Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Investigating The Teaching And Assessment Experiences Of Maine Secondary Science Teachers During The Covid-19 Lockdown, Anupam Raj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In March 2020, an unexpected event changed the educational systems throughout the world. In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic caused public places to close down, including schools. To continue education, schools in Maine went online. This study describes how Maine secondary science teachers taught and assessed their students while teaching remotely for the first time during the lockdown. It does so by investigating teachers’ perspectives about the impact on their students, how they handled the issue of equity, their new priorities and expectations, their teaching and assessment challenges, and their successful strategies during the initial phase of the lockdown. …

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 …

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 …

Investigating The Attitudes, Beliefs And Practices Of High School Chemistry Teachers Regarding The Differentiation Of Instruction, Anna Tyrina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Differentiation of instruction (DI) is a broad term used for a group of pedagogical tools that teachers use to individualize instruction for students of different abilities and needs. Differentiation of instruction is a practice that has been researched and characterized to have a variety of instructional benefits, some of which include increased student motivation and engagement (Tomlinson, 2001). This study sought to characterize the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of ten high school chemistry teachers in Maine regarding the differentiation of instruction. Through a phenomenological approach, interviews with these teachers were analyzed to understand how high school chemistry teachers define differentiated …

A Case Study Into Middle School Students' Conceptualizations Of Motion And Interpretations Of Negative Velocities, Peter A. Colesworthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student difficulties surrounding motion have been well documented for many years. This work was inspired by the work of former MST students into the instruction of Newton‟s Second Law of Motion at the middle school level. The purpose of this study was to further investigate how middle school students talk and reason about motion. Particular attention was paid to how students defined the term “motion,” how those definitions fit into a larger framework of what encompasses understanding motion at the middle school level, and how students justified negativity of a calculation of a negative velocity.

A tutorial lesson was developed …

Investigating Maine Secondary Science Teachers Conceptualization Of Scientific Argumentation, Erin Doran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) aims to reform science education for grades K-12 with a central focus on students becoming doers of science as opposed to just being knowers of facts. This historical shift in standards across the United States asks for teaching science content paired with eight Science and Engineering Practices. One of the eight Science and Engineering Practices is Engaging in Argument from Evidence, which is using empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to make sense of scientific phenomena.This study examined how the practice of Engaging in Argument from Evidence is conceptualized by Maine secondary science teachers, and …

The High School To First-Year College Instructional Transition: An Investigation Of The Predictions And Perceptions Of Stem Students, Emma Toth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent national reports have cited ongoing issues in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Fewer than half of first-year undergraduate students who start in STEM fields graduate with a STEM degree six years later. Most of this attrition occurs between the first and second year of college, and students often cite instructional practices used in introductory college courses as a prominent reason for leaving. Furthermore, students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in STEM fields, including first-generation college students, leave STEM majors at higher rates than their classmates. Recent data show that the instructional practices used in introductory college …

Assessing Quantitative Reasoning In A Ninth Grade Science Class Using Interdisciplinary Data Story Assignments, Bryn W. Keenhold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a data-driven world, it is necessary that students graduate from high school quantitatively literate, with the ability to interpret quantities within a context to make informed decisions for their lives. A critical component of science learning is developing the ability to make sense of data, critically evaluate it, and effectively communicate scientific ideas. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to investigate how 9th grade students in an Earth Science class use quantitative reasoning (QR) skills when constructing evidence-based scientific explanations during Data Story assignments and 2) to provide teachers with supports to incorporate Data Stories into their …

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 …

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 …