Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

The Viability Of Portraiture For Science Education Research: Learning From Portraits Of Two Scientific Classrooms, Cassie F. Quigley, Amy Trauth-Nare, Nicole Beeman-Cadwallader

Cassie F. Quigley

The purpose of this paper is to describe the relevance of a qualitative methodology called portraiture for science education. Portraiture is a method of inquiry that blends art and science by combining the empirical aspects of inquiry with the beauty and aesthetic properties. This method encompasses all aspects of a research study, including protocol, data collection and analysis, and presentation of findings. To examine the viability of portraiture as methodology for science education researchers, we provided two portraits of science teachers and their classrooms to illustrate how context played a significant role in teachers’ experiences and how it influenced their …

The Viability Of Portraiture For Science Education Research: Learning From Portraits Of Two Scientific Classrooms, Cassie F. Quigley, Amy Trauth-Nare, Nicole Beeman-Cadwallader

Cassie F. Quigley

The purpose of this paper is to describe the relevance of a qualitative methodology called portraiture for science education. Portraiture is a method of inquiry that blends art and science by combining the empirical aspects of inquiry with the beauty and aesthetic properties. This method encompasses all aspects of a research study, including protocol, data collection and analysis, and presentation of findings. To examine the viability of portraiture as methodology for science education researchers, we provided two portraits of science teachers and their classrooms to illustrate how context played a significant role in teachers’ experiences and how it influenced their …

Mathematical Analysis Of Great Rhombicosidodecahedron (The Largest Archimedean Solid) By H.C. Rajpoot, Harish Chandra Rajpoot Rajpoot Hcr

Harish Chandra Rajpoot H.C. Rajpoot

All the important parameters of a great rhombicosidodecahedron (the largest Archimedean solid), having 30 congruent square faces, 20 regular hexagonal faces, 12 congruent regular decagonal faces each of equal edge length, 180 edges & 120 vertices lying on a spherical surface with certain radius, have been derived by the author Mr H.C. Rajpoot by applying "HCR's Theory of Polygon" to calculate the solid angle subtended by each square face, regular hexagonal face & regular decagonal face & their normal distances from the center of great rhombicosidodecahedron, dihedral angles between the adjacent faces, inscribed radius, circumscribed radius, mean radius, surface area …

Mathematical Analysis Of Elliptical Path In The Annular Region Between Two Circles, Smaller Inside The Bigger One (Ellipse Between Two Circles By H.C. Rajpoot), Harish Chandra Rajpoot Rajpoot Hcr

Harish Chandra Rajpoot H.C. Rajpoot

All the articles have been derived by the author by using simple geometry & trigonometry. These articles are related to the analysis of the elliptical path in the annular region between two circle, smaller inside bigger one & their centers separated by a certain distance. These formula are used to calculate minor axis, major axis, eccentricity & the radius of the third tangent circle touching the smaller circle externally & the bigger one internally. These articles (formula) are very practical & simple to apply in case studies & practical applications of 2-D Geometry.

Integrating Games To Teach A First Programming Course, Soumia Ichoua

Soumia Ichoua

In the past few years, there has been an increased interest in game-based learning as a powerful tool to stimulate students’ interest and promote their engagement in the learning process. In this paper, we discuss our experience in integrating gaming to teach a first programming course. The course is restructured and redesigned to allow teaching the basics of programming through games. Students actively use fundamental programming concepts learned to modify and create two dimension games using C# and XNA with .Net framework. This is an on-going work. Surveys and worksheets are developed to be used in assessing the effectiveness of …

Promoting And Retaining Minorities In Technology, Soumia Ichoua

Soumia Ichoua

This paper presents an on-going research project which is motivated by the lack of minorities in technology fields. This shortage typically results in stereotypes amongst minority students and is likely to prevent them from effectively competing with others. The problem motivated us to encourage middle school students to dispel stereotypes and embrace technology fields by engaging them in hands-on activities that initiate them to programming and Robotics. Students are also introduced to various aspects of the IT field including HTML and Microsoft Office. Surveys are used to measure the students’ attitudes and knowledge about technology before and after the program.

