Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

From The Editors, Michele H. Koomen, Thomastine A. Sarchet-Maher, Jessica Williams

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

JSESD remains a venue for the dissemination of research and practice related to the education of students with disabilities in the science classroom and laboratory since 1998. Volumes #1 through 11 were published in a print format. Starting with Volume #12, the journal has been published online and Open Access. Having JSESD in the Open Access format maximizes access for readers and authors and allows the journal to remain economically sustainable. JSESD is proud to now be publishing articles in both PDF and HTML formats (the HTML versions can be accessed through a link from the main articles’ web-page).

Table Of Contents

Early College Folio

(2023) "Table of Contents," Early College Folio: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/earlycollegefolio/vol3/iss1/1

Seating Groups And 'What A Coincidence!': Mathematics In The Making And How It Gets Presented, Peter J. Rowlett

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Mathematics is often presented as a neatly polished finished product, yet its development is messy and often full of mis-steps that could have been avoided with hindsight. An experience with a puzzle illustrates this conflict. The puzzle asks for the probability that a group of four and a group of two are seated adjacently within a hundred seats, and is solved using combinatorics techniques.

Numeracy Tasks: Inspiring Transfer Between Concrete And Abstract Thinking Spaces, Taras Gula, Miroslav Lovric

Numeracy

In our paper we build a case for conceptualizing numeracy tasks as distinct from mathematical tasks (or at least as a special type of mathematical task), and for abstraction and interpretation as a set of key activities necessary for designating a numeracy task as being high-quality. We start with an attempt to tame the fuzziness of numeracy and its family members (including quantitative reasoning, quantitative literacy, mathematical literacy, and the word problem cousins) by outlining six areas of consensus gleaned from literature. These provide the foundation for a core mandate of numeracy. We then build our case for the distinctness …

Instructional Decision Making In A Gateway Quantitative Reasoning Course, Deependra Budhathoki, Gregory D. Foley, Stephen Shadik

Numeracy

Many educators and professional organizations recommend Quantitative Reasoning as the best entry-level postsecondary mathematics course for non-STEM majors. However, novice and veteran instructors who have no prior experience in teaching a QR course often express their ignorance of the content to choose for this course, the instruction to offer students, and the assessments to measure student learning. We conducted a case study to investigate the initial implementation of an entry-level university quantitative reasoning course during fall semester, 2018. The participants were the course instructor and students. We examined the instructor’s motives and actions and the students’ responses to the course. …

Threshold Concepts In Quantitative Reasoning, Judith Canner, Jennifer E. Clinkenbeard

Numeracy

The idea of “threshold concepts” has been used to identify discipline-based concepts that are critical to that academic area. Threshold concepts are often difficult for students to assimilate in a meaningful way but, once done, can be powerful for the learner. In general, threshold concepts are 1) transformative to learner thinking; 2) bounded by the discipline; 3) integrative with other concepts; and 4) irreversible once understood (Meyer and Land 2003). This paper presents five threshold concepts in quantitative reasoning (QR) developed by transdisciplinary faculty workgroups that may be applicable for non-mathematics disciplines as well. They are as follows: 1) QR …

4-H Senegal Community Of Practice Developing Stem Curricula That Leads To Youth-Driven Discovery And Innovation, Fatima Z. Kebe, Hannah H. Scherer

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

In 2015, Jeunesse en Agriculture (JEA), French for “Youth in Agriculture” formed 4-H clubs in Senegal, West Africa. JEA set out to develop culturally relevant STEM curricula for their 4-H youth learners. This led to the novel formation of the 4-H Senegal STEM Community of Practice (CoP), a group designed to create engaging content and activities that leverage local interest and resources. The CoP Practice used a conceptual framework that applies the United States National Research Council’s Engage-Respond-Connect framing as criteria contextualized for 4-H Senegal STEM learning. JEA team members and the CoP used a design-based educational research approach to …

Conflict And Choice Of Study At University Level: Evidence From Pakistan, Abbas Ali Gillani, Xiaocheng Hu

Peace and Conflict Studies

Conflict, and violence related events have been found to have significant effects on the cognitive thinking and mental well-being of individuals. Although there is ample evidence suggesting negative association of conflict with schooling outcomes, there is non-existent research on how violence can impact degree choices made by students at the university level. By using university level admissions data between 2014 and 2016 from Pakistan, this paper examines the differential in preference for degree choices of students who live in conflict-affected areas compared to students who live in conflict-free areas. The results show that students exposed to violence were less likely …

Call For Manuscripts, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Copyright, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Copyright

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Call For Manuscripts, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Copyright, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

