning skills, including evaluation of problem solutions. To investigate students’ use of evaluation strategies, we developed and administered tasks prompting students to check the validity of a given expression. We collected written (N>673) and interview (N=31) data at the introductory, sophomore, and junior levels. Tasks were administered in three different physics contexts: the velocity of a block at the bottom of an incline with friction, the electric field due to three point charges of equal magnitude, and the final velocities of two masses in an elastic collision. Responses …

Using Question Variations To Access Alternate Student Thinking About The Same Physical Situations, Jeffrey Mathis Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing students’ understanding of physics is a critical element for improving physics education. This dissertation presents and demonstrates a method to better assess student understanding of physics by varying the types of questions asked of students. The method presented herein, which is based on the Specific Difficulties and Resources frameworks, involves modifying the task students are asked to complete when analyzing the physics of a particular physical situation. Creating question variations that ask students to address a particular correct or incorrect outcome of the physical situation, eliminate an incorrect outcome, or justify a correct outcome provided to them can provide …

Learning Science: Physical And Life Sciences In Curricula Across U.S. Schools Of Nursing, Valerie C. Sauda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nursing educators are being challenged to provide curriculum that meets the changing healthcare environment and demand for creative, innovative nurses to assist in transforming healthcare into the future (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010; Institute Of Medicine, 2011). The liberal education provided within a baccalaureate of science in nursing (BSN) degree program provides a diversity of courses within the curriculum, including courses in the natural, physical, mathematical, and social sciences (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2008). Although nursing programs have included science courses in curriculum since the early 1900s (Nutting & Dock, 1907), there is lack of nursing …

Understanding Student Development Of Science Literacy Skills In An Undergraduate Environmental Science Course, Molly Picillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educators are expected to instill a variety of skills in their students that are necessary to be competent citizens of society. One such set of skills, science literacy skills, broadly encompass the ability of an individual to evaluate reliability of data and information and critically analyze and interpret them (Gormally Brickman, Hallar, & Armstrong, 2009). These skills are utilized in everyday decision-making and given their pertinence, there is a need for citizens to be scientifically literate. Thus, educators need tools and assessments to help students develop these skills and analyze their science literacy. The aim of this study was to …

Investigating Student Understanding Of Vector Calculus In Upper-Division Electricity And Magnetism: Construction And Determination Of Differential Element In Non-Cartesian Coordinate Systems, Benjamin Schermerhorn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Differential length, area, and volume elements appear ubiquitously over the course of upper-division electricity and magnetism (E&M), used to sum the effects of or determine expressions for electric or magnetic fields. Given the plethora of tasks with spherical and cylindrical symmetry, non-Cartesian coordinates are commonly used, which include scaling factors as coefficients for the differential terms to account for the curvature of space. Furthermore, the application to vector fields means differential lengths and areas are vector quantities. So far, little of the education research in E&M has explored student understanding and construction of the non-Cartesian differential elements used in applications …

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 …

Investigating Student Learning Of Analog Electronics, Kevin L. Van De Bogart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instruction in analog electronics is an integral component of many physics and engineering programs, and is typically covered in courses beyond the first year. While extensive research has been conducted on student understanding of introductory electric circuits, to date there has been relatively little research on student learning of analog electronics in either physics or engineering courses. Given the significant overlap in content of courses offered in both disciplines, this study seeks to strengthen the research base on the learning and teaching of electric circuits and analog electronics via a single, coherent investigation spanning both physics and engineering courses.

This …

Student Application Of The Fundamental Theorem Of Calculus With Graphical Representations In Mathematics And Physics, Rabindra R. Bajracharya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One mathematical concept frequently applied in physics is the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC). Mathematics education research on student understanding of the FTC indicates student difficulties with the FTC. Similarly, a few studies in physics education have implicitly indicated student difficulties with various facets of the FTC, such as with the definite integral and the area under the curve representation, in physics contexts. There has been no research on how students apply the FTC in graphically-based physics questions.

This study investigated student understanding of the FTC and its application to graphically-based problems. Our interest spans several aspects of the FTC: …

An Inventory Of Student Recollections Of Their Past Misconceptions As A Tool For Improved Classroom Astronomy Instruction, Andrej Favia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My Ph.D. research is about examining the persistence of 215 common misconceptions in astronomy. Each misconception is based on an often commonlyheld incorrect belief by college students taking introductory astronomy. At the University of Maine, the course is taught in alternating semesters by Prof. Neil F. Comins and Prof. David J. Batuski.

In this dissertation, I examine the persistence of common astronomy misconceptions by the administration of a retrospective survey. The survey is a new instrument in that it permits the student to indicate either endorsement or rejection of each misconception at various stages in the student’s life. I analyze …

Identifying Productive Resources In Secondary School Students' Discourse About Energy, Benedikt Walter Harrer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing program of research in science education acknowledges the beginnings of disciplinary reasoning in students’ ideas and seeks to inform instruction that responds productively to these disciplinary progenitors in the moment to foster their development into sophisticated scientific practice. This dissertation examines secondary school students’ ideas about energy for progenitors of disciplinary knowledge and practice. Previously, researchers argued that students’ ideas about energy were constrained by stable and coherent conceptual structures that conflicted with an assumed unified scientific conception and therefore needed to be replaced. These researchers did not attend to the productive elements in students’ ideas about energy. …

Grading The General Chemistry Laboratory: A Constructivist Approach., Barbara Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Constructivist theories of learning posit that instructors cannot transfer their knowledge to students; students must actively construct their own understanding. The Inter-Chem-Net project uses technology and instrumentation to provide an individualized experience within the large general laboratory course, effectively establishing a constructivist methodology. A grading rubric was developed to communicate course expectations and provide an easy and reliable method of evaluating student work in the general chemistry laboratory. The grading rubric separates the learning outcomes into a checklist of skills associated with each particular grade. This checklist provides detailed feedback for individualized choices of experiments, a key component of the …