Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Virtual Vs. In-Person Instruction: The Impact Of Teachers' Understanding Of Physics, Madelyn Johnson, Jeff Morgan Ph.D., Lawrence Escalada Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Covid-19 forced nearly all U.S. schools to switch to virtual instruction in March of 2020. With students around the country and world now “Zooming” into class, it begs the question, does this new learning environment impact student learning? Conceptual assessments and observations were used to make conclusions about the differing effectiveness of instructional methods for professional development programs. Although results may indicate in-person instruction is more effective, I believe the most effective method of instruction is hybrid as it takes advantage of both virtual and in-person methods. To enable screen reader support, press Ctrl+Alt+Z To learn about keyboard shortcuts, press …

Analysis Of Assessments On Secondary Students' Development And Interpretation Of Models, Alaina L. Appley

Graduate Research Papers

As districts are making the shift to three-dimensional learning the development of a coherent set of high-quality task-based assessments has been a challenge. For this research I collected and analyzed twelve of my district's assessments over the scientific skill of modeling from grades seven through 12. The analysis involved two tools developed by NGSS and Achieve.org to determine the extent to which the assessments ask students to perform tasks that are driven by phenomena and use the three-dimensional in service of sense-making, the Task Screener and the Framework to Evaluate Cognitive Complexity in Science Assessments. The findings support what …

Enhancing Scientific Literacy Through Attention To Argumentation As A Disciplinary Literacy Practice, Whitney Mcwilliams

Graduate Research Papers

This project is partly driven by Science Writing Heuristic as writing to learn is part of a larger objective to help students develop literacy. While research on the SWH examines its own effectiveness through the lens of literacy, it only looked at its impact on science content knowledge. This project will examine five assessment tasks structured around the practice of argumentation. Data collected will measure use and inclusion of phenomena, three dimensional learning, and alignment to Performance Expectations. The content of the performance expectations center around two standards focused on electromagnetic radiation’s effect on matter and technological devices used to …

Autoethnography On Teaching During A Pandemic, Kelsey Ufford

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted and changed teaching strategies in a young adolescent science classroom and how the pandemic changed personal ideas around online learning. Prior research shows how online learning can be implemented successfully in collegiate classrooms, but it is rare to find research that shows how to successfully implement online learning in a young adolescent classroom. This point of view is from a rural, Iowa middle school standpoint and data was collected through the use of personal journals, emails, and a timeline from March 2020 and May 2020. After the …

Immediate Vs. Deferred Feedback During Formative Assessments In A 9th Grade Physical Science Course, Jordan Sonntag

Graduate Research Papers

For educators, feedback has become a very important part of the teaching practice that is taught in both teacher education programs and building-level professional development. While many studies have been done on feedback itself, there is much less research on the effectiveness of certain types of feedback used within a Learning Management System (LMS). The goal of this experiment is to determine if there is any difference on summative assessment scores based on the use of different types of feedback on formative assessments using an LMS.

An LMS is a program that allows the educator to create step by step …

Impact Of Inquiry Science Courses On Preservice Elementary Students' Ideas On Science, Lance Charles Baetsle

Graduate Research Papers

This study examines how students' scientific ideas compare between students who have taken different numbers of general science and inquiry science courses at a midwestern university. The purpose of this study is to gain perspective and to inform current teaching practices based on how preservice elementary education teachers view scientific ideas after taking a different number of inquiry science courses. Students in a science inquiry course completed a science survey (Appendix B) of science and non-science questions and were asked to explain their reasoning. A scoring rubric (Wilson et al., 2010) was used to apply a score for correct and …

Accuracy Of Self-Assessment In A Ninth Grade Earth Science Classroom, Alyssa Jacobson

Graduate Research Papers

Student engagement is a constant struggle teachers and schools work to address. Students who are not engaged are more likely to drop out of school and participate in risky behaviors that negatively impact themselves and society as a whole. As a means to combat student disengagement, school districts have begun to implement The New Art and Science of Teaching, a framework meant to engage students by involving them in the learning process through self-assessment.

The purpose of this study is to determine how accurately high school aged students can self-assess and how students make decisions when they self-assess. To …

Effects Of Stepwise Guided Inquiry On Students' Attitudes And Depth Of Knowledge From Written Lab Reflections In High School Chemistry, Melissa Rae Campbell Johnson

Graduate Research Papers

Many teachers find it challenging to embed guided inquiry into high school chemistry courses. Although guided inquiry provides excellent opportunities for students to engage in data analysis, misconceptions and loss of class time are teacher stated problems with guided inquiry. A stepwise inquiry project can slowly introduce students to the inquiry process of data analysis in high school chemistry.

This stepwise inquiry project examined three different inquiry labs designed around the anchoring phenomenon, “ Which toothpaste protects our teeth the best?”Each lab progressed in inquiry level. Lab one was written at inquiry level one,confirmation. The second lab was written at …

Human Impact On The Environment: A Middle School Project Based Learning Unit Development, Shannon Power

Graduate Research Papers

I chose to focus my creative component on the development and implementation of a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) aligned earth science unit for an 8th grade science course taught using Project Based Learning (PBL) and graded using Standards Referenced Grading (SRG) philosophies and a proficiency scale. The unit focused on the Performance Expectation MS-ESS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment (NGSS, 2013e). This standard includes the Science and Engineering Practice (SEP) of constructing explanations and designing solutions, a Cross Cutting Concept (CCC) of cause and effect, and a …

Promoting A Culture Of Student Self-Advocacy Within Secondary Science Classrooms, Elizabeth Anne Wessels

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the greatest source of self-efficacy that exists among 5-12 students in science through a meta-analysis of three previous studies. After analyzing the collected data, teaching strategies that aim to boost the most influential source of self-efficacy for students are recommended and briefly discussed. Gaining a better understanding of the sources self-efficacy, along with how to support these sources will help science educators understand how to support student self-advocacy.

Including English Language Learners In Algebra One Instruction, Callie Irene Neighbor

Honors Program Theses

Inclusion in the classroom can be difficult for teachers, but it is essential for all students to have equal access to education while feeling included and engaged in the classroom. I am a senior in the Mathematics Teaching program at the University of Northern Iowa whose graduates teach secondary mathematics. I have chosen to focus my research on this topic to inform my future in student teaching and in my own classroom, I have decided to focus my research on high school Algebra One courses. Algebra One is the first high school level math class students will take, so including …