An Introductory Course In Electrical Circuits And Coding For Deaf And Deafblind Middle School Students, Becca Leininger, Christina Yang, Makayla Quinn, Jeffrey Jalkio, Rahaf Bahajry, Mellissa Ingabire, Annmarie Thomas

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

in is the first Deaf charter school in the United States, opening in 1993. The school serves students in the Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin from ages 2 to 21 who are primarily Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing students, often being visual and/or tactile learners. All students who attend have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and fall under the special education category, defined by the Minnesota Department of Education as students who “have a disability and need specialized instruction” (Minnesota Department of Education, n.d.). At , students are instructed in American Sign Language (ASL) and English is primarily taught through …

Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Experienced Introductory Stem Instructors’ Teaching Practices, Sarah Boesdorfer

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Professional development for STEM instructors and facilitating change in their instruction requires understanding current practices along with what motivates or causes them to change their teaching practice. Teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of change in how courses were delivered in-person or online, but it also provided opportunities for instructors to change the teaching method used in the courses, potentially shifting towards more student-centered practices. Some commonly cited barriers to faculty changes were removed or lowered during this time and instructors had to think about their teaching due to the nature of the pandemic. Opportunity for change was …

The Sci – Dot: A New Dimension Of Scientific Innovation For Persons With Blv., Ashley N. Nashleanas Ph.D.

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Throughout history, students with blindness and low vision (BLV) have been vastly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines with regards to both K-12 education and post-secondary endeavors (Burgstahler, 1994; Supalo, 2010). This underrepresentation of students with BLV in STEM is due to limitations in technology that allow them to access data in a laboratory setting, thus inhibiting their abilities to partake actively in data acquisition with their peers. The Sci-Dot, a multiline, refreshable braille and tactile graphics display capable of logging scientific data in real time with the support of Vernier Science Education’s (VSE) Go-Direct Bluetooth sensors, …

Exploring Retrieval Difficulties And Self-Confidence In An Assessment Of General Chemistry Students, Karen Julian, Morgan Balabanoff

The Cardinal Edge

Developing self-assessment skills is an important aspect of learning. Framed by assessment developed for the year-long sequence of general chemistry, students were asked to rate their ability to answer conceptual questions. Using cognitive interviews, this study revealed that people rely on a range of characteristics other than content knowledge to assess their confidence, including doubt, retrieval difficulty, and test-taking methods. These findings imply that more explicit instruction may be required to encourage correct self-assessment. Students can develop their metacognitive skills and calibrate their perceived ability by completing examinations meant to emphasize content knowledge gaps.

B/Lv Laboratory Accessibility Technology Adapted For Neurodiverse Chemistry Students, Christin B. Monroe

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Text-to-speech technology is a common accommodation available for students with disabilities. Despite the ubiquitous nature of text-to-speech, this technology has not been explored in laboratory settings for neurodiverse college students. This study explores the adaptability of laboratory accessible text-to-speech technology (originally developed for blind/low vision (B/LV) students) for neurodiverse students. Students were asked to provide general feedback about the usability and effectiveness of the technology using Likert surveys. The students also answered open-ended questions about how the technology could be adapted to be more neurodiverse friendly. Overall, more than 50% of the students found the technology useful but had specific …

Market Profanities In Sacral Academe: Privilege, Diversity, Representation, Incursion Of Market Forces, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

“I Got You”: Centering Identities And Humanness In Collaborations Between Mathematics Educators And Mathematicians, Anne M. Marshall, Sarah Sword, Mollie Applegate, Steven Greenstein, Terrance Pendleton, Kamuela E. Yong, Michael Young, Jennifer A. Wolfe, Theodore Chao, Pamela E. Harris

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Existing literature widely reports on the value of collaborations between mathematicians and mathematics educators, and also how complex those collaborations can be. In this paper, we report on four collaborations that sought to address what mathematics is and who gets to do it. Drawing on the literature and from the careful and intentional work of the collaborators, we offer a framework to capture the richness of those collaborations – one that acknowledges the importance of acknowledging and welcoming the extensive personal and professional experience of each person involved in the collaboration – and a look at how collaborations built with …

Just Mathematics: Getting Started Teaching Postsecondary Math For Social Justice, Kenan A. Ince

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Following the summer 2020 civil rights movement and increasing attention to the intersections of mathematics with politics and power, many math educators have reported a desire to implement an antiracist pedagogy and to examine the intersections of their subject with issues of equity, inclusion, and social justice. Many resources exist for K-12 math educators interested in incorporating social justice into their curricula, but resources are comparatively scarce for college and university instructors (though this is changing quickly!). We discuss why one may want to teach mathematics for social justice, how to begin to implement issues of social justice into postsecondary …

Universal Design For Learning (Udl) In Inclusive Preschool Science Classrooms, Marla J. Lohmann, Katrina A. Hovey, Ariane N. Gauvreau

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Science instruction is a critical aspect of early learning. Teachers can support young children’s learning about scientific concepts through the use of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which is a proactive approach to instructional planning that helps ensure success for all learners. This teaching techniques article offers preschool teachers practical solutions for implementing in the UDL framework for science instruction in their classrooms.