Top-Down, Routinized Reform In Low-Income, Rural Schools: Nsf's Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative, Robert Bickel, Terry Tomasek, Teresa Hardman Eagle

Teresa R. Eagle

Since 1991, the National Science Foundation has funded fifty-nine state, urban, and rural systemic initiatives. The purpose of the initiatives is to promote achievement in math, science, and technology among all students, and to encourage schools and communities to secure the resources needed to maintain such outcomes. The Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) is a six-state consortium which focuses these efforts on low-income, rural schools. The primary means of accomplishing ARSI's aims is a one-day-one-school site visit, called a Program Improvement Review, done by an ARSI math or science expert. The centrally important Program Improvement Reviews, however, seem to be …

How The Shift In High Stakes Testing Impacts Students Of Low Socioeconomic Status In A Suburban Junior High School, Amanda Eagan

Amanda M Eagan Ms.

This research project is a pilot study that analyzed student standardized tests performance across the mathematics standards shift and socioeconomic status (SES). The shift from state standards, most often known as the NCTM standards, to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the past four years was anticipated to cause performance data to decrease. The National Council of Teachers in Mathematics (NCTM) established guidelines to support the roll out of the CCSS, which many states have adopted across the United States (US). This study examined seventh and eighth grade student performance on New York (NY) State Mathematics tests from 2010 …

Free-Choice Family Learning: A Literature Review For The National Park Service, Colleen M. Bourque, Ana K. Houseal, Kate M. Welsh, Matthew Wenger

Ana K Houseal

Learning in national parks often occurs in the context of family groups. Understanding the motivations, needs, and outcomes of family groups is critical to engaging a substantial portion of the National Park Service (NPS) audience. This literature review was prompted by an NPS initiative to improve lifelong learning. It explores research about the nature of family learning, factors that influence it, and recommendations for enhancing it. This review uses Falk and Dierking’s (2000) Contextual Model of Learning as a framework for understanding personal, sociocultural, and physical factors that contribute to family learning outcomes in free-choice settings. Recommendations for improving family …

Lib 3010 Spring 2015: Students Choose An Image To Represent Patent Searching, Jan Comfort

Jan Comfort

Lib 3010 Fall 2015: Students Choose An Image To Represent Patent Searching, Jan Comfort

Jan Comfort

Open Source Software To Enhance The Stem Learning Environment, Maurice Dawson, Imad Al Saeed, Jorja Wright, Festus Onyegbula

Maurice Dawson

This chapter examines the use of Open Source Software (OSS) technologies that can be used to improve the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Explored are the various methods that can be utilized to improve the percentage of STEM majors in the American educational system with resources such as: Open Source as Alternative (OSALT), virtualization, cloud computing, Linux distributions, open source programming, and open source hardware platforms. Increasing the amount of students that pursue STEM majors is important because the projected job growth in the STEM field compared to non-STEM jobs is 33%. OSALT provides cost-effective alternatives to …

Without The Light Of Evolution: A Case Study Of Resistance And Avoidance In Learning To Teach High School Biology, Douglas B. Larkin, Gail M. Perry-Ryder

Douglas B. Larkin

Examining The Influence Of Internships On Teacher Recruitment, Tim Howard, Deborah Gober, Kimberly Shaw, Cindy Ticknor

thoward@ColumbusState.edu

The Columbus Region Academy of Future Teachers of STEM (CRAFT-STEM) is a Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program awarded by the National Science Foundation to Columbus State University (grant 1136356). The program incorporates summer internships to recruit academically strong students into secondary STEM teaching programs and increase participation by underrepresented groups. We look at results from student surveys and course enrollments to examine the influence of the internship program on decisions about going into teaching.