Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Prompted Reflective Thinking And Implications For Mathematics Teacher Efficacy In An Elementary Mathematics Methods Course, Brooke Krejci

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Although student-centered mathematics instruction, rooted in constructivism (NCTM, 2014), enhances students’ deep understanding of mathematics, many teachers fail to implement this approach, continuing to use more traditional, procedural instruction (Paolucci, 2015). One reason for these difficulties may be related to their teaching selfefficacy, or a person’s beliefs about their ability to complete a task. Wyatt’s (2016) expanded teacher self-efficacy model incorporates the reflective cycle and emphasizes the importance of reflection in the development of teacher self-efficacy.

This study explored whether encouraging reflection in pre-service teachers may indirectly increase their use of student-centered methods in mathematics by increasing their self-efficacy. The …

Implementation Of The Environmental Issues Instruction Model By Elementary Teachers, Barbara Ann Ehlers

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Teachers attend many professional development experiences throughout their professional careers. Many teachers attend because they have a personal desire for professional growth. In addition, in the state of Iowa, they are required to engage in professional development to renew teacher licensure. Professional development is offered on a myriad of topics including the latest educational research on learning, innovations in curriculum, and instructional strategies to use in the classroom. However, just attending does not guarantee improved professional practice. After these experiences teachers may or may not implement the strategies, teaching methods, or information they have learned.

This qualitative study analyzed data …

Secondary Preservice Teachers' Understanding Of Euclidean Geometry, Karen Sabey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The lack of mathematical understanding of elementary preservice teachers with respect to many mathematical topics has been well documented. Far fewer studies have been conducted on any content area of knowledge of secondary teachers and even less in the mathematics content area. The assumption by the general population is that mathematics majors are adequately prepared to teach the content of secondary mathematics because they major in mathematics. Mathematics educators, however, note the lack of conceptual understandings in many content areas in these mathematics teaching majors. While mathematics educators are aware of this deficiency, there is little research data at the …

The Third Space: The Use Of Self-Study To Examine The Culture Of A Science Classroom, Dashia M. Magee

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Science educators are in the position to create bridges between their students and the world of science (Aikenhead, 1996, 1999). This connection has often been described as the third space (Bhabha, 1994; Moje, Collazo, Carrillo, & Marx, 2001; Wallace, 2004), which is represented as a combination or a meeting of the students' world and the world of science. In this study, I examined my role in creating the third space through the use of self-study. Self-study is a form of research, educators use to understand their practice (Austin & Senese, 2004; Loughran, 2004; Northfield & Loughran, 1996). It is a …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of Professional Development On High School Physics Teachers' Conceptual Understanding Of Newtonian Mechanics, Instructional Practices, And The Conceptual Growth Of Their Students, Julia K. Moeller

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a physics professional development program on secondary science teachers' conceptual knowledge of Newtonian mechanics, instructional practices and the conceptual growth of their students. The University of Northern Iowa Physics Institute enabled a group of twenty-one Iowa high school and middle school science teachers to complete the physics coursework required to obtain the State of lowa 7-12 Grade Physics Teaching endorsement. The Institute provided experiences to improve physics content knowledge and proficiency of constructivist methodologies for teaching high school physics.

Twelve Institute participants completed a two-year program during the 2002 …

An Investigation Of The Energy And Transportation Component For Junior High School Technology Education Programs In Taiwan, Chang-Cheng Chen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to identify the appropriate content of the Energy and Transportation (E&T) unit for use in instruction in the junior high school Technology Education (TE) programs in Taiwan. Another purpose was to provide the Taiwanese higher education program administrators and educational planners with practical information for use in effectively designing and implementing preservice and in-service teacher preparation programs.

Survey instruments were developed through a literature review and validated by nine experts in E&T. The samples included 400 stratified and randomly selected TE teachers from four geographic parts of Taiwan, 200 stratified and randomly selected industrial …