A Professional Development Program For Science Adjunct Faculty: The Mentoring-Learning Community (Mlc), Linda B. Purvis, Jason D. Lang, Julie A. Luft

Georgia Journal of Science

Institutions of higher education have become increasingly dependent on adjunct faculty. These faculty members are often unfamiliar with current teaching strategies emphasizing an active learning approach. To support science adjunct faculty in learning about active learning, a professional development program was designed and implemented by the authors of this study, the Mentoring-Learning Community. The Mentoring-Learning Community program design was informed by literature regarding the use of professional development programs that focused on adjunct faculty. To determine the impact of this program, participants in the Mentoring-Learning Community were observed and interviewed over one semester. Mentoring-Learning Community participants transformed through all three …

Review: Teaching Stem To First Generation College Students: A Guidebook For Faculty And Future Faculty By Gail Horowitz, Jessica S. Robbins

Early College Folio

Book Review: Gail Horowitz’s Teaching STEM to First Generation College Students: A Guidebook for Faculty and Future Faculty (Information Age Publishing, 2019). Horowitz taught chemistry at Bard High School Early College Newark.

Artist Into An Educator—Educator Inside An Artist, Raheela Qabool Abro Ms

Early College Folio

This study is a self-investigation of the author's identity by exploring her two professions: an artist as well as an art educator. Her insights as an educator provided a background for her as an artist through the production of this series of miniature artworks created with cell phone SIM cards. A SIM card, which stands for “Subscriber Identification Module,” contains information tied to the identity of the individual using it. For this reason, the author chose it as a medium for creating an art series to represent identity. In the dialogue of artist and educator, Abro confronts changes to the …

Teaching Food Studies In Early College: Experiments In Collaboration, Cynthia Brown, Maryann Tebben

Early College Folio

This article outlines the process of designing and teaching a collaborative course on sustainable food and agriculture on multiple campuses at once, including two early college institutions. The authors offer insights on the specific elements of the course they designed as well as methods for designing the course, what worked in practice, and what they would change. This article will be useful for faculty who would like to work with other early college colleagues to plan a collaborative course in general or a specific course on sustainable food and farms.

Commitment To Access: A Conversation About The Unconventional And College-In-Prison, Elías Beltrán, Megan Callaghan

Early College Folio

The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) currently operates full-tuition scholarship Bard College degree programs across seven New York State prisons, three Microcollege campuses created in partnership with community-based institutions, and on the Annandale campus of Bard College, where adult students are completing degrees through the BardBac. Since 2005 when the first degrees were granted to BPI students, the program has issued over 5,000 credits and more than 700 degrees.

This conversation between BPI alumnus Elías Beltrán, who earned his Bard College bachelor’s degree in 2017 while incarcerated, and Megan Callaghan, the program’s Dean, touches upon Elías’s upcoming transition to BPI faculty, …

Rolling A Boulder Up A Mountain: The Path To Higher Education In Displacement Concepts, Rebecca Granato

Early College Folio

Students in contexts affected by displacement and forced migration are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing and successfully completing higher education, as well as translating their learning into post-graduation opportunities. Universities with clear social missions and networks of institutions have the power and the obligation to support the creation of “opportunities pipelines” for these populations.

Solving Higher Education In Burma, The Global South, And Beyond, Myat Su San

Early College Folio

By introducing readers to a migrant student from Burma, the author unpacks the longstanding and increasingly complicated barriers to higher education, which many students face across the Global South. Readers are then introduced to one institution seeking to dismantle those barriers through innovation and expansive access, Parami University.

Move, May Honey Maung

Early College Folio

“Move” is a call to action that urges leaders to work together to create a world where education is accessible and inclusive to everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status or background. Drawing inspiration from the author’s own educational experiences as both a student and employee of Phaung Daw Oo, this poem is a reminder that education is not a privilege but a fundamental human right; we all have a responsibility to ensure that it is available to all learners. The author—whose country is currently facing violence and economic and educational instability due to a February 2021 coup d’état—relays the hopeful …